Kimberly Alexis Bledel (born September 16, 1981) is a model and actress from the United States. She is best known for her roles as Rory Gilmore in Gilmore Girls (2000–2007) and Emily Malek in The Handmaid’s Tale (2017–2021). Bledel also appeared as Rory Gilmore in the Netflix reunion miniseries Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life in 2012 and reprised her role as Rory Gilmore in the Netflix reunion miniseries Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life (2016).
Bledel made her feature film debut as Winnie Foster in the Disney live action adaptation of Tuck Everlasting (2002), and she went on to appear in Sin City (2005), Post Grad (2009), and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants film series as Lena Kaligaris.
Bledel’s work has earned her numerous awards and nominations. She was nominated for Satellite, Teen Choice, and Young Artist Awards for her role in Gilmore Girls. She received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for her role in The Handmaid’s Tale, winning Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. She has also been nominated for three Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Drama Series.
Alexis Bledel Dating History
1. Jared Padalecki (2000-2001)
While fans had long suspected that Bledel and Jared Padalecki, who played Dean, Rory’s first love on “Gilmore Girls,” were romantically involved behind the scenes, their brief romance wasn’t confirmed until just before the revival’s highly anticipated release. In a 2016 interview with Life & Style magazine, Mara Casey, the feel-good drama’s casting director, revealed Padalecki and Bledel’s offscreen romance.
The “Supernatural” star then finally broke his silence in a February 2021 Glamour story, revealing that the two met on set while playing a fictional couple. “That is correct! But, prior to the show, I had never met Alexis. We did go on dates “He told the publication. “When Alexis and I met, we were both 17 years old, both Texans in this strange new city, and I said, ‘Hey, want to go out to dinner?’ I’m not sure if we tried to keep it hidden. I wish it was something scandalous! I think it was more amusing. We were two 17-year-olds who said, ‘Hey, want to go bowling?’ It wasn’t anything particularly juicy.”
He also revealed that he and Bledel dated during the first season of the show, which aired between 2000 and 2001.
2. Chris Heuisler (2002)
Casey revealed in the same interview with Life & Style magazine that after Paladecki, he dated a “young New York actor named Chris Heuisler, who played a guest role” on “Gilmore Girls.”
On the show, Heuisler played Peter, a member of the Stars Hollow basketball team, the Minutemen, in season two’s episode 11, “Secrets and Loans.” While he and Bledel were only in the same frame for a brief moment during his brief appearance, the two apparently dated after meeting on set in 2002.
3. Milo Ventimiglia (2003-June 2006)
Bledel and Ventimiglia, who fans will remember as her on-again, off-again on-screen boyfriend, Jess, on “Gilmore Girls,” dated publicly for nearly four years. When Jess was introduced in season two’s midpoint, the actors fell in love and reportedly began dating in real life in 2003. While Rory’s tumultuous romance with the Stars Hollow troublemaker does not last, Bledel and Ventimiglia were very serious about each other and were even discussing marriage at one point. “Everyone who has been dating for more than a couple of years has probably discussed it at some point. It’s a fun topic for us to discuss, but that’s all there is to it “In a September 2005 interview with People, Bledel stated.
Bledel and Ventimiglia called it quits after three and a half years in June 2006, with the latter’s rep confirming the news to People. The split appears to be amicable, as the ex-couple shared the screen again in the reboot. And when Bledel won an Emmy for her performance in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” the “This Is Us” star congratulated her. “I’m overjoyed for her. She’s always been a great actor, and I believe she’ll be recognised for as long as she’s been in the business. I’m overjoyed for her “In 2017, he gushed about Bledel’s talent to Daily Dish.
4. Vincent Kartheiser (June 2012-August 2022)
The “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” alum met Kartheiser when she appeared as a guest star on the fifth season of “Mad Men.” On the show, Bledel’s onscreen counterpart had an illicit affair with Kartheiser’s Pete Campbell. According to Kartheiser, the couple began dating two months after filming wrapped. The rumored couple made their relationship public in October 2012.
Kartheiser proposed to Bledel nearly a year into their relationship, and she said yes. The “Titans” alum confirmed his engagement to Us Weekly in March 2013 at the “Mad Men” season six Hollywood premiere. “I’m a very fortunate man. ‘Girlfriend,’ I keep saying. Then I realize, ‘I mean, my fiancée,’ “He revealed.
In June 2014, the couple married in an intimate ceremony in Ojai, California. Since the beginning of their relationship, both have been notoriously tight-lipped about their life together, rarely making joint public appearances or publicly discussing each other. In a rare interview with Vulture in 2014, Kartheiser finally opened up about keeping their personal lives private.
“It’s something I realized regarding the most important aspects of my life. It lessens if I share them with the world and open the door to their rage that they need to vent or their adoration that they want to show. It devalues and weakens it. And it’s magical, love, and deeply spiritual, and it just doesn’t feel right “He elaborated.
The couple secretly welcomed their first child, a son, in the fall of 2015, which was only revealed when Scott Patterson, who played Luke on “Gilmore Girls,” unintentionally shared the exciting news with Glamour in May 2016. The twosome had finally made their red carpet debut a few months prior when they attended the Screen Actors Guild Awards together in January 2016.
People confirmed on August 17, 2022, that the couple are officially divorcing after eight years of marriage, with Kartheiser filing for divorce from Bledel at the Putnam County Supreme Court in New York on August 10. Neither party has publicly discussed their divorce.
About Alexis Bledel
Kimberly Alexis Bledel was born on September 16, 1981, in Houston, Texas. Nanette (a flight attendant) grew up in Mexico, and Martin (from Argentina) is her father. Alexis and her younger brother, Eric, were raised in a Spanish-speaking home, and Bledel didn’t begin learning English until she started school.
Alexis attended St. Agnes Academy, a Catholic school in Houston, as well as Lutheran and Baptist schools. Alexis Bledel was cast in plays such as “The Wizard of Oz” and “Our Town” when she was a child by her mother to help her overcome her shyness. She began working as a model as a teenager after being discovered by a scout at a local mall. Bledel enrolled at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 1999 to study film, but she dropped out after a year.