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Alexis Bledel
Born	Kimberly Alexis Bledel September 16, 1981 (1981-09-16) (age 26) Houston, Texas
Occupation	Model (1996–1999) Actress (2000–present)
Years active	1996-present

Kimberly Alexis Bledel (born September 16, 1981) is an American actress and former fashion model. She is known for her role as Rory Gilmore in the television series Gilmore Girls, as well as the films Tuck Everlasting, Sin City, and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. She goes by her first name, "Kimberly", with family and friends, but is known professionally as Alexis Bledel.^{citation needed}

Biography

Early life

Bledel was born in Houston, Texas. Her father, Martín Bledel, is Argentinian, and her mother, Nanette, is Mexican-American. She has one younger brother, Eric, born 1986. Her first language is Spanish, and she did not learn English until she began school. In fact, her Sisterhood co-star America Ferrera was surprised during an interview with a Spanish magazine when Bledel started speaking Spanish.^[1] Bledel's mother encouraged her to try community theater when she was a child to overcome her shyness.^[2] She subsequently appeared in local productions of Our Town and The Wizard of Oz before being scouted at a local mall and given work as a fashion model. She attended St. Agnes Academy in Houston and is a Roman Catholic.^[3] She went to Page Parkes Center for Modeling and Acting and majored in film at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts for one year. She previously had appeared in the film Rushmore as an extra in four scenes.

Career

Bledel made her TV debut on The WB series Gilmore Girls in 2000. She portrayed Rory Gilmore, the daughter of single mother Lorelai Gilmore. Initially, Rory was a high school student living with her mother, but later moved on to college at Yale University, where she, among other things, worked as the editor of the Yale Daily News. Bledel has said that she feels she can relate in some ways to Rory, both when it comes to some personal traits and her relationship to her own parents. She also sees the family structure and mother-daughter relationship on the show as something to which many people can relate.

In 2002, Bledel was voted one of Teen People's "25 Hottest Stars Under 25". She appeared as the main character in the video for Less Than Jake's "She's Gonna Break Soon", lead single from their 2003 album Anthem. The single charted at number 39 on the UK charts. In 2005, she starred in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants based on the book by Ann Brashares. She played Lena Kaligaris, a talented artist on a journey with her three best friends, linked over the summer by a pair of magical jeans.

In 2005, Bledel made a shift from previous TV and film characters while portraying Becky, a prostitute, in the movie Sin City. "She's a very professional prostitute. She carries a gun and she kicks ass," said Bledel of Becky.^[4] Despite her tough and precocious exterior, Becky gives the impression of being the young and insecure one among the women of Old Town, because of her young appearance and her close relationship to her mother, from whom she keeps her profession a secret. Sin City is shot almost entirely in black-and-white, with splashes of color here and there, such as a red dress, blood or an entirely yellow evil character. In Becky's case, it was her eyes that kept their color, as director Robert Rodriguez claimed that he found Bledel's eyes to be "so amazing I had to keep them blue in the picture."^[5]

In the summer of 2007, Bledel wrapped filming of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants sequel. It has been announced that Bledel will star in The Post-Grad Survival Guide as Ryden Malby. The movie is about a college grad who is forced to move back into her childhood home with her eccentric family while she attempts to find a job, the right guy and some direction for her life. Shooting began in December 2007. She has recently been cast in a new movie entitled The Letters, which is anticipated to be released in 2009. The Letters is a drama / thriller film by director Todd Fjelsted and is currently in pre-production. Bledel is set to star opposite Scott Porter in the upcoming film The Good Guy, also due for a 2009 release. In this, Porter plays a Wall Street businessman whose life begins to fall apart when he helps out a new salesman. Bledel will play Beth, Porter's girlfriend.^[6]

Personal life

Bledel enjoys reading, hiking, taking photographs and spending time with her family and friends. She also likes to play the piano. Between scenes on Gilmore Girls, she headed to her trailer to play her keyboard. She also works with First Book, a nonprofit organization, which gives books to the poor. After drinking so much coffee due to her character Rory's strong appreciation for it on the first season of Gilmore Girls, she became sick of it. When Rory "drinks coffee," Bledel is drinking tea or Coca-Cola instead.^[7]

She was ranked #87 on the Maxim Hot 100 Women of 2005.^[8]

She dated her Gilmore Girls co-star Milo Ventimiglia for three and a half years, beginning around December 2002, before separating sometime before July 2006.^[9]

During an appearance on Late Night With Conan O'Brien, on April 25, 2006, Alexis Bledel revealed that she loves traveling to Europe, and that she has already been to the Tuscany region of Italy and loved it. In that same appearance, she also stated that she likes all types of foods, from gourmet cuisine to fast food specialities. She particularly praised Wendy's, calling the Hi-C Fruit Punch sold at Wendy's restaurants the "perfect chaser" to their chicken nuggets.^[10]

In an appearance on Late Show with David Letterman, she revealed that she plays recreational soccer.

Filmography

Awards

Nominated

• (2002) Young Artist Award Best Performance in a TV Drama Series: Supporting Young Actress for Gilmore Girls.
• (2003) Golden Satellite Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Series, Comedy or Musical for Best Performance by a Younger Actor for Tuck Everlasting.
• (2004) Teen Choice Awards for Choice TV Actress: Comedy for Gilmore Girls.
• (2006) NCLR ALMA Award.

Won

• (2001) Young Artist Award Best Performance in a TV Drama Series: Leading Young Actress. for Gilmore Girls.
• (2002) Family Television Award for Actress for Gilmore Girls.
• (2005) Teen Choice Award for Choice It Girl.
• (2005) Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actress Comedy for Gilmore Girls.
• (2006) Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actress Comedy for Gilmore Girls.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Alexis Bledel

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Alexis Bledel

• Alexis Bledel at the Internet Movie Database
• Alexis Bledel at TV.com
• Alexis Bledel's biography on filmbug