It's been twenty years since Alexis Bledel rose to fame as Rory Gilmore in the iconic mother-daughter TV show Gilmore Girls. How time flies! The show ran from 2000 to 2007, leaving its numerous fan base hungry for more. At that time, Alexis Bledel was about 26 years old. Today, she is 39. What has she done since the show wrapped up?
Bledel has worked on several movies and TV shows since Gilmore Girls ended. While her movies weren't all that successful, she did an outstanding job in Mad Men and Handmaid's Tale. Somewhere along the line, she also got married and had a baby.
10 Her First Roles After Gilmore Girls
Alexis Bledel was working nonstop from 2000 to 2007 on Gilmore Girls. After the show wrapped up, she didn't take any time off from acting, though. First, she reprised her role of Lena Kaligaris in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008) alongside Gossip Girl's Blake Lively, Ugly Betty's America Ferrera, and Two and a Half Men's Amber Tamblyn.
In 2009, she starred in Post Grad, a rom-com in which she portrayed a character very similar to Rory Gilmore: a post grad who isn't sure what to do with her life.
9 She Dabbled in Theater
Bledel was cast on Gilmore Girls when she was just a teenager. It was her first major acting role for which she had to audition six times! She was far from being a rookie in the world of acting, though. As a child, her mother encouraged her to take theater classes to overcome her shyness and she has dabbled in theater as an adult, too.
In 2011, she performed in Regrets, a thought-provoking play, set in 1954 Nevada. Not only does she love to stand on the stage, she also loves attending the theater in her spare time.
8 Bledel, A Style Icon!
Alexis Bledel has become quite the style icon during her Gilmore Girls years already. She was featured on covers of fashion magazines, such as Glamour, Seventeen, and Vanity Fair, and appeared on lists, such as Maxim magazine's "Hot 100 of 2005".
Her fashion sense continues to wow her fans to this day. In 2010, she was named as one of the "25 Most Stylish New Yorkers" in Us Weekly.
7 Other Movie Projects
Alexis Bledel has worked on at least one project every year since Gilmore Girls ended. While she started out her solo carer with a rom-com, she later on took on more serious roles, such as Sarah Weston in Robert Redford's The Conspirator (2010) and The Kate Logan Affair (2010). Later on, she starred alongside Katherine Heigl in Jenny's Wedding (2015).
6 2012: A Minor Role In Mad Men
Matthew Weiner's Mad Men ran from 2007 to 2015 and it starred John Hamm, January Jones, and Elizabeth Moss. Alexis Bledel joined the cast for three episodes in season 5 where she portrayed Beth, Pete's (Vincent Kartheiser) lonely lover.
This particular role set Bledel on a new path in life. Later on, she'd star alongside Elizabeth Moss in Handmaid's Tale and more importantly, that's how she met her husband, Vincent Kartheiser.
5 She Married Vincent Kartheiser
After meeting for the first time on the set of Mad Men, Vincent and Alexis started dating in 2012. Two years later, they tied the knot. At the time, she was 33 years old and Vincent was about 35. The two are very private about their personal lives. So much so that the world didn't even know that Alexis was expecting a baby in 2015.
4 They Welcomed A Baby In 2015
Alexis and Vincent welcomed their baby boy in 2015, but the rest of the world only found out about it in early 2016! Her former co-star Scott Patterson claims that she is an amazing mother. "She's really blossomed as a woman and now she's a proud new mother and married and happy. She's just the most likable, intelligent person and adorable human being. She hasn't changed at all."
The little boy is now a few years old, but the couple's fan base still has no idea what his name is. They truly are masters of privacy.
3 2016: Gilmore Girls Return!
2016 was a glorious year for fans of Gilmore Girls. Rory and Lorelai were back! More importantly, the show's unofficial 8th season, also known as Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, was written by Amy Sherman-Palladino. The writer left the show in season 7, which left many fans disappointed.
The revival checked in with the titular Gilmore Girls nine years down the line from where they were last seen. The show got positive reviews and fans are hoping for the second season. Lauren Graham and Scott Patterson have both said they are on board should the project ever happen, so fans are optimistic.
2 2017: The Success Of The Handmaid's Tale
Despite all the various projects, Alexis Bledel didn't reach a new career high for a decade after leaving Gilmore Girls. But in 2017, that finally changed. She was cast as Ofglen in Handmaid's Tale and proved that she is an outstanding dramatic actor. She won an Emmy Award in 2017 and was nominated in 2018 and 2020 as well. Today, she's just as famous for her work on this show as she is for Gilmore Girls.
1 Next Up: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 3!
What does the future hold for Alexis Bledel? It's hard to speculate what she's up to in her private life because she likes to keep things to herself, but as far as her career goes, she is supposed to appear in the third installment of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
The movie has been talked about for several years now, but so far, there is no release date in sight. Hopefully, we get to see Bledel on the big screens soon.