Leighton Marissa Claire Meester (born April 9, 1986) is an
American actress and aspiring Singer-Songwriter, best known for her role as
Blair Waldorf in the TV show
Gossip Girl.
Her first acting role on a television program was on
NBC's legal drama
Law & Order in 1999.
Other series in which Meester has appeared include
Surface,
Entourage,
CSI: Miami,
,
24,
,
and
House.
[Meester has starred in the House episodes "Informed Consent" and "Lines in the Sand", according to Fox.com]
Early life
Meester's parents, Connie and Doug, were involved in a drug ring that smuggled marijuana from
Jamaica to the
United States. Both were convicted for their involvement in the ring, and Connie was released on bail. While out, Connie became pregnant, and once she was convicted, she spent her pregnancy in a Texas state prison. Leighton was delivered in a Texas hospital, and Connie was allowed to live with Leighton in a half-way house for three months. Connie was sentenced to ten years in prison, and once her three months with Leighton were up, her newborn was sent to live with a relative.
After sixteen months of her sentence, Connie was released and resumed her role in her newborn's life.
Leighton has always been adamant in maintaining that she has no hard feelings towards her parents for what they did in the past, and she has repeatedly said that her mother Connie is one of her best friends.
Career
Meester became interested in acting when she appeared in a local production of
The Wizard of Oz. When she was eleven, she moved with her family to
New York City and soon after began working as a model with
Wilhelmina, booking a
Ralph Lauren campaign shot by
Bruce Webber and working with then-photographer
Sofia Coppola.
Other roles include a role as Savannah Bennett on
Surface. She has guest starred as
Debbie Pendleton on Season 4 of the
FOX drama
24,
as Ali, an underage teenager who has a crush on
Dr. House in episode
3 and
4 of Season 3 of the
FOX drama,
House, as Carrie Bishop on Season 1 of the
UPN drama
Veronica Mars and Chandler's new girlfriend Kendall in Season 8 of the
WB drama
7th Heaven, as well as the role of
Justine Chapin in Season 1 of the
HBO comedy
Entourage. Meester made her film debut in the feature
Hangman's Curse, based on the best-selling novel by
Frank Peretti.
She recently starred in the independent comic-thriller
Flourish with
House co-stars
Jennifer Morrison and
Jesse Spencer.
In 2006, she wrapped the female lead role in the comedy/horror film
Drive-Thru.
She has also recorded a song for the soundtrack of
Drive-Thru. In the spring of 2006, she played a part in the ensemble comedy/drama entitled
Remember the Daze.
Currently, Meester stars as
Blair Waldorf in
The CW series
Gossip Girl, from
Josh Schwartz, creator of
The O.C. and based on the book series about the lives of New York's two privileged
Upper East Side high school students. Meester has stated in interviews that she identifies with Blair "on every level, in one way or another." She has also recently guest starred on
CSI: Miami and has a recurring role on
James Woods' court drama
Shark. When not on the set, Meester, who attended
Beverly Hills High School, pursues her talent for music and creative writing. She currently resides in New York.
She has worked with actress
Kristen Bell on two TV series. In
Gossip Girl, Bell provides the voice of Gossip Girl and Leighton plays Blair Waldorf, and in
Veronica Mars, which stars Bell, Leighton appeared briefly as gossip queen Carrie Bishop. Additionally, she has worked with fellow Gossip Girl co-star
Penn Badgley in her previous lead role film
Drive-Thru, where Penn played Val Espinoza.
She reprised her role of Justine Chapin on
Entourage in season five.
Filmography
Films
Television
