Leighton Marissa Meester (born April 9, 1986) is a striking American actress and singer. Leighton’s mother was confined in a federal prison for her involvement in a drug ring which used to smuggled drugs from Jamaica to the United States. She gave birth to Leighton in a hospital and fostered her for three months in a halfway house, before returning to prison to complete her sentence, after which Leighton’s grandmother nursed her.
Leighton reiterated that her parents gave her a normal nurture and, despite their illicit past, are good people with experience that has only made Leighton more broad minded and non-judgmental as she talked about her parents:- “It made me realize that you can’t judge anyone — especially your parents — for what they’ve done in their past, because people change.” And this is alright. She brought up in Florida; Leighton got the acting instinct at the age of nine, when she played a citizen of Emerald City in a local production of “The Wizard of Oz.” Two years later, she moved with her family to New York and soon began working as a model with the Wilhelmina modeling agency, booking a Ralph Lauren campaign shot by Bruce Weber and working with photographer / director Sofia Coppola.
Leighton Meester has appeared in the TV world like a storm as the deliciously devilish Blair Waldorf on CW’s popular drama Gossip Girl. The series show is based on the book series by Cecily von Ziegesar about the lives of New York’s privileged Upper East Side young adults. Her performance is the most critically acclaimed of the show, with Blair being cited as the series’ breakout character, and also garnering much media recognition due to her wardrobe. Leighton appeared in Hangman’s Curse, based on the best-selling novel by Frank Peretti. She also recently played a part in the independent film Flourish with future House co-stars Jennifer Morrison and Jesse Spencer, and in the drama Inside.
In 2006, she wrapped the female lead role in the comedy/horror film Drive-Thru. She has also recorded a song for the soundtrack of Drive-Thru. In Spring 2006, she starred in the ensemble comedy/drama entitled The Beautiful Ordinary. Because of her unbelievable achievement on the show, it didn’t take long to make the leap onto the big screen. Leighton appeared on the television film The Haunting of Sorority Row, and played a part in the ensemble comedy/drama Remember the Daze. She also appeared in the horror/thriller film Killer Movie in 2008.
Leighton had also played small roles in the 2010 comedies Date Night and Going The Distance. She starred in Screen Gems’ 2010 country drama Country Strong and the 2011 thriller The Roommate. In 2011 she starred alongside Selena Gomez and Katie Cassidy in the young femme comedy Monte Carlo, loosely based on Jules Bass’s young-adult book Headhunters. She is set to star in The Uncatchable Cowgirl Bandits of Nottingham, Texas alongside Amber Heard; in the indie dramatic comedy The Oranges opposite Hugh Laurie; and she also joined the cast of the comedy I Hate You, Dad, alongside Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, and Milo Ventimiglia.
Leighton Meester, being an optimist, filming the television show and multiple films wasn’t enough; therefore she was recently signed as a recording artist to Universal Republic. The first two singles off her album, Somebody to Love and Your Love is a Drug, have already had huge success. When she is off set, she attended Beverly Hills High School, pursues her talent for music and creative writing. She currently resides in New York. Leighton’s upcoming feature films roles include The Beautiful Ordinary and the thriller Dead of Night.
