Exclusive: We talk to the star of the new CW series about portraying the life of the young, rich, and beautiful.September 18, 2007 - Until now, 20 year old actress Blake Lively has been best known for her role in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, in which she worked alongside Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls), Amber Tamblyn (Joan of Arcadia), and future Ugly Betty star America Ferrera. Lately however, you've probably been seeing Lively's face on posters and billboards all over the place, promoting her new series Gossip Girl, airing on the CW.
Given the amount of attention the show is getting and the young and passionate audience it's aimed at, it seems very likely that the charismatic Lively is on the cusp of much greater stardom.
Lively plays the lead on Gossip Girl, Serena van der Woodsen, a teenage girl who has just moved back to her privileged life on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, after leaving under rather mysterious circumstances some time ago. Based on the popular series of books of the same name, and produced by The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz and another O.C. alum, Stephanie Savage, Gossip Girl is a fun look at the, well, gossipy lives of these young and beautiful people, whose lives are obsessively tracked by an unseen blogger (voiced by Kristen Bell). Serena's the girl at the center of it all, but she's become less than enamored with her previous party girl ways and is looking to start over again.
Within moments of meeting Lively, two things become obvious; she's impressively tall, and she definitely lives up to her last name. When we sit down at a booth at a CW party, Lively grabs my voice recorder, says "Tell me about yourself!", and begins jokingly interviewing me for a couple of minutes, asking questions about my background. Though this was a fun change of pace from the usual interview, I eventually realized I better actually switch back to being the interviewer, and began asking Lively some questions.
We discussed her role on Gossip Girl, along with the upcoming sequel to The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, which she filmed this summer and reunites her with Bledel, Tamblyn and Ferrera. Then there's Cloverfield, the J.J. Abrams produced monster movie being released on 1-18-08 that's so secretive, no one even knows it's actual title -- Cloverfield is just a code name. Whether Lively is even in the film is uncertain; at the time I spoke to her she was listed on the film's IMDB page, but now she is not. However, some reports say she was seen filming sequences for the film in New York. At this point however, it all remains a mystery, and as you'll see at the end of our interview, based on her response, Lively is either not in the project or she's doing her part to keep the movie's secrets. Apparently we'll have to wait a bit longer to find out just what her involvement is or isn't in this much buzzed about film.
IGN TV: We always hear that it's a nightmare process to get a lead on a network series. What was it like for you for Gossip Girl?
Blake Lively: Well, you'll have to ask the people behind the scenes. For me, it was great! [Laughs] I never was interested in doing television, just because it's a very big commitment and you have to be really passionate about the project you're going to take on, because you're signing on for six years of your life; six of maybe the most important years of your life, at the age I'm at right now. So I wasn't looking to do shows. Anybody that called me [about TV], I said "No way." And Josh [Schwartz] called me, and he was very persistent! At one point, after we had met and everything, he said to me "You know, I wrote this show for you." He said "You have to do this. I will not do this with anyone else!" And that meant the world to me. But before I met with him, I was a little hesitant. I'd heard about the series of books, but I didn't know, really, what it was about. I sat down with him and Stephanie [Savage], and they're so passionate about their work. They're not just some big jaded studio executive that signs his name on something and goes off to the Hamptons, you know?
He's so involved in every single thing that he does, and Stephanie too. They want the top quality people. They've already done The O.C., which set a generation. And now they just want to raise the standards. They've learned from their mistakes -- they were talking about that -- and their success. So they're involved in everything from the people they cast, to the clothes we wear. Every outfit we wear they approve of; every backdrop of every scene we're a part of; the way one hair flies away from me eye, they're a part of. It's so great to have people that involved and that passionate about it, and that's the reason I wanted to do it, and luckily, we were able to work it out.
IGN TV: How much can you relate to her lifestyle? Does it connect at all to what you saw in high school?
Lively: No, not at all. She's practically royalty, you know? The money that she's been surrounded by... But you know, people, whether they're very rich or poverty stricken, teens go through trials and tribulations and dramas, whenever you're finding out who you are. There are struggles. People gossip. People are insecure, so they talk about other people so that they won't be talked about. They point out flaws in other people to make them feel good about themselves. I think at any age or any social class that's present. So as far as that, I can relate to her, but her lifestyle, no way. [Laughs]
[Spoiler Warning: You might want to skip to below the photograph on this page, if you're looking to avoid spoilers pertaining to the Gossip Girl pilot episode.]
