Alexis Bledel

Bledel was born on September 16, 1981, in Houston, Texas, to Nanette (née Dozier), who worked as a gift processor and flight attendant, and Martín Bledel. She has a younger brother, Eric. Her father is from Argentina. Her mother was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and her family moved back to Mexico when she was eight. Her paternal grandfather, Enrique Einar Bledel Huus, was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and was of Danish and German descent; Enrique was Vice President of Coca-Cola Latin America and the Coca-Cola Inter-American Corporation. Bledel's paternal grandmother, Jean (née Campbell), was originally from New York and had Scottish, Irish, and English ancestry. Of her parents' upbringing in Latin America, Bledel said: "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 grew up in a Spanish-speaking household, and did not learn English until she began school. She identifies as Latina. Bledel attended Baptist and Lutheran schools, and graduated from the Catholic St. Agnes Academy in Houston in 1999. 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. She was scouted at a local shopping mall and given work as a fashion model. Bledel attended NYU before dropping out when she was cast in Gilmore Girls at the age of 18.