The Tragic True-Life Story Of Blake Lively
She's a movie star and half of a Hollywood supercouple, but Blake Lively's transformation from "Gossip Girl" queen to mother of four hasn't always been easy.
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00She's a movie star and half of a Hollywood supercouple, but Blake Lively's transformation
00:04from gossip girl queen to mother of four hasn't always been easy.
00:08Believe it or not, Blake Lively was bullied as a child because of the way she dressed.
00:12Lively's mother loved fashion and would alter adult clothes to fit her.
00:15This meant that she had a unique wardrobe, which she enjoyed.
00:18However, it made her stand out among her peers at her Los Angeles private school.
00:22Lively told Vogue,
00:23"...People were just downright mean to me.
00:25They would make fun of my clothes because I dressed differently than the other kids."
00:28In 2018, she posted an image to Instagram of herself with Big Bird, writing,
00:34"'Kids used to make fun of me in elementary school by calling me Big Bird, because I was
00:38too tall and had yellow hair.
00:40Here's to making best buddies with the things that once hurt you.'"
00:43While Gossip Girl propelled Lively to fame, it wasn't her first on-screen role.
00:47She'd previously appeared in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Simon Says, among
00:50other films.
00:52But despite working as an actor from a young age, Lively wanted to go to college, specifically
00:56Stanford University.
00:58Before landing the role of Serena Vander Woodson on Gossip Girl, Lively had deferred her college
01:01education for a year and didn't want to put it off any longer.
01:04Producers promised the young actor she'd be able to study part-time while working on the
01:08series, an arrangement that suited Lively.
01:10For those of you who dream of attending an Ivy League school, this mixer is the most
01:15important event of your life.
01:17But no pressure."
01:19But when the show became a hit, Lively's workload left no time for college.
01:23Speaking to Vanity Fair, Lively said execs at the CW refused to add a clause to her
01:27contract regarding college, and instead made a verbal agreement that they then didn't honor,
01:31warning,
01:32When they say,
01:33"'We promise, but we can't put it in writing.'
01:34There's a reason they can't put it in writing."
01:36Get it in writing!"
01:38Before she was involved with Ryan Reynolds, Lively dated co-star Penn Badgley, who played
01:42Gossip Girl's Dan Humphrey during the show's run from 2007 to 2012.
01:46I've waited my entire adolescent life for a date with this girl, and I decided to close
01:50the evening with a wave."
01:52At the time, they were both in their early 20s and worked hard to keep their relationship
01:55a secret, for fear that the network and executives behind the series would object.
01:58However, the two did eventually come out as a couple, because as Lively told Vanity Fair,
02:03We were like,
02:04Oh no, that's exactly what they want.
02:06They wanted us all to date.
02:07They wanted us all to wear the same clothes that we're wearing on the show.
02:10They wanted that, because then it fed their whole narrative.
02:12People could buy into this world."
02:15Lively has never been afraid of committing to a role.
02:17Whether that means altering her body like she did for Elvis and Annabelle, in which
02:20she played a beauty queen who dies of bulimia, or doing her own stunts, she's been known
02:25to go the extra mile.
02:26Take the 2016 survival horror film The Shallows, for example.
02:30Stop!
02:31Stop!
02:32Get out of the water!
02:34Get out of the water!
02:36Stranded at sea and pursued by a shark, Lively's character is forced to improvise using her
02:39limited supplies to survive.
02:41She did almost all of her own stunts in the film and was determined to make the crew proud
02:44of her performance, a decision that took a toll on her body.
02:48Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, she shared,
02:50It's such a physical movie.
02:52There's a scene where I'm swimming up to the buoy and I crack my face underwater and my
02:55nose is pouring blood, and that was real.
02:57That happened.
02:58I wasn't supposed to crack my face underwater."
03:00While many actors would have bailed, Lively felt like she had a point to prove, recalling,
03:03I thought, I'm going to keep going during this take unless I pass out.
03:08In the 2020 action-thriller film The Rhythm Section, Lively plays a woman seeking to avenge
03:12her family after they're killed during a terrorist attack.
03:14There were lots of action sequences in the film, and unfortunately, Lively got injured
03:18when a stunt went wrong.
03:20During a fight scene between Lively and Jude Law, she hurt her hand so badly that production
03:24was stalled for six months.
03:25She told Good Morning America,
03:27My hand basically turned to feta cheese.
03:29It was like lunging toward Jude Law with my fake rubber knife.
03:32My hand collided with his elbow."
03:34I, you know, broke some things and dislocated some things and severed a ligament and, yeah,
03:39it was pretty, uh, pretty intense."
03:42Lively underwent two separate surgeries and a painful physical therapy regimen to regain
03:45full use of her hand.
03:47The injury was ultimately integrated into the movie.
03:50Lively's character can be seen wearing a hand brace.
03:53Outside of acting, Lively has kept herself busy with an array of additional business
03:56ventures.
03:57These include the Blake Brown Hair Care line, as well as Betty Buzz and Betty Boo's drinks,
04:01which include non-alcoholic mixers and flavored canned cocktails.
04:04Your drink?
04:05I need a martini.
04:06Oh, uh, yeah, I like martinis.
04:07I haven't had one in a long time.
04:13But Lively's first venture outside of acting went up in flames.
04:16In 2014, Lively launched a lifestyle website called Preserve.
04:20Focusing on unique products from creators across the United States, Preserve sold things
04:24that had been specially selected by Lively herself.
04:27Lively's original mission was to make a difference in people's lives, whether superficially or
04:31in a meaningful way.
