When the makers of the original “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” movie saw that their sequel option was expiring, the preparation went into hyperspeed.
“It was hectic; it was crazy,” Alexis Bledel said. “It was evolving as we were shooting it.”
What could have been unnerving was business as usual for Bledel.
From 2000 to 2007, she conquered the fluid domain of series television as the pragmatic yet ambitious Rory Gilmore, who had machine-gun banter with her single mom on “Gilmore Girls.” “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2” is Bledel’s first movie since the WB drama comedy went off the air.
She will appear in Fox Atomic’s “The Post-Grad Survival Manual” next year.
“I like change,” she said. “So going from one job to another is really exciting for me after all these years.”
Bledel turns 27 in September and looks like the same Rory, with otherworldly blue eyes that invite the corniest of metaphors. Her dog Sophie, a Maltese-chihuahua mix, sniffs about and occasionally yelps.
The actor’s manager and publicist sit to the side, texting and checking e-mails. It’s a busy room, even by Manhattan hotel standards.
Bledel wouldn’t be here promoting “Traveling Pants 2” it weren’t for the original’s success on DVD after a modest $39 million showing in theaters.
“I think the title is a bit strange,” she said. “I don’t think it’s something that people would run into theaters to see.”
The movie eventually connected, she said, because the Ann Brashares coming-of-age books, on which both movies are based, capture those recognizable moments.
“I think it’s a very relatable time for a lot of people, people trying to start their own lives,” Bledel said.
Besides, any studio would be remiss not to mount a follow-up while the celebrity-minted principals were contractually bound.
Bledel built a devoted following on “Gilmore Girls,” as did “Pants” co-star Amber Tamblyn on “Joan of Arcadia.” Now the other two in the cinematic foursome sharing the magical jeans are having their moment: Blake Lively from “Gossip Girl” and America Ferrera from “Ugly Betty.”
All have kept in touch since the original, Bledel said, enough so to call themselves friends.
A Houston native who began her career as a model, Bledel nailed her first audition, for “Gilmore Girls,” beginning life in show business from a rare vantage point — steadily employed and on top. Now she is an actress for hire dealing with the requisite ups and downs.
“I’m looking forward to some jobs where things are kind of ready ahead of time and I’m excited from the get-go and there’s no tweaking that has to be done on my end,” Bledel said.
Soon after this chat, she was to wrap a 20-something ensemble indie called “The Good Guy” in New York City. And then, who knows? The Screen Actors Guild is still threatening to strike.
Bledel’s visibility still percolates from “Gilmore Girls,” but she submitted a few noteworthy big-screen performances during the show’s run: as a lonely girl who befriends immortals in “Tuck Everlasting” (2002) and as a gun-toting hooker in “Sin City” (2005).
To her teen fans, though, she is Rory everlasting, the kid who had the cool mom who sometimes acted like a sister.
“I’m so glad so many people loved the show the way they did, and they can still watch the DVDs,” she said. “A lot of people say, ‘That’s just the relationship I had with my mother’ or ‘I wish I had that relationship with my mother.’
As long as Bledel is focusing on film, she has an opportunity to expand her audience base by hundreds of millions, if certain directors are willing to take a chance.
Born to a father from Argentina and mother from Mexico, Bledel’s first language is Spanish. And she’d love to use it on camera.
“I think it’s a little tricky because, in the States, when they want a Latin actress, they want someone who looks sort of stereotypically Latin,” she said. “But I think I can get away with playing a Spanish or Argentine character. I really hope I get to do that someday.”
