Biography
Date of Birth
16 December 1981, Houston, Texas, USA
Birth Name
Kimberly Alexis Bledel
Height
5' 7" (1.7 m)
Mini Biography
Kimberly Alexis Bledel was born in Houston, Texas, to Nanette (Dozier) and Martin Bledel. Her parents are both Spanish-speakers (her mother was born in Arizona and raised in Mexico, and her father was born in Argentina), and Alexis's ancestry includes Danish, Welsh, English, Scottish, Irish, and French.
Alexis made her television debut in Gilmore Girls (2000), after spending years in front of the camera as a model. Bledel's parents encouraged her to try community theater in Houston when she was 8 years old, hoping it would help their daughter overcome her shyness. She went on to perform in productions of Our Town, The Wizard of Oz and Aladdin, and later was scouted in a local mall to model. She began her modeling career while still in high school, traveling all over to locations like Tokyo, Milan, New York and Los Angeles. After graduating, she enrolled at NYU as a film major. In the Spring of 2000, Bledel landed a manager through her modeling agency and headed to Los Angeles for her first pilot season, where she quickly landed the coveted role of Rory on Gilmore Girls (2000).
When she's not working, Bledel enjoys writing, reading, shooting photography, going to the movies and spending time with her family. She was married to actor Vincent Kartheiser, with whom she has a son.
Trivia
Former model
Is a graduate of the Page Parkes Center of modeling and acting.
Didn't grow up speaking English; she learned it in school.
Her first language was Spanish.
One of Teen People Magazine's "25 Hottest Stars under 25" [2002]
Attended and graduated from Saint Agnes Academy in Houston, Texas (1999).
She has 1 younger brother, Eric David Bledel (born 1986)
Attended New York University's Tisch School of Arts as a film major for a year.
Alexis's father, Martin Bledel, is Argentinian. Alexis's paternal grandfather, Enrique Einar Bledel Huus, was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, of mostly Danish, and distant German, descent. Enrique was an executive for Coca-Cola Latin America. Alexis's paternal grandmother, Jean Campbell, was born in Troy, New York, of English, Scottish, and Irish ancestry (her own father, Alexis's great-grandfather, was from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada). Alexis's mother, Nanette (Dozier), was born in Phoenix, Arizona, of Welsh, English, Scottish, Irish, and German descent. Alexis' mother was raised in Guadalajara, Mexico, from the age of eight; her own father, Alexis' grandfather Lewis David Dozier III, was a rancher in Arizona, Mexico, and Costa Rica. Alexis and her parents consider themselves Hispanic, and Alex was raised in a Spanish-speaking household.
Moved to L.A. when she joined the Gilmore Girls (2000) cast. Alexis is an actual "Gilmore" - her paternal great-great-grandmother was born Rebecca Richardson Gilmore.
Started modeling at 14.
She hates coffee and, while her character "Rory" on Gilmore Girls (2000) consumes it daily, she drinks coca-cola out of the supposed coffee mugs.
Named #87 on the Maxim magazine "Hot 100 of 2005" list.
Her audition for Gilmore Girls (2000) was her first ever.
She is friends with Amber Tamblyn and America Ferrera her co-stars from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005) and its sequel, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008).
She was an extra in the movie Rushmore (1998). In the scene where Max speaks in front of his class at Grover Cleveland, she can be seen sitting in the front row.
Admitted on Late Show with David Letterman (1993) that she dislikes living in L.A. because she has to drive everywhere and says she is a terrible driver.
Adopted a Maltese-chihuahua mix dog named Sophie
In between scenes on the Gilmore Girls (2000), she heads to her trailer and practices on a keyboard.
Her modeling career ended when she was in winter and the photographer splashed cold water in her face.
Attended St Mark's Lutheran Middle School.
Enjoys photography, writing, reading, watching movies, and hanging with her family.
That '70s Show (1998) and Ed (2000) are some of her favorite shows.
Plays on a women's soccer team called The Hustlers.
Girlfriend of Gilmore Girls (2000) co-star Milo Ventimiglia from 2002 to 2006.
Enjoys watching the World Equestrian Games, especially the freestyle/dancing competitions.
