The Transformation Of Alexis Bledel From Gilmore Girls To Now

If you're a fan of the teen comedy-drama, "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants," or TV dramas such as "Mad Men" and "The Handmaid's Tale," then you'll know the name Alexis Bledel. But to TV lovers around the world, Bledel is best known by another name: Rory Gilmore. She played the studious coffee-lover in "Gilmore Girls" from 2000 to 2007. However, fans may not know that "Gilmore Girls" was her first ever acting role. Being a fresh-faced college grad made her stand out to the show's casting director, Jill Anthony. "Luckily, we had videotaped one of her early auditions. We popped that in, and they saw her on camera and she just jumped off the screen, you know. Those blue eyes," Anthony told Vanity Fair.

The early years of her career were defined by "Gilmore Girls," but as she has progressed, Bledel has turned her hand to a variety of projects, from dark dramas to TV movies, all while trying to live out of the public eye. Keep reading for a closer look at the transformation of Alexis Bledel from her early life — including the reason she decided to pursue acting which led her to the set of "Gilmore Girls" — to adulthood, her first Emmy-winning role, and becoming a mom.

Alexis Bledel was born and raised in Houston, Texas. Her love of acting came to her early in life, spurred on by her multicultural upbringing. Bledel's father hailed from Buenos Aires in Argentina, while her mother was raised in Mexico from the age of 2. So her childhood was a mix of Latin and American culture — but she admitted this was hard to navigate at times. "It did leave me kind of in between culturally. You know, I'm not completely American and I'm not completely Hispanic," she explained on an episode of "Back Home." Spanish is actually Bledel's first language, though, and she didn't learn English until she started going to school.

Growing up this way had its pros and cons. "It does leave you searching for an identity, I think, and that's probably why I was attracted to acting, because I could make up my own identity in a character," she explained. Bledel found her sense of identity in community theater, starring in productions of classic takes, such as "The Wizard of Oz" and "Aladdin." However, she didn't pursue an acting career until after college.

Bledel's first taste of working life came after she was discovered as a model at age 14. She even took time off from her senior year of high school to travel for modeling jobs, working for popular magazines like Seventeen. It wasn't long after that she landed the role of Rory Gilmore, which shot her straight into the spotlight.

After a busy modeling career in her teenage years, Alexis Bledel headed off to college, attending New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. The film major had big ambitions of working behind the camera after graduation, but her first job ended up being in front of the camera on "Gilmore Girls." This meant she had to pack up and move from New York to Los Angeles because although the show is set in Connecticut and is synonymous with quintessential New England fall, "Gilmore Girls" was filmed primarily at the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank.

In an interview with Elle Girl in 2005, Bledel admitted that while this move was incredibly exciting, it was a very difficult time for her, too. "I was completely overwhelmed... I was working 18-hour days, and weekends, too. I didn't even know the basics about acting!" she explained. Crying on command was a foreign concept for Bledel, as was hitting her marks in front of the camera. That's why she's linking arms with her on-screen mom Lauren Graham in a lot of early scenes; Graham was secretly guiding her from one spot to another.

Of course, once she got comfortable on set, Bledel soon got the hang of this. Looking back, she credits the fast-paced show for teaching her a lot about the world of acting. "It really helped me learn how to memorize dialogue quickly and really comprehensively, which is great for auditioning and any work I get after," she said to E!

While she was busy starring on "Gilmore Girls" for a majority of the 2000s, Alexis Bledel also turned her attention to the big screen during this time. In 2005, she starred in two feature films, "Sin City," "Bride and Prejudice," and "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants." Although they are from wildly different genres, the common denominator between these movies is that they all had scripts Bledel was extremely passionate about. "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" became a particularly notable credit in her filmography, as the teen comedy-drama became an instant classic.

The movie follows four teenage friends who go their separate ways during summer break and send each other a pair of jeans to stay in touch with each other. Bledel plays one of them, Lena, alongside Amber Tamblyn as Tibby, America Ferrera as Carmen, and Blake Lively as Bridget. The most prominent theme in the movie is friendship, which is something Bledel always found relatable. "They're very real teenage experiences and I think the friendship between the four girls is something that is more realistic than a lot of the relationships we see between girls in movies lately," she explained to MovieWeb after the film's release. She was also particularly passionate about the film telling the story of friendships between characters who wouldn't necessarily fit into the same high school cliques, and showing how that's what makes them so fun and interesting.

