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".
Lively' mother, whom was a former model from
Georgia, had 'inspired' her to have an interest in clothes when Lively was a child.
As a child, Lively's mother would sew and dress her from clothes from boutiques, vintage stores and tailor adult clothes to fit her. Lively said of her mothers style that: "She just did that because she was so creative and because she didn't want me to be dressed in big T-shirts cinched with a plastic clip like all the rest of the kids."
Lively stated, mainly due to her wardrobe, when she attended a private school in Los Angeles in second grade, for the first and only time in her life she did not fit in. "It was the only school where people were just downright mean to me [...] They would make fun of my clothes because I dressed differently than the other kids."
Education
During Lively's' childhood, she attended 13 different schools. When she was three years old, her mother enrolled her in the first grade because Lively' older brother was supposed to start school, but he didn't want to go alone, so her mother told the school Lively was six since she "was so tall".
After a few weeks, her teachers "said they would have to put me in mentally disabled classes because I wasn't up to pace with the rest of the kids" and thought that she "was slow because all I wanted to do was sleep while the other kids were doing their projects," shortly after Lively' mother took her out of the school.
As a child, Lively was
homeschooled.
Lively attended
Burbank High School in
Burbank; while attending the school, Lively participated in Burbank High School's show choir, In Sync, and was a cheerleader.
Before Lively choose to pursue an acting career she had originally planned to attend
Stanford University after finishing high school.
When Lively was fifteen, her older brother Eric took her out of school for two months to go on grand tour of Europe, while on the trip, Eric had used most of the time on the trip to try to talk Lively into having an acting career.
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 over the period of a few months; of the few auditions, she got the role of Bridget for
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
Lively filmed her scenes in
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants between her junior and senior years at Burbank High.
In 2008, Lively stated that, while Stanford isn't in her immediate future; due to her
Gossip Girl filming commitment, she stated that she hasn’t altogether put aside the idea of getting a college education.
She stated that, attending Columbia University one day a week is a possibility and the option to be able to attend the school was a factor in accepting her role on
Gossip Girl because the show's filmed in New York; to-date she hasn’t enrolled in any classes.
Career
[
Lively Sisterhood Premiere.jpg|thumb|upright|200px|Lively at the [[New York] premiere of
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 on August 8, 2008 in
New York City]]. Lively's performance in the role gained praise from critics.
Lively began her acting career at age 11, when she appeared in the 1998 film, which was directed by Lively's father,
Sandman. Lively's role in the film was, described by her as being a bit part".
After not having any involvement with acting for almost seven years, Lively appeared in the, film adaption of the novels of the same name,
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants in 2005. Lively, co-starring
America Ferra,
Amber Tamblyn and
Alexis Bledel, played Bridget, one of the four female leads. Lively's performance in the film earned her a nomination for a
Teen Choice Award for "Choice Movie Breakout - Female." With the box office revenue of 42 million, the film
was Lively's biggest commercially successful film until it was out-grossed by it's sequel.
In 2006, she co-starred with
Justin Long in
Accepted, and Lively along with her older siblings; Robyn, Ernie and Lori, had minor role's in the horror film,
Simon Says. While
Accepted wasn't well received by critics, Lively's performance was, earning her an award from Hollywood Life, in the category of 'Breakthrough Award'. In 2007, Lively played one of the two title characters in
Elvis and Anabelle as Anabelle, a bulimic girl with the hopes of winning a beauty pageant. Lively said
of getting into character for the role that she'd 'shed serious weight' for her height. Lively recalled that: "Beauty queens are still very toned [...] So I lost weight, but I got toned. It was the healthiest I’ve ever been. I just made chicken breasts from Whole Foods on a George Foreman Grill, with asparagus and broccoli.”
Lively stated that that process was difficult for her because food is “the No. 1 love of my life.”
praised her performance in the film and credited it as having been her "breakthrough role".
Lively was cast in the
CW's series
Gossip Girl which premiered in September 2007. She plays
Serena van der Woodsen in the
teen drama.
While rumors of infighting among the
Gossip Girl co-stars have circulated in the tabloids, Lively denies that there is any unfriendly competition on-set. “The media is always trying to pit us against each other," she said in an interview, "I guess because it’s just not interesting to say, ‘Everyone gets along; everybody just works 18-hour days and goes home to sleep.’ That’s not fun to read, I guess.”
Her first magazine cover was the November 2007 issue of
Cosmo Girl, where she discussed her time in high school and her career prior to
Gossip Girl.
In 2008, Lively, along with Ferrera, Bledel and Tamblyn, reprised that roles in the 2008 sequel,
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. Similar to the first film, Lively's; along with her three costars, and the film were positively received by critics.
The film to-date has made over 44 million at the box office, making slightly more that its predecessor and Lively's biggest commercial success film.
In 2009, Lively appeared as a minor role in the romantic comedy, consisting of an
ensemble cast,
New York, I Love You-the film is the sequel to the 2006 film
Paris, je t'aime. The ensemble cast included;
Shia LaBeouf,
Natalie Portman,
Hayden Christensen,
Rachel Bilson, and
Orlando Bloom. Similar to the film's preceder, the film consists of short film's consisting of the theme of finding love.
