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.
During Lively' childhood, her parents would take her with them to acting classes that they taught because they didn't want to leave her with a babysitter.
Lively stated that watching her parenting teach acting classes helped her learn the "drills" of acting and gain confidence as she got older.
Lively stated that as a child, her mother would bring her to
Disney Land twice a week as an opportunity "to have some extra time to bond" with Lively, due to all the time Lively spent there, she felt that she'd "grew up at Disneyland".
