Gossip Girl's Blake Lively: From Serena Van Der Woodsen To Motherhood

In many ways, it was inevitable that Blake Lively would enter the world of entertainment. She grew up in Los Angeles and her parents both worked in the industry. Immersed in the world of acting from a young age, she found success while still in school after being cast in the 2005 film "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants." However, it wasn't until she landed the lead role on "Gossip Girl" of Serena van der Woodsen, the most popular student in the fictional Constance Billard School for Girls, that she found widespread fame.

Lively played Serena across six seasons of the show, which aired on The CW, appearing in a total of 121 episodes before it came to an end in 2012. While many actors might find it difficult to move on from such a significant role, Lively has had no shortage of projects and has also spent plenty of time raising a family with her husband Ryan Reynolds. Having four kids has obviously helped change both of their lives, with Lively continuing to appear on-screen but also branching out into other pursuits outside of acting. Here are all the details of how the actor has gone from television superstar to mother, director, and film actor.

Before she found fame on "Gossip Girl," Lively had only appeared in film projects. Her first major role came in "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" in 2005, which she followed up with appearances in "Accepted" and "Simon Says." in 2007, she would go on to star in "Elvis and Anabelle" and won widespread acclaim for her performance. Critics had plenty of good things to say about the young actor and she was nominated for numerous awards.

Considering her background in movies, it perhaps shouldn't be all that surprising that she has largely concentrated on films since leaving "Gossip Girl." Outside of appearances on shows such as "Saturday Night Live" and "Sesame Street," she has only been on television screens in a personal capacity as a special guest. It isn't exactly clear, though, whether this is due to a lack of demand for her services or a choice on her part. However, a 2007 IGN interview may shed some light on her lack of TV roles.

"I never was interested in doing television," she explained. "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."

The first project that Lively worked on in 2012 was the action thriller "Savages." Directed by Oliver Stone, it was an adaptation of a Don Winslow novel and starred Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Salma Hayek alongside Lively. The story of two best friends who attempt to rescue their love interest from a Mexican drug cartel, it wasn't much of a financial or critical success despite its all-star cast and well-received source material.

Originally, Jennifer Lawrence was supposed to play the part of Ophelia in "Savages," but scheduling conflicts arose when Lawrence was cast in "The Hunger Games." Lively had to beat out several major names to land the role, including "Seven Psychopaths" and "Jack Ryan" star Abbie Cornish, along with Olivia Wilde and Teresa Palmer. Stone eventually chose Lively and admitted that he altered the script to suit her personality better, although he also spoke about his disappointment that Lawrence had to pull out. "I don't know if it would have worked better or not but it didn't happen that way," he told the BBC. "I liked what Blake did."

While she worked on "Gossip Girl," Blake Lively dated her co-star Penn Badgley for several years. However, the couple eventually split not long after Lively had appeared alongside Ryan Reynolds in "Green Lantern." The two actors began dating in October 2011 and were married less than a year later in a secret ceremony at the Boone Hall Plantation. They have been inseparable ever since, with the couple regularly photographed at events together or seen talking about each other while promoting various projects.

The marriage has allowed Lively to showcase her humorous side, as the pair constantly joke about each other publicly. This has included Lively calling John Legend the best man she knows and wishing her husband a happy birthday in a photograph that cropped him out and only showed fellow actor Ryan Gosling. Lively has also jokingly suggested several times that other celebrities, including Gigi Hadid and Anna Kendrick, would make better partners for her.

One of the first major productions that Blake Lively worked on after "Gossip Girl" had come to an end was the 2015 romantic fantasy film "The Age of Adaline." In the movie, Lively portrays Adaline Bowman, a widow who dies after crashing into a ravine while driving her car. However, a lightning strike inexplicably brings her back to life, although it also forces her to remain at the age she was when the accident occurred without growing older. "The Age of Adaline" also featured both Michiel Huisman and Harrison Ford in supporting roles.

