Gilmore Girls star Alexis Bledel has captured viewers' hearts for the six seasons—and on two networks—as Rory Gilmore, the lovable Yalie with dreams of journalistic stardom on the now-defunct CW series.

Featured opposite Lauren Graham, Bledel dated her Gilmore Girls on-screen love interest Milo Ventimiglia for more than three years before the couple separated in July 2006.

Lauded for her down-to-earth nature and fun-loving personality both on-screen and off, this Houston native got her start doing community theater in her hometown. Her feature film debut came with 2002’s Tuck Everlasting, in which Bledel starred alongside Ben Kingsley, Sissy Spacek and fellow WB-network alum Joshua Jackson.

In recent years, Bledel has taken roles in the high-budget blockbusters Sin City and the critically acclaimed girl-bonding flick The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, with Ugly Betty breakout star America Ferrera. Bledel reprised her Traveling Pants role when the film’s highly anticipated sequel hit theaters in 2008.