Alexis Bledel (born September 16, 1981) is an American actress and fashion model. She is best 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. Her mother, Nanette Dozier, is Mexican, and her father, Martin, is Argentinean, 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 St. Agnes Academy in Houston. As a child, Bledel appeared in local productions of Our Town and The Wizard of Oz. She was scouted at a local 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. The single charted at number 39 on the UK charts. 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. Sin City is shot almost entirely in black-and-white, with splashes of color here and there, such as a red dress, blood or an entirely yellow character named That Yellow Bastard. In Becky's case, it was her eyes that kept their color. 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 May 2009, Bledel returned to the modeling world, signing a contract with the modeling division of IMG. Future work She has recently been cast in a new movie entitled The Letters, which is anticipated to be released in 2010. The Letters is a drama / thriller film by director Todd Fjelsted and is currently in pre-production. Bledel is set to star 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 will play Beth, Porter's girlfriend. Anna Chlumsky of My Girl will play her friend. She was also a guest star on the two-hour series finale of ER, playing new intern Dr. Julia Wise. Bledel enjoys reading, hiking, taking photographs and spending time with her family and friends. She also likes to play the piano. Between scenes on Gilmore Girls, she went to her trailer to play her keyboard. She also works with First Book, a nonprofit organization, which gives books to the poor. After drinking so much coffee due to her character Rory's strong appreciation for it on the first season of Gilmore Girls, she became tired of it. When Rory "drinks coffee," Bledel is drinking tea or Coca-Cola instead. She dated her Gilmore Girls co-star Milo Ventimiglia for three and a half years, beginning around December 2002, before separating sometime before July 2006. During an April 25, 2006 appearance on Late Night With Conan O'Brien, Bledel revealed that she loves traveling to Europe, and that she has been to the Tuscany region of Italy. In the same appearance, she also stated that she likes all types of foods, from gourmet cuisine to fast food specialties. In an appearance on Late Show with David Letterman on May 25, 2007 she revealed that she plays soccer recreationally, on a team called "The Hustlers".