Born Kimberly Alexis Bledel
September 16, 1981 (age 29)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Occupation Actress, model
Years active 1996–present
Alexis Bledel was born Kimberly Alexis Bledel in Houston, Texas. Her mother, Nanette (née Dozier), is Mexican, and her father, Martin Bledel, is an Argentine of Danish descent. She has a younger brother. Her first language is Spanish, and she did not learn English until she began school. Bledel's mother encouraged her to try community theater when she was a child to overcome her shyness. She attended Catholic St. Agnes Academy in Houston. Bledel also attended Baptist and Lutheran school.
As a child, Bledel appeared in local productions of Our Town and The Wizard of Oz. She was scouted at a local shopping mall and given work as a fashion model. She went to Page Parkes Center for Modeling and Acting and attended NYU's Tisch School of the Arts for one year.
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. She made her film debut in Tuck Everlasting, released in 2002, though she had worked as an extra in the 1998 film Rushmore.
She appeared as the main character in the music video for Less Than Jake's "She's Gonna Break Soon", lead single from their 2003 album Anthem. In 2005, she starred in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants based on the book by Ann Brashares. She played Lena Kaligaris, an artist on a journey with her three best friends, linked over the summer by a pair of "magical" jeans.
In 2005, Bledel portrayed 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.
In 2006, Bledel starred in I'm Reed Fish as Reed Fish's fiance. Bledel reprised her role of Lena Kaligaris from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants in the film's sequel, released in August 2008. Bledel next starred in Post Grad, which opened on August 21, 2009, alongside Jane Lynch, Michael Keaton, and Carol Burnett.
In 2009, Bledel starred opposite Scott Porter in the film The Good Guy, which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival April 26, 2009. In this, Porter plays a Wall Street businessman whose life begins to fall apart when he helps out a new salesman. Bledel played Beth, Porter's girlfriend. She was also a guest star on the two-hour series finale of ER, playing new intern Dr. Julia Wise.
In May 2009, Bledel returned to the modeling world, signing a contract with the modeling division of IMG.
In 2010, Bledel appeared in the historical drama The Conspirator directed by Robert Redford. She plays the wife of Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy), the lawyer who defended Mary Surratt, the first woman to be hanged in the United States, played by Robin Wright. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and is expected to hit theaters in spring 2011.
Also in 2010, Bledel completed work as the lead actress in the independent Canadian film The Kate Logan Affair. The film was presented at Montreal's Festival du Nouveau Cinéma 2010.
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