IGN TV: I like in the pilot that you're seemingly the good girl and Blair's the bitchy one, but by the end, you see there's a bit more to it than that.
Lively: It was really neat to play such a complex character. Josh and Stephanie are really great at writing that. People aren't one-dimensional, because they're not in real life. I don't believe that there's a good guy and a bad guy. Unless it's like Superman or Batman, there is no good guy and bad guy. There are reasons that people are the way they are. Blair is vulnerable. You see her mother, and her mother is nitpicky on everything she does from her hair to her outfits. "You don't look skinny in that!" Her mother has made her feel insecure. Because she's insecure, she tells off her friend and is always trying to measure up. And it's not her fault. It's her mother; it's the way she was raised. My character's mother was like "Why don't you wear this to the party? Why don't you go out there? Why don't you dance on tables and look fabulous?" I was pushed too much to be free, and I thought "Oh, I need to have whatever I want!" And I took my best friend's boyfriend, and it's not right. I think what's important is she realizes that it isn't right. That's a really great thing about Serena is you get to see a bit in flashback how she was a bit more wild and there's a moment where Blair is really beating up on Serena. She's always beating up on her, and there's a moment in the pilot where Serena says "No, you will meet me here!" And she doesn't take no for an answer, and she gets strong for a second and you get an incite into what power she did have before and you see Blair be a little more vulnerable later. So I think it's really cool how complex they are.
IGN TV: Are you looking forward to maybe doing more flashbacks and showing more of that then and now dynamic?
Lively: Well, I don't like to do pantsless stuff, because I'm so shy. I just think "What would Britney do?" and it helps me feel sexy! [Laughs] Other then that, I feel totally goofy. But I like seeing the strength Serena has, because she lets people beat up on her, because she feels she deserves it and she knows that she's just got to be a bigger person, but there are certain times when it's not right, and she's got to be like "You've got to remember that I'm still a person. I'm still strong. I'm not gonna take your crap!" I really like when you see that strength that she has and the power that she has. I think that's really cool.
IGN TV: Is it fun to shoot the show in New York?
Lively: Yeah. I can't believe we're being paid to live in New York!
IGN TV: Have you lived there before?
Lively: No, I haven't! I'm very excited.
IGN TV: Did you assume when you read the script "Oh, they'll probably just shoot it in L.A."?
Lively: It said on the sheet that they were shooting in L.A., so I thought "That's gonna look silly. It'll be in the studio, and it's not going to read true." And when I sat down with Josh and Stephanie, they were like "We're doing it in New York." I said "Oh, have you gotten the approval from the studio?" They said "No, they want to shoot in L.A., but we're doing it in New York!" And I totally believed them. I was like "Yep, let's go to New York!" They got me very fired up.
IGN TV: You said you didn't want to do a TV show, but it seems like there was something about the cast of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants where you were all destined to have lead roles on notable shows.
Lively: [Laughs] Oh, yeah.
IGN TV: When you did the first one, Alexis and Amber were starring in their shows, but now you and America have yours too.
Lively: I know! It's weird, because they're done with their shows, and we're doing it now. But you know, at the time we filmed the first one, I saw how exhausted those girls were and I thought "Poor thing! I want to sleep all day, every day!" It didn't seem appealing at the time, but now it's really great. And they're so happy to be done and have breaks and be doing movies. It's good to have the balance, because now the line between television and movies is much more blurred. It's easy to go back and forth, where as before, it wasn't. There's so many huge movie stars on television now. Glenn Close is on a TV show! It's okay now; it's cool now. If there's a project that's great, you do it. Anna Paquin, who can do anything she wants, is now doing a TV show on HBO. I think it's a really cool thing. We're having fun and we're all testing out things and seeing what we like.
IGN TV: Did Alexis pass on to you some sort of CW baton?