While friendship was blossoming on-screen, lifelong bonds were also being formed behind the scenes. After returning for the 2008 sequel, the four actors continued to hang out. According to Tamblyn, they talk almost daily, and they can regularly be seen coming together to support each other at major career and life events, such as celebrating Ferrera's Oscar nomination.

As the old adage goes, life often imitates art. This was certainly the case for Alexis Bledel when it came to her and Rory Gilmore's romantic relationships. Bledel dated both Jared Padalecki and Milo Ventimiglia – aka Rory's first and second boyfriends, Dean Forester and Jess Mariano — in real life behind the scenes of "Gilmore Girls."

Bledel and Ventimiglia dated pretty seriously from 2002 to 2006; They even discussed marriage. Revealing how the topic came up in her relationship with Ventimiglia during an interview with People, she explained: "I think everybody who has been dating for more than a couple of years probably talks about it at some point. It's a fun thing for us to talk about, but that's it."

Her romance with Ventimiglia was common knowledge at the time, but the truth about her relationship with Padalecki only came to light in 2021, but it seems it was much more short-lived. The "Supernatural" star admitted that it was a pretty tame romance. However, Bledel's romantic history did become a bit of a running joke on set by the time the series wrapped. Casting director Mara Casey told Life & Style: "We did have a joke about casting all of Alexis' [real-life] boyfriends. She dated Jared and Milo. And she also dated a young New York actor named Chris Heuisler, who played a guest role."

Moving on from "Gilmore Girls" and the fictional town of Stars Hollow was pretty hard for Alexis Bledel when its finale aired in 2007. "It did take me a while to get this character out of my system," Bledel admitted to Collider. She felt immense gratitude at having been lucky enough to portray Rory, but at the same time, did everything she could to escape her when "Gilmore Girls" ended. "I tried to play as many different characters as I could and reach as far as I could, sometimes in strange directions. I was just trying to play characters that were as different as I would be allowed," she explained.

In that post-"Gilmore Girls" phase of her life, Bledel mainly turned her attention to film, not wanting to be tied into another long TV contract. Romantic comedies were a logical place to start, and she appeared in "The Good Guy" alongside Scott Porter and Bryan Greenberg, followed by "Post Grad," a movie about figuring out who you are after college, which also stars Michael Keaton and Carol Burnett.

From there on out, Bledel's filmography became more diverse. She starred in "The Conspirator," a period film about Abraham Lincoln's assassination, and "The Kate Logan Affair," which follows her character as she embarks on an affair with a married man. She then teamed up with Irish star Saoirse Ronan for 2011's "Violet and Daisy," a movie where the two actors play teenage assassins.

Following her very varied film roles, Alexis Bledel reached another major milestone in her career: making her Broadway debut. Bledel had successfully proved her versatility and shut down any worry that she would be typecast by Rory's studious good-girl image, so playing a sex worker on the stage was the natural next step in her career.

In 2012, Bledel starred in "Regrets," originating the role of Nevada townie Chrissie opposite Ansel Elgort as Caleb. Speaking about the move from screen to stage, Bledel told TheaterMania: "It has been a goal for a while. I always wanted to try theater professionally, and then this came about and I couldn't pass it up."

She learned new skills, particularly how to tune into and react in character to other actors' performances. But most importantly, this exciting career opportunity allowed Bledel to reconnect with a forgotten part of her childhood, as she first fell in love with acting by performing in local stage productions. "It feels like being a kid again. I'm happier than I've ever been," she recalled to Interview. Bledel shared her hope to do more theater in the future, but in the meantime, life quickly got busy, and an exciting TV role led Bledel in a different direction.

After making her Broadway debut and starring in well over a dozen movies, Alexis Bledel was happy to return to the small screen in 2012. Although it was only for a short three episode stint on "Mad Men," her character, Beth Dawes, made an impression in more ways than one. Beth had a brief but shocking affair with one of the main characters, Pete Campbell, played by Vincent Katheiser, who Bledel then began a relationship with in real life.

Sparks were apparently flying on the set of 1960s period drama, but the pair tried to keep their blossoming romance to themselves until Bledel left the show. "We were completely professional. We never saw each other out. We never — it was nothing, it was just work," Kartheiser told Vulture in 2014.

In the same interview, the show's creator, Matthew Weiner, noted that it was Bledel's talent in front of the camera was part of what attracted Kartheiser to her. He added that they were equally matched because "they're both very down to earth, with a sense of responsibility and strong family ties." The pair obviously had very real chemistry and by 2013, they were engaged. Bledel and Kartheiser then quietly tied the knot in 2014 and have preferred to keep out of the spotlight. They didn't make their first public appearance together as a married couple until 2016.

