- Leighton Meester is an American actress
- She shot to fame playing Blair Waldorf on The CW show Gossip Girl
- She is married to actor Adam Brody and is joining the cast of his show Nobody Wants This in season 2
If you’re looking at the photo and thinking, “I recognize her”, well you’re not the only one. Leighton Meester is a 2000s icon and will be recognizable to the girls anywhere, just by a different name. Meester is best known for playing the role of mean girl Blair Waldorf on The CW drama Gossip Girl. Meester played the iconic role from 2007 until 2012. Now she is joining another show. On 20 February it was announced by Variety she is joining season 2 of the Netflix show Nobody Wants This.
Nobody Wants This premiered on the streaming service in September 2024. It is a comedy starring Adam Brody as a single hot rabbi who falls in love with a sex podcaster (Kristen Bell). Sounds like a recipe for disaster, or greatness. Well, viewers loved the chemistry between the two 2000s icons.
Brody is best known for playing the role of the loveable nerd Seth Cohen on Fox’s teen drama The OC. Bell is known as the narrator of Gossip Girl (a funny crossover), and for playing teenage detective Veronica Mars on the show of the same name.
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If that isn’t enough, you’ll lose your mind when you learn that Meester and Brody are married in real life. Yes, Blair and Seth are married! But outside of her marriage, who is Meester, and what has she been in? Read on to find out.
Who is Leighton Meester?
Leighton Meester is an actress and singer born on April 9, 1986. The 38-year-old had many starring roles throughout the 2010s but she rose to fame for one part and one part only, but we will get into that. She was born to Douglas Jay and Constance Meester.
The actress had an unconventional upbringing and was born while her mother was in prison. Sadly her parents were serving prison time for being involved in drug smuggling. Her grandmother raised her for a time, but her parents still raised her later in childhood. She grew up in Marco Island, Florida. Meester attended the Professional Children’s School, a preparatory school for aspiring child actors.
During this time she was signed to Wilhelmina Models, now known as Wilhelmina. She was the star of a Ralph Lauren campaign and was a regular in advertisements for brands like Tamagotchi. She moved to Hollywood and attended high school there and in Beverly Hills.
Leighton Meester’s career
She made her acting debut in 1999 on an episode of Law & Order as Alyssa Turner, a friend of a murder victim. In 2003 Meester had her film debut in Hangman’s Curse and she had a regular role in the Tarzan TV series that same year.
In the mid-2000s, she had a recurring role on Veronica Mars (funny that) and continuously booked guest roles on shows like 7th Heaven. She had her first series regular role in Surface before her big break in Gossip Girl. Also before the show, she filmed two films, Flourish and Inside. She also had a notable two-episode arc on the medical drama House playing a teenager with a crush on Doctor House in 2006.
Gossip Girl and beyond
In 2007 Meester had her most notable role of her career when she was cast as Blair Waldorf in The CW show Gossip Girl. Despite auditioning for Blake Lively’s role of Serena Van der Woodsen, she went on to play Blair. The character Meester played has been declared as a fan-favorite and her performance received critical acclaim. As Gossip Girl aired, she had more movie parts and worked with brands thanks to her popularity.
In 2009 she signed a record deal with Universal Republic and worked with Cobra Starship on their song Good Girls Go Bad, which was featured in Gossip Girl. She released another song Somebody To Love in October 2009. She continued to work on music throughout the 2010s while acting. In 2010 she acted in the country drama film Country Song where her performance was praised. She recorded a cover of Rascal Flatts’ Words Couldn’t Say for the movie.
In 2011 her next big film came, the horror film The Roomate where she played a woman obsessed with her female roommate. She also starred in the teen rom-com Monte Carlo alongside Selena Gomez and Katie Cassidy in the same year. Finally, in 2011, she starred alongside her future husband Adam Brody in The Oranges. Brody and Meester didn’t start dating straight away though!
2014 – Heartstrings and more acting
In 2014 Meester starred in the comedy Life Partners. She made her Broadway debut in the same year in Of Mice and Men. She announced her debut album Heartstrings and released the single of the same name that year. The Gossip Girl star married Brody after dating since 2013. The couple had a daughter named Arlo in August 2015 and a son in September 2020.
Meester went quiet for a few years but had success again with the sitcom Single Parents in 2018. In 2022 despite having many guest roles she had a recurring role on the How I Met Your Mother spinoff How I Met Your Father. That year she also starred in the thriller film The Weekend Away and the comedy film Exmas.
2024- present
Meester is booked and busy now. In October 2024 she joined the cast of The Buchaneers for season 2, which will premiere sometime this year. In February 2025 she returned to The CW in a leading role for the dramedy Good Cop/ Bad Cop. Additionally, it was announced she’d join her husband in Nobody Wants This for season 2.
Meester is playing Abby who is described as “Joanne’s middle school nemesis who is now an Instagram mommy influencer.” Is anyone getting Gossip Girl vibes here?
Nobody Wants This season 2 is not yet out, but stay tuned for updates on the series as they come!