The film received mixed reviews and was only a modest box office success, earning a worldwide gross of more than $65 million. Lively's performance was noted as one of the film's highlights, especially in the second half of the movie when she demonstrates her skill in the emotional moments with her fictional daughter and Huisman and Ford's characters. Other critics pointed out how she had a striking on-screen chemistry with Ford and helped get the best out of the actor, whose peak box office years were behind him. 

After her role in "The Age of Adaline," Blake Lively appeared in several films in 2016. These included "The Shallows" as well as "Café Society." In the first movie, a survival thriller directed by frequent Liam Neeson collaborator Jaume Collet-Serra, Lively plays a young university student who takes a surfing trip in honor of her dead mother. While on the water, she is attacked by a great white shark and forced to take creative measures to survive overnight and avoid being killed. Grossing $119 million against a budget of just $17 million, it was a hit at the box office and with critics.

Woody Allen's "Café Society" was less successful financially despite receiving mostly positive reviews. With an ensemble cast that includes Jesse Eisenberg, Steve Carell, Kristen Stewart, and Corey Stoll, the comedy-drama follows a young man named Bobby who leaves New York for a job in Hollywood working for his uncle, where he falls in love with a young secretary. Lively plays the love interest, Veronica Hayes, who is actually in a loveless relationship with Bobby's uncle.

Blake Lively has often spoken about her love of cooking and food in general, even naming celebrity chefs such as Martha Stewart and Nigella Lawson as idols. She also makes an effort to get involved in local food and culture while traveling, going as far as to take part in cooking classes that focus on food that is traditionally served in the country she is visiting.

Since her departure from "Gossip Girl," Lively has been able to put her passion to good use. In 2013, she took part in a cooking segment for Vogue alongside model Elettra Wiedemann, with the two women showcasing the best way to bake brie pastry. Two years earlier, she collaborated with Sprinkles to create a limited-edition cupcake that would help support Oxfam.

2013 also saw the actor take part in an exclusive feature for Elle Decor, focusing on her design of a new kitchen. Lively was hands-on in the creation of the kitchen for her New York home, even having a custom-made La Cornue oven installed because of the importance of the kitchen to her. "Since my kitchen is the most important part of my home," she said. "I want to be creative and innovative, not only in its aesthetic, but also in the tools that I'm using to cook."

Following in the footsteps of celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow with her lifestyle brand Goop, Lively launched a wellness website. Called Preserve, it acted as an online store and digital magazine. Interviews from the actor suggested that it would sell products that had been specifically chosen and approved by Lively. These would be items created by people across the U.S. and would feature artisan creations ranging from food to clothes to pillowcases. There was also talk of videos promoting these products, which could feature Lively herself talking about them.

Preserve only lasted around a year before Lively closed it down. The main reason behind this was that the actor felt it had launched too soon and was not fulfilling its purpose. Rather than continue working on something she wasn't proud of, she chose to shut it down instead and work on bringing it back when it was ready. "We have an incredible team of people who do beautiful work," she told Vogue. "But we launched the site before it was ready, and it never caught up to its original mission: It's not making a difference in people's lives, whether superficially or in a meaningful way."

Although Lively didn't take on a lot of work after 2016, she did continue to appear in select movies. One of these was the 2018 comedy-thriller "A Simple Favor." The Paul Feig-directed film saw Lively appear with Anna Kendrick, who played a vlogger that befriends Lively's character, Emily, and becomes unexpectedly involved in a mystery when Emily disappears. A modest box office success, "A Simple Favor" was highly praised, with both Kendrick and Lively receiving plaudits for their performances.

Her next project came in the form of the 2020 Reed Morano action thriller "The Rhythm Section." Lively stars opposite Jude Law as a woman whose family was killed in a terrorist attack. In her grief, she develops a revenge plan and works with an MI6 agent to track down those responsible. The movie was a box office flop and was criticized for its boring and predictable plot, although Lively's portrayal of Stephanie Patrick was one of the few positives noted by critics.

