Alexis Bledel Answers Your Questions

A couple of weeks ago, we gave YOU the opportunity to put together some questions for an interview with Alexis Bledel (Rory Gilmore on Gilmore Girls). I chose 15 questions from all of those suggested and sent them on to be asked to Alexis. Michelle, the Post Grad intern, has talked with Alexis and asked her the 15 questions you put together!!

It looks like the interview was done by email, so your questions are being answered directly by Alexis! 14 of the 15 questions were answered, on topics that include Alexis’ aspirations in her career to her memories of working on Gilmore Girls. Check it out:

From “rk”: Best story you heard or piece of advice you picked up from working with Carol Burnett and Micheal Keaton in your new movie?

ALEXIS: rk,

I really noticed the way they both satisfied people’s expectations on set, and I think it’s something that only comes with years of experience in the business. So they both gave me great advice by example, and it had to do with learning to anticipate co-workers’ expectations, and uphold a level of friendly professionalism on set between takes.

From Julia: Alexis, you attended NYU before you got the part on Gilmore Girls. Did you enjoy your time there? How did you feel about leaving home and moving to New York?

ALEXIS: Hi Julia,

When I left home to go to school I was excited, nervous, was not sure what to expect, but mostly excited. I did, and still do love New York. When I initially went to NYU in ’99 I was a film student, and must admit I found myself feeling a bit lost in a class where many of the students had been making films since they were ten years old… I had just decided that film might be something I’d be interested in studying my senior year of high school. But yes, I absolutely loved going to NYU. I loved the experience of going to college in New York City where Manhattan is basically your campus.

From Chrissie: Since you are a Texan by birth, is there anything you miss about the great Lone Star State? – Chrissie, a fellow Texan

ALEXIS: Chrissie,

Here are the things I miss most: my parents and friends who still live there, Southern hospitality, really good barbeque, and really good Tex Mex (nothing like an appetizer of nachos to compliment an entree of baby back ribs). And it’s funny; talking to fellow native Texans about the things they miss most can make me experience an intense nostalgia for all sorts of things that I don’t necessarily carry around in my heart on a daily basis, as if by osmosis or something.

From Alexandra: How was your trip to Greece? Any particular customs or phrases you learned during your time there? – Kalimera Alexandra

ALEXIS: My trip to Greece for Sisterhood 2 was even more wonderful than the trip I took for the first film because all four of us girls got to go there the second time around. Santorini is probably the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen with my own eyes, it was really more like being on vacation than being at work.

We were most interested in the food… ate a lot of tzatziki scooped up by pita bread (here is a pretty accurate recipe to make your own, it’s deeelicious – greek yoghurt with honey (a popular dessert), fresh grilled fish that was caught directly off little fishing boats like Kostas’ boat in the movies (that boat actually WAS one of the fishing boats used to catch fish for the local restaurants we loved in Amoudi Bay).

Our favorite Greek expression was "Opa!!", often used to describe a jubilant emotion. Blake says it just the way it’s supposed to be said in the sequel when Bridget, Tibby, and Carmen arrive at Lena’s grandmother’s house.

From Ryan: Alexis, you’ve said in interviews that in reality you are shy and don’t like to be the center of attention. Do you find it easier (or more fun) to play characters that different from you?

ALEXIS: Hey Ryan,

I do think it’s more fun to play characters that are nothing like me. Though sometimes I read a script and there is something in a character that I can really relate to, which can also make me excited about a project, because I feel I might know how to portray what the character is going through accurately. So I guess a bit of both is the most fun.

From Christine: Who are some of the actresses and models you consider as your role models?

ALEXIS: Christine,

I admire the choices of many different actresses, but some of my favorites are Julianne Moore, Juliette Binoche, and Emily Watson.

From daat_poison: Do you have any interest in going into directing or producing like your ex-co-stars Milo Ventimiglia and Lauren Graham?

ALEXIS: daat_poison,

There is a project I’m currently co-producing, we are not scheduled to shoot until next year, but I will be so proud when it all comes together and people can see it!

From Patty: Alexis, what kind of things do you hope to accomplish in the future, acting or modeling wise and personally?

ALEXIS: Patty,

Professionally, I just hope to be able to work on projects that I’m excited about. Personally, I hope to enjoy what each day has to offer.

From Jennifer: Are you in any way similar to the characters you played in Gilmore Girls or in Post Grad? Which one are you most like [and why]?

ALEXIS: Jennifer,

They each felt real to me for different reasons, but I can’t say that I feel as though I am entirely similar to either character. I definitely love to learn, like Rory. I liked the fact that my character in Post Grad is not so perfect; she makes mistakes.

From Jecoup: Alexis, what was you favorite ‘Stars Hollow festivity’?

ALEXIS: Jecoup,

The Hay Bail Maze was my favorite. It was enormous; it took over the whole town square on the Warner Brothers backlot. We shot scenes that included most of the cast members, and I seem to remember that there were a lot of family and friends visiting set that day, too. It was toward the end of our seventh season when everybody was saying their goodbyes for the summer, not sure if we would return for another season in the fall.

From Rebecca: What was the craziest thing you remember doing with your Gilmore Girls cast members on or off screen?

ALEXIS: Rebecca,

They had me wear a lot of bizarre costumes on the show – a pilgrim, Donna Reed, Antea in the Festival of Living Pictures, Gogo Yubari from Kill Bill, etc. The Festival of Living Pictures probably was the craziest sequence we shot, just because it was so involved, though it is based on a real event called the Pageant of the Masters that takes place annually in Laguna Beach, CA.

There was a lot of karaoke off-camera. The camera department had one of those professional machines and there would be contests that became very competitive involving the whole crew and production office, the stage being the back of camera equipment truck. And for our last day of work one season, I hired a man who went from one crew member to another and made up songs about them based on information he’d gathered about them from others standing nearby, people had funny reactions to that.

From Lucy: In Gilmore Girls, which of the 3 characters who dated Rory was your favorite? Why?

ALEXIS: Lucy,

I liked the way Rory and Dean’s relationship started out in the first few episodes. To her, he was that first boyfriend that all girls remember. The stuff between Rory and Jess was funny and interesting because they were such opposites. Maybe Logan and Rory were my favorite pairing; it was the most complicated because for her family, it recalled Lorelai and Christopher’s relationship.

From Kati: What would you say if you were offered to do a Gilmore Girls movie with the entire original cast and back with Amy and Dan?

ALEXIS: Kati,

To my knowledge, there is no Gilmore Girls movie being made. But if there were… I don’t know, I really like the way our series finale wrapped up everyone’s storylines. I thought that Rory’s graduation was a perfect right bookend to the pilot episode where Lorelai is struggling to figure out how she is going to pay for her academically advanced child’s education.

From Laura: When you were a kid did you ever have any ambition to go to Yale or Harvard, like Rory on Gilmore Girls?

ALEXIS: Laura,

I did not necessarily picture myself at an Ivy League school, I went to a pretty challenging college-preparatory high school and I was right in the middle of my class as far as grades go. Some of the people at the very top of our class went to Yale and Harvard, and I remember being pretty impressed by all the hard work they put in to get there. But I definitely wanted to go to college. NYU was the perfect school for me.

There were also some more questions submitted by AlexisBledel.net, which you can see answered here. In one of the questions, Alexis confirms that she has an official MySpace and Facebook, but no Twitter account. In the Facebook page, there’s a full scan of Alexis Bledel’s shoot for WWD!

Don’t forget, Alexis’ movie Post Grad hits theaters on August 21, 2009!

Image: Bauer-Griffin