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Blake Lively Biography: Gossip Girl Star, Film Actress and Entrepreneur

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Blake Lively Biography: Gossip Girl Star, Film Actress and Entrepreneur

Blake Lively is an American actress and entrepreneur best known as Serena van der Woodsen on The CW’s Gossip Girl (2007–2012). Since then she has headlined films including The Town, The Age of Adaline and It Ends With Us — the $351 million hit that became the biggest box-office success of her career — built a portfolio of beverage and beauty brands, and was named to the 2025 TIME 100. In October 2026 she returned to the headlines when newly unsealed court documents from her settled dispute with director Justin Baldoni were released to the public.

Blake Lively: Quick Facts
Full name Blake Ellender Lively (née Brown)
Born August 25, 1987, Tarzana, Los Angeles, California, USA
Nationality American
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Occupation Actress, entrepreneur (active 1998–present)
Known for Gossip Girl; It Ends With Us; Betty Buzz
Spouse Ryan Reynolds (married 2012)
Children 4 (publicly reported)

Early life and background

Blake Ellender Lively was born on August 25, 1987, in Tarzana, Los Angeles, California (Wikipedia; IMDb). She grew up in an acting family: her father, Ernie Lively (né Ernest Wilson Brown Jr.), was an actor, her mother Elaine (née McAlpin) worked as a talent scout, and she is the youngest of five siblings — Eric, Lori, Robyn and Jason (Wikipedia).

Her older brother Eric convinced her to try auditioning, and Lively made her professional acting debut at age 10 in her father’s film Sandman (1998) (Wikipedia; IMDb). She attended Burbank High School, where she was class president, a cheerleader and a choir member (IMDb).

Breakthrough: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Lively was still in high school when she was cast as Bridget Vreeland in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005), returning to complete her senior year after filming; she reprised the role in the 2008 sequel (Wikipedia; Television Stats). She followed it with the comedy Accepted (2006) (Wikipedia).

Gossip Girl: becoming Serena van der Woodsen

In 2007 Lively landed the role that made her an international star: Serena van der Woodsen on The CW’s Gossip Girl. Across 121 episodes (2007–2012), she played the glamorous Upper East Side socialite opposite Leighton Meester’s Blair Waldorf (Wikipedia; Television Stats), becoming a red-carpet fixture and a fashion icon in the process (IMDb).

Film career

While Gossip Girl was still airing, Lively began building a film résumé: New York, I Love You (2008) and The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009) (Television Stats). In 2010 she played Krista Coughlin in Ben Affleck’s crime thriller The Town, and in 2011 she took the role of Carol Ferris in Green Lantern — the film where she met her future husband, Ryan Reynolds (Wikipedia; Television Stats).

Her subsequent leads included Oliver Stone’s Savages (2012), the romantic fantasy The Age of Adaline (2015), the shark survival thriller The Shallows (2016) and Woody Allen’s Café Society (2016) (Wikipedia; Television Stats). She starred opposite Anna Kendrick in the twisty thriller A Simple Favor (2018) and returned for its 2025 sequel Another Simple Favor (Wikipedia). In 2021 she directed Taylor Swift’s music video “I Bet You Think About Me” (Wikipedia).

In 2024 Lively produced and starred as Lily Bloom in It Ends With Us, the Colleen Hoover adaptation that grossed $351 million worldwide on a $25 million budget — the biggest box-office success of her career (Wikipedia; Marie Claire UK). The same year she voiced Ladypool in Deadpool & Wolverine (Television Stats).

Business ventures

Lively’s first business foray, the lifestyle and e-commerce site Preserve (2014–2015), was short-lived (Wikipedia). She returned with Betty Buzz, a line of non-alcoholic mixers launched in 2021, followed by its sister alcohol brand Betty Booze in 2023, and the Target haircare line Blake Brown Beauty in 2024 (Celebrity Net Worth; Success Knocks). In 2025 she was named to the TIME 100 (Wikipedia).

Personal life

Lively married actor Ryan Reynolds on September 9, 2012, at Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (Wikipedia; IMDb). The couple have four children, born between December 2014 and February 2023, whose details they keep largely private — the children’s names (James, Inez, Betty and Olin) have been publicly reported (Wikipedia).

Legal dispute and October 2026 headlines

In December 2024 Lively filed a federal lawsuit against It Ends With Us director and co-star Justin Baldoni alleging sexual harassment and an orchestrated smear campaign; Baldoni has denied the allegations (Marie Claire UK; Particle News). Baldoni’s $400 million counterclaim was dismissed in June 2025, and the remaining parties reached a settlement in May 2026 with no money changing hands, per reporting (Particle News).

The case returned to the news in October 2026 when court filings released on October 9 included private August 2024 texts from Ryan Reynolds — pressing Sony Pictures to publicly back Lively during the film’s backlash, and separately calling Baldoni a “predator and sociopath” in a message to author Colleen Hoover (Particle News; The Hollywood Gossip; Reality Tea). On October 13, a deposition from Baldoni’s former WME agent Danny Greenberg — accusing Lively of “continued extortion” to gain control of the film — drew a denial from her representative, who called it a “recycled distraction” (Urban Matter).

Net worth snapshot

As of 2026, Blake Lively’s net worth is estimated at $30 million (Celebrity Net Worth consensus, echoed by Wealthy Gorilla’s October 2026 update) — and no Forbes, Bloomberg or Hurun figure exists for her. Her verified financial anchors include the $1.75 million base salary plus 10% of gross for It Ends With Us, and equity in her Betty Buzz, Betty Booze and Blake Brown Beauty brands. Read the full breakdown in Blake Lively’s net worth, including the unsealed contract details and our transparent estimate methodology.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Blake Lively?

Blake Lively is an American actress and entrepreneur, born August 25, 1987, in Tarzana, California. She rose to fame as Serena van der Woodsen on Gossip Girl (2007–2012) and later headlined The Age of Adaline and the $351 million hit It Ends With Us.

How old is Blake Lively?

Blake Lively was born on August 25, 1987 — making her 39 years old as of October 2026.

Who is Blake Lively married to?

Blake Lively has been married to actor Ryan Reynolds since September 9, 2012. They met on the set of Green Lantern (2011) and have four children together.

What is Blake Lively’s net worth?

Blake Lively’s net worth is estimated at $30 million as of 2026, based on aggregator consensus (Celebrity Net Worth, Wealthy Gorilla). No Forbes, Bloomberg or Hurun estimate exists for her.

Did Blake Lively die in October 2026?

No — this was a hoax. A viral “R.I.P. Blake Lively” Facebook page claimed she had died on October 11, 2026; the claim was debunked and she is alive and well (Mediamass).

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