By Cara Alwill
When you’re the star of a show like "Gossip Girl," there are certain qualities that you’re expected to possess. Of course, glamour, style and sass are on the top of the list — and Blake Lively has all that and more. But, in the latest issue of Esquire magazine, Blake divulges a bit more about herself and her career, and as much as it may seem as though she’s sitting on top of the world right now, she’s a lot more humble than anyone would expect.
We all know that Blake plays the fabulously rich Serena van der Woodsen on "Gossip Girl," but aside from that role, this 22-year-old starlet recently embarked on two new roles in films. "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee," where Blake plays a party girl who marries Alan Arkin, and "The Town," which is directed by Ben Affleck. Though both roles are a departure from her role as Serena, Blake seems more enthusiastic about her experience with Pippa – specifically the interesting chain of events that occurred at the recent New York City premiere (which was much smaller than she expected).
“Normally, when it’s bigger, they just have to fill the audience with random people, and there’s some press people, a lot of people from the gossip magazines, and you’re like, 'Well, I don’t care what they say anyway,'" she says. “But this was so small, and you’d think that would be less intimidating—but it was a hundred people who you really valued their opinion. When somebody said, ‘Oh, Penélope just got here,’ I laughed. They said, ‘Can you take a picture with Penélope and Marion Cotillard?’ And I just about died. There’s no way to articulate what it was like to have these iconic women who—I mean, Penélope Cruz I just think is like it.”
It’s not just fans who are so excited about Blake. When casting for his movie "The Town," Ben Affleck had nothing but good things to say about the actress. “The whole movie kind of hinges in a lot of ways on her performance, and I knew it was going to be the hardest part to cast,” Ben told Esquire. “This girl came in, and no one had said to me beforehand, ‘Hey, look for this person.’ And obviously she was really attractive, and so I thought, Oh, here comes some blond girl. She came in, did one reading, and just crushed it. Like, Boston accent—really good. I was sort of stunned. I said, ‘Jeez, you know, that was really f*cking good. Who are you?’ She didn’t mention that she was on a television show.”
With such a busy career, Blake admits it’s hard to always feel confident in making the right choices. “I surround myself with people I trust, but ultimately it’s my gut. That’s what I trust. Because I could be swayed any which way—I’m not saying I’m a person who can be swayed easily, but one can be swayed any which way,” she tells Esquire.
Only in her early 20's, Blake has accomplished quite a bit, and manages to remain completely in-tune with just how far she has come. With fame like hers, it’s hard to stay grounded, but somehow, she’s managing just fine.
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