Alexis Bledel: Gilmore Girl Grows Up - Portrait Magazine, August 2009 Issue
Alexis Bledel: Gilmore Girl Grows Up By Angela (Age 21, Australia)
It’s been two years since Alexis Bledel finished dedicating seven years of her life to being one half of our favourite mother-daughter duo, Rory Gilmore. After years of playing fresh faced teenager characters, Alexis Bledel, now 27, is back and ready to show the world that she’s all grown up and no longer little Miss Rory Gilmore. Starting with the release of this month’s Post Grad, Portrait brings you the scoop on life after Gilmore.
Back to the Beginning: Gilmore Girls Promo
It's hard to believe fresh faced Alexis is actually 27!
Since Gilmore Girls, Alexis has starred in the ER series finale, and the sequel to her 2005 smash hit film – Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. This month we see her in the first of two movies that show Alexis is trying to break out of the teen mould that she’s often been cast in. The release of the film Post Grad in US cinemas, sees Alexis Bledel playing Ryden Malby, a university graduate adjusting to being in the real world and the responsibilities life brings with it, such as finding a real job. The film takes a realistic approach on life after college, with Ryden moving back home with her eccentric family after she is unable to find a job. She also faces drama in her relationship with her best friend Adam, played by Friday Night Lights’ Zach Gilford, and is intrigued by her new older neighbour David, played by Rodrigo Santoro. Unlike her character on Gilmore Girls, Ryden is outgoing, smart, and more importantly imperfect and flawed. It is a role that Alexis feels viewers will be able to relate more to than her former alter ego.
“As the years went by on Gilmore Girls, I noticed that Rory was kind of like an idealized product of the show’s imagination because she was really perfect in a lot of ways, which started to annoy me a bit, but you have to keep playing the character. But Ryden -– I think she’s much more relatable in a lot of ways and this character’s story picks up in the same stage of life where Rory left off, graduating from college. So for anyone who likes the show, its kind of -– it’s a continuation in a way, but she’s a completely different girl because she makes a lot of mistakes. She has a very typical college experience. She’s kind of an average girl, and I can relate much more to her,” Alexis told North by Northwestern in a web conference.
The poster for 'Post Grad'
Post Grad, (which also a few other respected actors in the industry, including Michael Keaton and Jane Lynch, who play Ryden’s parents) was filmed before the global financial crisis, so the issues Ryden faces in the film are certainly predominant right now.
“I read the script of Post Grad two or three years before I got it from my agent because I knew the writer through a friend. And when I read it the first time, I thought it seemed really relevant to my generation—I had heard stories of friends that sounded similar, stories of people from my class at NYU that had difficulty finding a job and had to move back home. Of course now, with the economy, it’s much worse—but what’s [going] on now with jobs has been building for a long while, and I liked the film’s offbeat commercial sensibility—the family members are perfectly cast and wonderfully eccentric, ”Alexis said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
Post grad trailer
Aleix on the set of 'The Good Guy'
After Post Grad, you can then see Alexis in another film, alongside yet another Friday Night Lights alum – Scott Porter. The pair star in the independent film The Good Guy, which was shown at the New York Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year, but it’s commercial release date is yet to be confirmed. In The Good Guy, Alexis plays Beth a savvy urban conservationist, and girlfriend to Wall Street trader and Mr Perfect - Tommy, played by Scott. The pair have everything going for them in this fast-paced world, until newbie Wall Street hotshot played by Bryan Greenberg from One Tree Hill and Bride Wars, shows up. “I don’t usually get to play my own age—I was always playing a much younger age on Gilmore Girls—and it was great to finally have a script about young professionals in their twenties and dating. Most of the scripts I see are about first loves, or young, teenage love—you don’t always see stories about the experience of being 20-something,” Alexis said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
The Good Guy clip:
Since Gilmore Girls, Alexis has been pretty casual when it comes to acting – a few movies here and there, the occasional TV appearance, as well as a foray back into modelling, signing with IMG Models. The world really is Alexis’s oyster at the moment, with so many interests in different areas, she could do anything she wanted, something she acknowledged during a recent press day for Post Grad.
“I’ve never really been in a situation where I’ve had to really think of something, but I’m basically interested in any of the humanities, like photography, writing and any art, really. I think I would have a hard time choosing because I have so many different interests and I can’t really pinpoint one. I guess you just choose something, when you have to. I don’t know,” she said.
Alexis as Dr Julia Wise in the ER Finale:
Alexis as Lena in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.
Like many actors and Hollywood stars, Alexis realises the importance of giving back and supporting charities. Her favourite charity is Peace Games, which she was introduced to by Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants co-star and friend America Ferrera. “They help kids in school learn how to resolve conflicts without resorting to violence. They do different exercises and play games to learn
Prior to Gilmore Girls and acting, Alexis was studying film at NYU, but never actually completed her degree. Dedicating 7 years of your life to a television show is tough, which is why since the cancellation of
Alexis with former Gilmore Girls co-star Milo Ventimiglia. The pair dated for three and a half years.
Gilmore Girls, Alexis has kept a low profile. With the occasional film and television role, these days Alexis now spends most of her time in New York and also takes a few classes in her spare time.
“I have a lot more free time; those one-hour shows are very full time. Now I do a movie or two a year, and the rest of the time is time off, so I take classes and try to keep myself busy. You want the regularity of a show, but there’s no way to have the great part of a show and the freedom of going from job to job in the film world. You have to structure your own days, and some people are better at that than others. I have really good days where I’m super productive and others where the whole day just goes by,” she told Envy magazine in a recent interview.
True sisterhood - Alexis and her co-stars formed a close friendship both on and off screen.
Being in New York, has also inspired the former film student, to write. “I kinda just scribble down ideas [for stories] here and there,” Alexis told Metro International. “I feel much more creative here. It’s easy to find inspiration just walking around — there’s always something interesting to do, which I love.”
Although she may be taking the casual approach to her career for now, that’s not to say she doesn’t have aspirations for the future. “I would love to do a really twisted psychological thriller, and I would love to do something really dramatic. I think everything I’ve done has a little fantasy or has a little comedy. I did the last episode of ER, and that was serious. That was the first thing where I was like, ‘Wow, there’s no comedy in this whatsoever,’ and it felt really good, because it was so different. I’m a pretty serious lady. I’m kind of a goofball, but secretly. Not everyone sees it. I have to be so comfortable to relax—usually I’m quite serious,” she said to Envy magazine.
