Blake Christina Lively (born August 25, 1987) is an American
actress. She stars in the book-based TV series
Gossip Girl as
Serena van der Woodsen. She has also appeared in several films including
Accepted and
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants as well as its sequel,
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.
Early life
Lively was born in
Los Angeles to actors
Ernie and Elaine Lively. She was raised as a
Southern Baptist.
The youngest of five siblings, Lively has a brother,
Eric, two half-sisters,
Lori and
Robin, and a half-brother,
Jason. Both of her parents and all of her siblings are, or have been, in the entertainment industry. “My mom and dad always taught acting, so instead of getting me babysitters, they would just bring me to class,” Lively recalls.
As a child, Lively was
homeschooled.
Lively attended
Burbank High School in
Burbank where she participated in Burbank High School's show choir, In Sync, and was a cheerleader.
Lively stated in an interview for the August 2008
Seventeen that she attended 13 schools. She wanted to attend
Stanford University.
Lively was not at all interested in acting but during the summer between her junior and senior year, her brother, Eric, made his agent send her out on a few auditions. Of the two auditions, she got the role of Bridget for
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