Despite the film having positive reception from critics, the film had a poor box office performance.
Lively' most acclaimed role to date was her supporting role as playing the younger version of the title character in
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009).
Paul Byrnes, of BrisbaneTimes.com.au, described Lively' performance in the film as being "sensational."
The film, also starring
Keanu Reeves,
Winona Ryder and
Robin Wright Penn, debuted at the
Toronto International Film Festival and is scheduled to have a limited release in the United States on November 27.
In October, 2009, Lively began filming her scenes for her role as Krista Coughlin, in the up-coming
2010 The Town, based on
Chuck Hogan's novel
Prince of Thieves.
In the film, Lively's role has been described as "the sister of Jem and Doug's ex-girlfriend who has a 19-month old daughter, Shyne."
The film, which also stars
Ben Affleck, is currently in production and is set to be released on September 10, 2010. In an interview with
Marie Claire, Lively stated that she wasn't relying on her career as an actress, having felt that having her own interior decorating firm would be a substitute as a back-up plan, having felt that because of her 'fascination' of "colors and textures and layering things."
Personal life
In 2006, unconfirmed rumors surfaced that Lively had reportedly had a
nose job after filming her role in the 2006 film
Accepted, the sepuation consisted of "reports — and questionable photographic evidence".
In January 2008, while Lively was attending the
Chanel's Fine Jewelry's Night of Diamonds held at The Plaza in
New York City, a reporter for
OK! Magazine questioned Lively on the rumors, she responded by neither confirming nor denying the rumors. "I don't know [...] It's the way you address any rumor. People want to talk. They want to create negative things about you and your life, make up things. You can't look at it. You can't let them affect you."
Blake Lively dated actor
Kelly Blatz from 2004 to 2007; the two had been friends since childhood.
In late 2007, rumors circulated that Lively was dating her
Gossip Girl co-star and former childhood classmate
Penn Badgley.
In May 2008, after
People magazine published photos of the two kissing while on vacation in Mexico,
they have since become more open about their relationship.
They have been dating since December 2007. Lively has openly said that she enjoys cooking, and considers it to be her hobby.
[Allure Magazine. "The Anti-Gossip Girl". May 2009.] Lively, as of November 2009, owns one pet: Penny, a copper-colored
Maltepoo dog.
Lively has appeared on the cover of multiple mainstream magazines yearly. In 2007 the list includes
Cosmo Girl (November).
In 2008 the list includes;
Lucky (January),
Teen Vogue (March),
NYLON (May; with
Gossip Girl co-star Meester),
Seventeen (August),
Girls' Life (August; with
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants co-stars Tamblyn, Bledel, and Ferrera),
Vanity Fair (August; with
Kristen Stewart,
Amanda Seyfried and
Emma Roberts)
and
Cosmopolitan (September).
In 2009 the list includes; and the cover of the adult female magazine's,
Vogue (February),
(May),
(May),
(August),
Nylon (November) and
Marie Claire (December).
In January 2009, Lively was voted one of the top "35 Most Stylish Women To Look Out For" by Glamour UK.
Lively was placed at #33 on the
Maxim Hot 100 List in 2009.
During the
2008 United States presidential election Lively expressed her support of
Barack Obama (who later won) over
John McCain. Lively and Badgley appeared in a pro-Barack Obama commercial, as part of MoveOn's Youth Vote program, that brings awareness of the dangers of voting for McCain. The commercial, directed by Doug Limon, aired during Gossip Girl on CW, MTV and Comedy Central.
Lively referred to the comparison's of her to
Paris Hilton as being "dumb". Lively cited the only similarities she had to Hilton was that they both have a small dog and blonde hair and felt that they didn't anything else in common because Lively 'doesn't go to clubs, parties, dance on tables, and doesn't like sex tapes'.
Lively has described herself as being a "loving" and "trusting" person to others; which is one of the few things she feels she has in common with her character Serena on
Gossip Girl.
Lively said, in August 2009 during an interview with UK Glamour Magazine, that, while she does worry about her weight--mostly when preparing for filming scenes involving revealing clothing-- but doesn't diet. "I do panic before I have to wear a really skimpy outfit, but I don't have enough willpower," she tells the August issue of UK Glamour Magazine. "I had to do a scene in a bra and shorts for the first time in two years [...] On the day of the shoot, I ate a pork burrito, chips and coke. Afterwards, I thought, 'I probably shouldn't have done that.' But whatever."
Lively also stated, in the same interview, that she's "never worked out", but feels that she'll "feel better" if she did and stated that she's "planning on getting a trainer".
Filmography
Awards
| Awards
|
| Year
| Result
| Award
| Category
| Nominated Work
|
| 2005
| Nominated
| Teen Choice Award
| Choice Movie Breakout Female
| The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
|
| 2008
| rowspan="3" Won
| Choice TV Actress Drama
| Gossip Girl
|
| Choice TV Breakout Star-Female
|
| Newport Beach Film Festival
| Achievement Award-Breakout Performance
| Elvis and Anabelle
|
| 2009
| rowspan="2" Nominated
| Prism Awards
| Performances in a Drama Episode
| Gossip Girl
|
| Teen Choice Award
| Choice TV Actress Drama
|