Lively: [Laughs] She did! She gave me a little list of to dos and not to dos. She's like "Don't ever make any ugly faces that you don't want them to use [in photos], because they will!" You know, they did all their "free to be" stuff, and she told me a lot of those were just people goofing off and they ended up using them for the posters. So that was a good thing I learned, because I'm always very goofy, and now they'll start taking pictures and I'll go "No, don't take that!" and then I'll stand really serious after that, because I don't want to see a billboard of me going [makes an exaggerated funny face].
IGN TV: How was it filming the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants sequel this summer?
Lively: Fantastic. Well, except for the fact that I was on crutches for three weeks, because I crashed a moped in Greece.
IGN TV: Really?
Lively: Yeah. I've got a scar on the side of my leg. [Lively puts her leg up on the booth and points to the scar]. See that?
IGN TV: Wow.
Lively: It's a price. [Laughs] It's all right.
IGN TV: Well, I guess it gives you a big way to remember the movie.
Lively: Yeah, and I've got sea urchins in my foot. [takes off shoe] Look at that. See those sea urchins? Also from Greece. I'm like an old lady showing you all my ailments. [In old lady voice] "I've got corns on my toes!"
IGN TV: As a guy, I don't think I'm supposed to admit I've seen Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
Lively: That's not true. You know why? Because the issues are universal. We're not like "Oh, I've got my period! Oh, boys! What am I gonna wear to prom?" We deal with death. We deal with a broken family. We deal with loss of virginity. We deal with falling in love for the first time. Those are things that everyone can relate to and I know America said she brought one of her best guy friends to see the movie and he was so emotional about that and her storyline he connected to so much. He said "This has happened with me and my father" and needed to call him. And I've had fathers come up to me and be like "You know what? I was so selfish. I started this other family and I forgot. It was so much easier not to go back because I felt guilty, but this opened the door and now I have a relationship with my son."
People feel the need to tell us these personal things about their lives, which is really great, but for me it's shocking that people come up and give me such intimate details. The issues really are universal. I think that's what's so important about the film is it doesn't portray these young girls being superficial which so many movies do; girls just giggling and painting their toenails and talking about Zac Efron. But that's not how all girls are. A lot of people have to deal with real things, and you can get through it and you do need this good, moral center and friendship or family or whatever you need to get you through it. But you will get through it. Sorry, I'm preaching! But it's not about magical, dancing pants and I think the title scared a ton of people away. Almost every guy I talk to who's seen it has really enjoyed it. I hope you enjoyed it!
IGN TV: I did enjoy it! What's your character's storyline in the second movie?
Lively: My character, she has always been running away from dealing with her problems, namely her mother's suicide. She's in college and on the varsity soccer team at Brown and she's into archeology now. So she goes off to a dig in Turkey, and she's looking at these bones of all these other people and finding out about all these other people's pasts, until she kind of realizes "I need to deal with my own past!" and some things that really rock her. And she goes to her grandmother's, who she hasn't had a relationship with, ever, and really finds out about her mother and about her, because she never really knew her mother and her dad doesn't talk about it. So she's afraid "Am I like her?" because she gets sad. But the reason she gets sad is because her mother killed herself! She just needs to hear "You're a different person. I knew your mother. You're not sick, you're okay. And your mother did love you, she just had a problem." So it's a really great realization for her.
The first movie is so much about the Sisterhood and friendship, and we're doing our own things but we have this Sisterhood. But this next movie is three years later and we've grown up, we're adults. We're doing so many different things in our lives. We have boyfriends. We have family. We have soccer teams. We have so much going on and we're in different parts of the U.S., that we don't really have the Sisterhood so much. There's not so much time for it as there was before. So it's about us finding that again and it's hard. It's hard to make time and we kind of fall apart without our core, which is each other.
IGN TV: Lastly, I have to ask if IMDB is correct that you're in a little movie opening on 1-18-08?
Lively: What? I haven't checked IMDB these days. I'll have to check! [Laughs]
IGN TV: [Laughs] So anything you can say about that project?
Lively: I don't know what you're talking about!
IGN TV: Wow, so it's that secretive, huh?
Lively: [Smiles] No, I don't know. I don't know what you're talking about!
