Striking A Rhythm

Acting has allowed Blake Lively to let go of her insecurities, and the star reveals how she has found her happy place – as actress, wife, mother… and cook

- Jane Taylor

On the surface, Blake Lively may look like she has it all. Married to a Hollywood star in Ryan Reynolds and mother to three daughters, she actively stars in movies, and always look incredibly put together. But growing up, Blake was a gangly and withdrawn teenager whose insecurities were a constant source of anguish.

“I was kind of quiet and shy growing up,” Blake admits. “I had problems in high school with some girls. And (as) I was tall, I felt insecure standing out in a crowd when I wanted to be alone, so I spent a lot of time by myself, lost in my thoughts.”

What brought Blake out of her cocoon was the confidence she gained from acting classes.

“It wasn’t until I started acting classes that I was able to overcome my shyness and awkwardness. When I was 15 or 16, I became more outgoing and enthusiastic with people because I had spent so much time being this strange introvert, when deep down, I was longing to have fun and be expressive.”

However, acting was not her career of choice. Blake shares, “My whole life was planned around going to Stanford and getting a university degree. I come from a family of actors and I wanted to do something different. Acting wasn’t glamorous for me because it was just something my siblings and parents did for a living. They weren’t stars, and we were living in Burbank and not Beverly Hills.”

Her brother who was an actor pushed Blake to give acting a go. She reveals, “He thought I'd be good at it, and that I should at least give it a try.”

Struggle With Self-Confidence

It was only a few years later that Blake would burst onto the scene as Serena van der Woodsen on TV’s Gossip Girl. Not only did the role inscribe her into the public imagination, she was also recognised as a fashion icon.