While Lively is best known for her work as an actor, it seems that she also has an interest in working behind the camera. She made her directorial debut in 2021 when she took the helm for a Taylor Swift music video. Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds are longtime friends of Swift, with the singer even including the names of the couple's first three daughters on a song she wrote called "Betty." So it makes sense that Lively was given the opportunity to try her hand at directing in a Swift project.

The song in question was "I Bet You Think About Me" from the 2021 album "Red (Taylor's Version)." Lively and Swift wrote the original plot of the music video, which shows a couple having their wedding crashed by an ex-girlfriend. It features Miles Teller and his real-life wife, along with Swift and Aaron Dessner among others. Upon release, it was nominated for Video of the Year at several music award events, including the 57th Academy of Country Music Awards.

Not long after she appeared in "The Rhythm Section," it was announced that Lively would take on the lead role of Josie Schuller in a film adaptation of the comic book series "Lady Killer." The original story follows Schuller, a seemingly innocuous housewife who leads a double life as a contract killer. Hiding her murderous career from the rest of her family, Schuller eventually ends up being pursued by the very criminal organization that she works for.

The film rights were acquired by Netflix as part of an agreement it has with Dark Horse Entertainment, with the streaming giant announcing that Lively was set to star in the movie and also produce it, alongside Mike Richardson, Keith Goldberg, and Kate Vorhoff. At the same time, filmmaker Diablo Cody was revealed to be taking charge of the project as writer and director. Unfortunately, there's been little news about the project or its status since 2021, so it's unclear exactly when "Lady Killer" will launch on Netflix.

Since marrying in 2012, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have had four children in total. The first of these was born in 2014, with subsequent children arriving in 2016, 2019, and 2023 respectively. While the couple closely guard the privacy of their children, preferring to keep them out of the public eye for the most part, they have revealed the names of three of the four kids — James, Inez, and Betty.

Speaking to Forbes, Lively explained how having children has helped her to accept her own body image and be more comfortable with who she is. "I think having children, for me, made me feel so much more in my skin. I never felt more myself or at ease in my own body or more confident," she said. "Not to say that there aren't a bevy of insecurities coming at me a million times a day, but I just feel incredibly settled."

In the same interview, the actor hinted that motherhood has also given her a new perspective on life and why she is picky when it comes to working on new projects. She explained, "I just think that growing up, having kids, all of those things made me feel like I only want to do things where I can have really meaningful collaborations and have authorship."

Blake Lively's next project as a director is significantly larger than a music video. In April 2022, it was revealed that she was set to make her feature film directorial debut in collaboration with Edgar Wright. The two filmmakers are working together on an adaptation of the graphic novel "Seconds" by Bryan Lee O'Malley. Very few details have been revealed about the project since it was first announced, but it will follow a young woman named Katie Clay who discovers that she can alter her past choices via a strange ritual that involves consuming a mushroom and writing whatever she wants to change in a notebook before going to sleep. Unfortunately, as she attempts to solve all of her problems, her actions begin to threaten the very composition of reality.

Wright is taking on a number of roles for the movie, including acting as producer and writing the screenplay. This marks the second time that Wright has been involved in a film adaptation of O'Malley property, having previously directed and co-wrote the 2010 movie "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World."

Over the last few years, Colleen Hoover has become one of the most successful authors in the world. Many of her romance novels have risen to take top spots on The New York Times best-seller list, increasing the demand for film adaptations. Arguably her most well-known book is "It Ends with Us," a 2016 story that is set to be directed by "Jane the Virgin" actor Justin Baldoni, who has previously directed "Clouds" and "Five Feet Apart." Baldoni will also appear in the film as Ryle Kincaid, with Blake Lively cast in the lead role of Lily Bloom.

The only other actors known to be involved in the project are Isabela Ferrer and Alex Neustaedter. It began filming in May 2023 but was forced to shut down when the WGA strike began in June. Shooting was again postponed, this time due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike in July, and did not restart until the beginning of 2024 when additional casting calls were issued for the movie. Following the delay in shooting, "It Ends with Us" will now arrive on June 21, 2024.