2016 was a big year in Alexis Bledel's life for another major reason; the "Gilmore Girls" reunion. "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life" is a four-part Netflix special with episodes that are essentially as long as feature-length movies. It's set throughout the different seasons of the year, beginning with "Winter" and ending with "Fall."

Coming back to the role of Rory Gilmore and reuniting with the entire Stars Hollow clan after nine years away was a huge full circle moment for Bledel. "Having the time between the end of the series and the beginning of these episodes really gave us a lot of perspective on what this show meant to people and what it means for us, creatively," Bledel explained to Collider. This meant Bledel was more grateful than ever to be portraying Rory once more, but there was just one thing she wasn't happy about.

Even devout "Gilmore Girls" fans may not know that Bledel had a major problem with Rory's pregnancy storyline at the end of "A Year in the Life." As viewers will recall, Rory tells her mom the shocking news at the end of the series, but the identity of the baby's father is not revealed. Speaking about the ending at Deadline's 2017 Emmy contender panel, Bledel admitted: "I hoped Rory would end on a high note. After all her hard work, I wanted to see her succeed and be thriving. So it was a hard thing for me to digest."

However, Rory getting pregnant was how the show's creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino, always planned to end the original series. But because of her contract dispute with The CW and exit ahead of the original show's seventh season, she only got her chance when writing "A Year in the Life."

Rory Gilmore may be one of the most beloved TV characters from the 21st century, and playing her earned Alexis Bledel a number of accolades, including a Teen Choice Award and a Young Artist Award. But it wasn't until she took on the role of Emily, or Ofglen, in "The Handmaid's Tale" that she earned her first Emmy Award win in 2017, plus three more nominations.

Swapping Stars Hollow for Gilead, Bledel found a new home on the dystopian drama from 2017 to 2021. Playing a woman resisting an authoritarian regime is one of the darkest roles she's ever played, but she was up to the challenge. "I always wanted to do dramatic work, but I didn't know that [I could], I guess, delve into roles like this one. It's been really fulfilling in a way I didn't know this job could be. It's really been incredible," she gushed to E!

After four seasons, Bledel announced she was leaving the show in 2022. "After much thought, I felt I had to step away from The Handmaid's Tale at this time. I am forever grateful to Bruce Miller for writing such truthful and resonant scenes for Emily, and to Hulu, MGM, the cast and crew for their support," she said in a statement to EW.

Throughout her career, Alexis Bledel has been a passionate activist for causes that are important to her. Back in 2012, she and America Ferrera helped launch ONE's Women and Girls Initiative, which was implemented to ensure that women are at the center of development policy in countries like Honduras. "Women and girls are the best investment the world can make in the fight against extreme poverty," Bledel expressed in a ONE press release. "When you invest in a girl or a woman, that investment helps not only the individual, but it benefits her family and community as well."

The actor has continually spoken out on equality and feminist issues. Along with other members of the cast of "The Handmaid's Tale," she promoted the activism and petition website Change.org in 2017. In the campaign's video, Bledel and her co-stars use the prominent themes from the Hulu series — the importance of and increasing control over reproductive rights — as a cautionary tale to illustrate what could happen if people don't "look up" and exercise their rights. Urging the public not to make the same mistakes the characters in Margaret Atwood's story did, Bledel said: "Take action today on the issues you care about in our country."

When she's not actively filming on set, Alexis Bledel prefers to spend her time out of the spotlight. She keeps details of her personal life very private, like her low-key wedding to Vincent Kartheiser. Similarly, the couple secretly welcomed their first child, a son, in late 2015, but didn't reveal their happy news publicly. It was actually her "Gilmore Girls" co-star Scott Patterson who accidentally spilled the beans in an interview.

Bledel also kept quiet in 2022 when the news broke that she had split from Kartheiser, but she may have scored the record for the quickest celebrity divorce, with the pair finalizing the papers just three weeks after separating. These big life changes — having her son and then becoming a single parent — have, of course, affected how she navigates her career going forward. In the past, Bledel said yes to a lot of acting roles. She was keen to diversify and try lots of different characters and prove that there was more to her than being Rory Gilmore, even if that means she starred in a few critically unimpressive films, like "Violet and Daisy" and "Crypto."

However, she has become more picky about her projects and how she chooses to spend time away from her son, which may be part of the reason she hasn't acted on camera since leaving "The Handmaid's Tale" in 2022. "More than anything, I just think about what roles I take on, and make sure that it's really something that I feel passionate about if I'm going to leave home and go work," she explained to ET.