- published: 02 Jul 2015
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Alexis Bledel (born September 16, 1981) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Rory Gilmore in the television series Gilmore Girls and Lena Kaligaris in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.
Bledel was born Kimberly Alexis Bledel in Houston, Texas, the daughter of Nanette (née Dozier) and Martin Bledel. Her father is from Argentina, and has Danish ancestry. Her mother had been raised in Mexico from a young age. Of her parents' upbringing in Latin America, Bledel has stated "It's the only culture my mom knows from life, and my father as well, and they made the decision to raise their children within the context they had been raised in". Bledel was raised in a Spanish-speaking household, and did not learn English until she began school. She has a younger brother, Eric.
Bledel attended Catholic St. Agnes Academy in Houston, as well as Baptist and Lutheran schools. Her mother encouraged her to try community theater to overcome her shyness. As a child, Bledel appeared in local productions of Our Town and The Wizard of Oz.[citation needed] 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.