04:33About a year later, Lively shut down Preserve, telling Vogue,
04:35"...we launched the site before it was ready.
04:37I never thought I would have the bravery to actually do that, to take the site dark and
04:41to say, you know what, I haven't created something that is as true and impactful as I know it
04:45can and will be."
04:46"...I hope to never, ever, ever be complacent, because I think that that's one of the most
04:53tragic things that I could ever be."
04:56Lively had no real aspirations of entering show business, despite the fact that much
05:00of her family is part of the industry.
05:02Speaking to The Independent, she admitted that she felt as though she had fooled producers
05:05when she won her role in The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, adding that she's completely
05:09shy when the cameras aren't rolling.
05:11Over the years, Lively's been able to get her insecurities under control.
05:15She's spoken about how having children has helped her feel more confident and open with
05:18who she is as a person, telling Forbes,
05:20"...Once I had children, that just became even more profound because my time was even
05:24more precious.
05:25But also, I think having children for me made me feel so much more in my skin.
05:29I never felt more myself or at ease in my own body or more confident.
05:33Not to say that there aren't a bevy of insecurities coming at me a million times a day, but I
05:37just feel incredibly settled."
05:39The influence of Lively's parents was essential in helping her establish a career in the entertainment
05:43industry.
05:45Lively's mother and father worked in Hollywood.
05:46Elaine Lively worked as a talent scout, while Ernie Lively was an actor who had roles in
05:50everything from Turner & Hooch to The West Wing.
05:53Lively would accompany her parents to the acting classes they taught because they didn't
05:56want to pay for a babysitter, so perhaps it's no surprise that she ended up following in
06:00her father's footsteps.
06:01I was coaching him and picking out his outfits when I was, like, five.
06:05But in 2021, Lively and her family were left heartbroken when Ernie Lively died.
06:09A Hollywood reporter confirmed that he passed away at the age of 74 at his home in Los Angeles.
06:14He was surrounded by his wife and children, with the cause of death given as cardiac complications.
06:19Eight years earlier, Ernie Lively had groundbreaking surgery involving injecting stem cells into
06:24his heart to help repair damaged tissue.
06:26The process allowed him to return to a more active lifestyle and feel healthier than he
06:30had previously.
06:32Lively and Reynolds have made it a mission to try and keep their personal lives private.
06:35For the most part, this means the couple's four children have stayed out of the public
06:39eye.
06:40The two actors have made a point of keeping the names and even the genders of their kids
06:42secret for as long as possible.
06:44Unfortunately, the privacy of their children has not always been in their hands.
06:48Lively has experienced a number of upsetting moments with professional photographers who've
06:52gone to extreme lengths to try and snap images of her with her children.
06:55Writing in a now-deleted Instagram post, Lively explained that having grown men jump out and
06:59follow her with her young children was traumatic for them.
07:02She went on to say,
07:03My children were being stalked by men all day, jumping out and then hiding.
07:07A stranger on the street got into words with them because it was so upsetting for her to
07:11see.
07:12One of Reynolds' closest friends was even discovered trying to sell private images of
07:15one of their babies.
07:16Speaking to GQ about the betrayal, Reynolds said,
07:18It was like a death.
07:19It was like one of those devastating things to find out.
07:23The sexual harassment and misogyny at the heart of the entertainment industry has come
07:26to light in a big way since producer Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 16 years in prison
07:31for rape and sexual assault in 2022.
07:33It quickly became apparent that sexual misconduct in Hollywood was widespread, as more and more
07:38actors were emboldened to speak out about their experiences thanks to the MeToo movement.
07:42Lively was not exempt, revealing that she was on the receiving end of frequent sexual
07:46harassment from a makeup artist.
07:48While she didn't name the production, Lively did detail some of the abuse she experienced
07:52and said that her complaints were ignored for months.
07:54In fact, action was only taken against the individual after Lively spoke to a lawyer.
07:58The harassment involved unwanted physical touching and non-consensual filming.
08:02In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, she revealed,
08:04He was saying things inappropriately, insisting on putting my lipstick on with his finger.
08:08I was sleeping one night on location and I woke up and he was filming me.
08:12I was clothed, but it was a very voyeuristic, terrifying thing to do.
08:16Lively and Reynolds met on the set of the box office bomb that was Green Lantern, and
08:20rumors that the pair were dating soon began to swirl, although official confirmation that
08:24they were an item didn't come until the following year.
08:26They got married on September 9, 2012, after less than a year together.
08:30The wedding took place at Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, a location
08:34that NBC described as featuring, quote, "'nine slave cabins,' referred to as Slave Street."
08:39The couple's choice of venue understandably caused controversy at the time, and the couple
08:43were criticized again in 2018 after Reynolds expressed his support for the majority Black
08:47cast of Marvel's Black Panther.
08:49It wasn't until 2020 that the couple acknowledged that they'd made a mistake choosing Boone
08:52Hall Plantation as their wedding venue.
08:55Reynolds told Fast Company,
08:56It's impossible to reconcile.
08:58What we saw at the time was a wedding venue on Pinterest.
09:01What we saw after was a place built upon devastating tragedy.
09:04This admission came on the heels of the couple donating $200,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense
09:09Fund.
09:10In an accompanying statement shared on Instagram, Lively said,
09:13"...we remain in awe of the organization."
09:15The couple also revealed that they had renewed their vows in a separate ceremony at their
09:19home.
09:21If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available.
09:24Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline
09:30at 1-800-656-HOPE, 4673.