Actress Leighton Meester is widely known for her portrayal of the queen B of Constance Billard, Blaire Waldorf, in the CW series Gossip Girl. She gained massive success through the show and accumulated a net worth of $16 million. During the Gossip Girl era, she is one of the IT girls in Hollywood alongside fellow American actress Blake Lively. Despite her great success in the entertainment industry, she’s had a rough start in life.
Leighton is among the celebrities who had rags to riches story. However her story had a little twist since it involved her being born in prison. It is probably a common knowledge among the fans that she was born in prison, but that was just the beginning of her long and windy road to get to where she is today. Although her story is a little bit complicated, it became an inspiration among the fans. Take a look at how she managed to get to the top with her amazing success story.
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3 The Rough Childhood Of Leighton Meester
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The Gossip Girl star was born on April 9, 1986 in Fort Worth, Texas to a real estate broker father and writer mother. The childhood of Leighton Meester was far from easy. Due to her parent’s involvement with a drug smuggling case, Leighton was born in prison since both her parents are serving jail time. As soon as she was released from the hospital, her mother went back to prison.
Her mother still had to serve about sixteen months in prison after Leighton’s birth. The first few months of the Gossip Girl star, she had to stay in a halfway house before she was placed in the custody of her grandmother. Even when her parents were released, things did not go easy for her. Her parents then got divorced and soon her family faced financial struggles.
Despite her parents having a criminal record, her parents tried hard to provide her with a normal upbringing. Leighton said in one of her interviews that people should not judge others by their past since everyone can change.
As early as 10 years old, she has been involved in some community plays. At age eleven, Leighton moved from Florida to New York with her mother and two siblings. This is when Leighton decided to pursue modeling and acting career full time.
2 How Meester’s Career Flourished
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As soon as Leighton’s family moved to New York, she started hunting for auditions and casting calls. Her family struggled a lot while they lived in New York since the living expenses in New York is extremely high. She had to hustle more to land jobs and with luck on her side, she began her modeling career soon after. She modeled for prominent brands such as Tamagotchi, Clearasil and Ralph Lauren.
After spending three years in New York, she decided that it would be best if they moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. At age fourteen, she moved to Hollywood. Leighton flew to Los Angeles to star in an episode of American police procedural and legal drama television series Law & Order in 1999. It was her acting debut and everyone was impressed with her performance.
She finally got to debut in the movie industry starring in a Hollywood film titled Hangman’s Curse in 2003. After her movie debut, she continuously booked acting jobs and starred in numerous TV shows and films. After hustling for seven years, she finally managed to get her breakthrough role as Blair Waldorf in Gossip Girl. She initially auditioned for the role of Serena Woodsen but ended up taking the role of Blair.
Her popularity significantly rose after she starred in the popular teen drama series. Her performance as Blair Waldorf impressed the critics. Her outfits from the show also gained admiration from the teens following the show. Eventually, the series ended after six seasons with 120 episodes.
1 Continuous Success In The Entertainment Industry
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Leighton Meester’s star rose as soon as she starred in Gossip Girl. Her endorsements and brand deals continuously poured in thanks to the massive popularity of the series. She was among the top stars to book endorsement deals including a partnership with Reebok to model their latest Top Down sneakers in 2009. At the time, she also ventured into the music industry and released her first song titled Somebody to Love.
Since the show ended in 2012, she has starred in numerous films such as Killer Movie, The Judge, Monte Carlo and a lot more. As one of the cast member of Gossip Girl, it opened a lot of doors for Leighton as she also made her way into the Broadway starring on John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men in 2014. She co-starred with James Franco and Chris O’Dowd.
With the success of Leighton, she has learned to give back to the community. She is actively participating in several charitable campaigns. She even volunteered with the NGO’s project Feeding America. She has been helping the project since 2017.
Since she rose to fame, she has been actively seen on the screen. At the moment she has a recurring role in the spin-off of How I Met Your Mother, How I Met Your Father, portraying the role of Meredith.
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Sources: Cheat Sheet, The List, Failure Before Success
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