Jekael Gallery: Blake Lively

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Blake Lively

Blake Christina Lively (born August 25, 1987) is an American actress and model who stars as Serena van der Woodsen in the television teen drama series, Gossip Girl. She has also starred in movies, including Accepted, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee and 2010's The Town.
Lively was born in Tarzana, 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 Robyn, and a half-brother, Jason. Both of her parents and all of her siblings are, or have been, in the entertainment industry. During Lively's childhood, her parents would take her with them to acting classes that they taught because they did not want to leave her with a babysitter. Lively said that watching her parents 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 Disneyland twice a week as an opportunity "to have some extra time to bond"; Lively has stated, due to all the time she spent there, she felt that she "grew up at Disneyland."
Lively was not at all interested in acting, but during the summer between her junior and senior years, her brother, Eric, made his agent send her out on a few auditions over a 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.

Lively began her acting career at age 11, when she appeared in the 1998 film Sandman, which was directed by Lively's father. Lively describes her role in the film as having been a "bit part". Lively appeared in the film adaptation of the novel of the same name, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants in 2005 playing 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."[citation needed]
In 2006, she co-starred with Justin Long in Accepted, and Lively had minor roles in the horror film, Simon Says. While Accepted was not well received by critics, Lively's performance was, earning her an award from Hollywood Life, in the category of 'Breakthrough Award'.[citation needed] In 2007, Lively played one of the two title characters in Elvis and Anabelle as Anabelle, a bulimic girl who hoped to win a beauty pageant. Lively said of getting into character for the role that she had 'shed serious weight' for her height. Lively stated that that process was difficult for her because food is “the No. 1 love of my life.” MovieLine.com praised her performance in the film and credited it as having been her "breakthrough role".