Alexis recently did a one-on-one interview with NewsOK. Read the interview below, and be sure to check back later today or tomorrow, as i’ll be adding “Post Grad” promotional videos screencaps.
Alexis Bledel cannot draw many comparisons between her life and that of her “Post Grad” character, Ryden Malby, who graduates from college with honors but must go home and live with her goofball family when her dream job does not pan out. But the former “Gilmore Girls” star said she had plenty of friends who could quote chapter and verse on the experience.
“It’s so hard,” Bledel, 27, said in a one-on-one interview at Hotel Casa del Mar in Santa Monica. “I mean, you finally gain your independence and go off to college, and you work so hard and graduate, only to have doors shut in your face. It’s incredibly humbling and difficult, and so many people I know have done this. A couple years later they end up in the job they want, but the process in between is hard to take.”Bledel sees no shame in such an outcome. Born in Houston to an Argentine-Danish father and Mexican mother, Bledel cites the familial cultures of Latin America and Europe, where it is not so unusual for adult children to return after college to live, work and enjoy home cooking. But without the stress and importance placed on young adults getting a killer career straight out of the gate, “Post Grad” would not resonate with recent graduates competing for those few recession-era jobs.
“We live in such an individualistic society here, and there is a lot of emphasis on the self and what you can achieve,” Bledel said. “Actually, there’s nothing wrong with going and living with your family. People in other countries are a lot more relaxed about that.”
After graduating from the ranks of Houston community theater to modeling and acting work in her teens, Bledel found her greatest success in the actors’ equivalent to temporary family: ensemble projects. The WB/CW series “Gilmore Girls” was a perfect storm of sharp writing and acting chemistry. Bledel and co-star Lauren Graham played Rory and Lorelai Gilmore as a mother-and-daughter team so close, the challenge was in not finishing the other’s sentences.
“I thought it was smart, I liked the character, and I had a take on her, but I kept confusing it with ‘Golden Girls’ at first,” Bledel said.“I wouldn’t say I was aware at that point that there was chemistry, but our personalities were well matched. We could spend days together and make each other laugh.
“Thank goodness we were so well-matched, because it lasted for seven years. We were very lucky there.”
That taste for ensemble work extended to her “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” movies with Blake Lively, Amber Tamblyn and America Ferrera. And it led her directly to “Post Grad,” where she could absorb comedic timing tricks from the actors playing her family: Michael Keaton, Jane Lynch and Carol Burnett.“It was wonderful — I don’t think they could have picked better people for these roles,” Bledel said. “They’re all so good at comedy and have such unique styles, that you really get the desired effect of an eccentric, idiosyncratic bunch.
“I just love being part of group of actors I can learn from. So much can happen — you get a lot more organic performances, and it’s great when people can improv and work spontaneously.”