Replaced Carey Mulligan as Violet in Violet & Daisy (2011) after Mulligan opted to do Drive (2011) instead.
Is a year older than her former Gilmore Girls (2000) co-star Jared Padalecki.
Starting to film Season 7 of the Gilmore Girls (2000) (Rory Gilmore). [July 2006]
The name "Alexis" is of Greek origin and means "defending".
Gave birth to her 1st child at age 34, a son in the fall of 2015. Child's father is her now estranged husband, Vincent Kartheiser.
Her maternal great-great-great-great-grandfather, John Hall Morgan, was Mayor of Memphis, Tennessee, from 1837 to 1838.
Her maternal great-grandmother, Elizabeth Overton, re-married to Gussie Busch, the brewing magnate who built the Anheuser-Busch Companies into the largest brewery in the world. Gussie was therefore Alexis' step-great-grandfather.
Nominated for the 2018 Emmy Award in the Supporting Actress in a Drama Series category for her role as Emily in The Handmaid's Tale (2017), but lost to Thandiwe Newton from Westworld (2016).
Trademarks:
Her awkward and shy personality
Low baby voice
Striking blue eyes
Often plays young teenagers (as an adult)
Quotes
[on getting recognized by fans] "It always happens in places where you'd rather not be recognized. Like one time, I was just getting ready to go to bed, but I had this craving for a glass of milk. So I go to the supermarket, and I have like no makeup on, and this couple comes up to me and they're like 'Thursday night!'. They sort of yelled it across the vegetable bin, and I'm like, 'Okay, don't look at me, I look awful. I'm going over here by the celery now.'"
[About her Gilmore Girls (2000) audition] "It was very unexpected. I was nervous and didn't know what I was doing. It just happened to work out".
You hear all these great stories about kids starting their own businesses and getting involved in their communities and politics and foundations - all kinds of things. And it's so much easier for kids to get motivated and do that. - on her belief that teens are motivated to affect change.
Last year, I was driving to work at 5.30 in the morning, and I ended up right next to a bus that had a huge picture of me on the side of it. They were all over L.A. but it was the first time I'd seen one. I don't know if it was because it was so early or what, but that freaked me out.
[on talking about her relationship with Milo Ventimiglia]: "It's your stuff, and if you share things that are too personal with a magazine or with your public, it's sort of like it's not really yours anymore, it's shared information and it's not special to you anymore. I don't like that. I think people with personalities who like to talk about what's going on in their lives, they'll talk without really knowing how it's going to come back and bite them, and generally, it does. And luckily, I have the kind of personality where I am extremely private. I don't really like to tell everyone my business. I'd much rather people wonder or not know".
"Well, I remember it was 5 in the morning. I'm leaving my house to go to the set of Gilmore Girls (2000). I'm really tired and just when I walk outside, a bus slowly goes down the street with my face on the side of it as Rory Gilmore. I thought, "Ewwww". It's so early. I just can't stand seeing me".
"Before I got Gilmore Girls (2000), I was modeling. I went in for a call and was told, "Sweetie, you need to lose two inches off those hips". I was 14. So I just replied, "I have more jobs than I can do. I'm in high school. I can't go to all the trouble of losing the two inches, so I'll pass". Someone might tell you to lose weight, but you can say no".
Sometimes I feel like I am an old person trapped in a young person's body. I'm boring. I go to movies. I read. That's about it.
The success of the show is overwhelming. It's like being Alice at the Mad Hatter's tea party because you never know what's going to happen next.
I was at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts for a year and I loved it. There are a lot of really creative people, there is a constant exchange of an ideas. We talk about what's been done [in film] and all the rules for filmmaking and then we talk about how to break them.
For some unknown reason, bad-boys draw you in despite the fact that they are jerks.
When I was modeling as a teenager... I just ignored it when people said to lose two inches off my hips. I had more jobs than I could take. So why would I even want more?
[on her character in The Kate Logan Affair (2010)] I had never played someone who had to be as tough as her, to be a cop and think the way she does. She comes from such a competitive place, trying to prove herself. And she has this underlying anger from her family life ... She's sensitive - maybe too sensitive. To make up for it, she has to act tough.
