Artist Blake Lively Pics

Blake Lively was born in Tarzana, Los Angeles to actors Ernie and Elaine Lively. Lively said that watching her parents teach acting classes helped her learn the "drills" of acting and gain confidence as she got older. Lively filmed her scenes in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants between her junior and senior years at Burbank High.

Lively began her acting career at age 11, when she appeared in the 1998 film Sandman, which was directed by Lively's father. Lively describes her role in the film as having been a "bit part". Lively's performance in the film earned her a nomination for a Teen Choice Award for "Choice Movie Breakout - Female."

In 2006, she co-starred with Justin Long in Accepted, and Lively had minor roles in the horror film, Simon Says. Lively was cast in the CW's series Gossip Girl, which premiered in September 2007. In 2008, Lively reprised her role in the sequel, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. Similar to the first film, Lively was positively received by critics. Despite positive reception from critics, the film had a poor box office performance.

One of Lively's most acclaimed roles to date is her supporting role playing the younger version of the title character in The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009). Paul Byrnes, of the Brisbane Times, described Lively's performance in the film as being "sensational". In October, 2009, Lively began filming her scenes for her role as Krista Coughlin, in the 2010 film The Town, based on Chuck Hogan's novel Prince of Thieves. The film grossed a worldwide total of $219,851,172. Lively was originally considered for the lead role in Steven Soderbergh's The Side Effects. Lively was also chosen as the face of the new Gucci fragrance titled Gucci Premiere.