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, the youngest of five children, was born in Tarzana, California, the daughter of actors
Ernie and Elaine Lively. Lively has two sisters,
Lori and
Robyn, and two brothers,
Jason and
Eric. Both of her parents and all four 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.
Her brother-in-law is
Bart Johnson.
As a child, Lively was
homeschooled (one of her homeschool classmates was actor and future boyfriend
Penn Badgley).
Lively attended
Burbank High School in
Burbank where she participated in Burbank High School's show choir, In Sync, and was a cheerleader.
[People] Lively stated in a interview for the August 2008 Seventeen magazine that she attended thirteen 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 of high school, her brother 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.
Career
Lively started out in film with a bit role in
Sandman in 1998. In 2005, Lively played Bridget in
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, for which she received a
Teen Choice Award nomination for "Choice Movie Breakout - Female." She reprised the role in 2008 in the sequel,
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. She starred in
Accepted,
Simon Says, and
Elvis and Anabelle in 2006. She received the Breakthrough Award from Hollywood Life for her role in
Accepted in December 2006.
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.
She has since appeared on the January 2008 cover of shopping magazine
Lucky. She has more recently appeared on the March 2008 cover of
Teen Vogue, as well as the May 2008 cover of
NYLON with her Gossip Girl co-star
Leighton Meester. She appeared on the cover of "
Seventeen"'s August 2008 issue. The star also was on the cover of "
Girls' Life"'s August 2008 issue, along with
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants costars
Amber Tamblyn,
Alexis Bledel, and
America Ferrera. More recently Lively also appeared on the cover of "
Cosmopolitan"'s September 2008 issue. Lively was also featured in a
Saturday Night Live skit entitled "Murray Hill" alongside James Franco.
Personal life
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 costar and former childhood classmate
Penn Badgley.
In May 2008,
People magazine published photos of the two kissing while on vacation in Mexico.
Lively and Badgley have since become more open about their relationship. The relationship is a favorite topic of the tabloids.
In October 2008, Lively appeared alongside Badgley in a
MoveOn.org campaign ad in support of Presidential candidate
Barack Obama.
Lively is also something of a clothes horse, and she admits to owning an impressive amount of handbags. "I probably have, like, 60 gorgeous bags,” she told a reporter.
Filmography
Awards
| Year |
Group |
Award |
Series |
Result |
| 2008 | Teen Choice Award | Choice TV Actress Drama | Gossip Girl | won
|
| 2008 | Teen Choice Award | Choice TV Breakout Star Female | Gossip Girl | won
|
