Blake Lively Success Story

Early Life

For someone who did not have much interest in acting and had to be literally pushed into it, Blake Lively has gained almost instantaneous success. It just shows that one never knows one’s potential unless they are ready to take the plunge. Lively was born to Ernie, a director and an actor, and Elaine, a talent scout. Despite being born into a family of show business, Lively had plans of pursuing education at Stanford University instead of wanting to enter the world of acting. She is the youngest of five siblings, and they are all actors.Lively’s parents lived in Georgia before they moved to Los Angeles to carve out a career in show business. The family, however, retained their Southern roots and Lively was raised with Southern values.

In what was obviously a bad decision, Lively began her first grade at the tender age of three. Her older brother was afraid of attending school alone. So, her mother passed Lively off as a 6-year-old child (because she was abnormally tall for her age). When the two children actually had to do school work, Lively was not able to keep up and kept dozing off. Her teachers thought that she needed to go to a school for mentally-disabled children!By the time Lively completed grade school, she had changed thirteen schools. At Burbank High School, where she finally stay put, she excelled in academics as well as extra-curricular activities. She was a member of the school choir, class president, and a cheerleader.

"The most beautiful thing you can wear is confidence" - Blake Lively

Career

Lively’s brothers and sisters pressured her to quit school and pursue acting, but she would have none of it. However, her elder brother Eric pushed Lively to begin auditioning for different roles. When, at age 17, Lively began to audition for roles, she found success quickly. In 2005, she landed a major role in the film The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants. Her performance in the film earned her a Teen Choice Award nomination for the category of Breakout Movie Star.