interview by JANA LETONJA

Actress and musician Leighton Meester is best known for her starring role as scheming socialite Blair Waldorf on CW’s hit series ‘Gossip Girl’. Leighton is also a philanthropist, partnering with many charitable organizations to help the communities around the world. Currently, Leighton can be seen in Amazon Freevee’s holiday comedy ‘EXmas’ alongside Robbie Amell, that was released on 17th November.

Leighton, you rose to immensive fame with your role as Blair Waldorf in the hit series ‘Gossip Girl’. How has this role and this series changed your life?
That was the main turning point for me. I had been working on and off since I was young, but that was the first time that I ever did a show that stayed on more than a season. I had done a handful of pilots in the past. Some had gotten picked up or some went for a little while, but that was the first time that I was like “Okay, this could be a magical moment”. And I didn’t really second guess it too much. That was really the beginning of everything for me, as far as being able to work consistently and play with a character for a long period of time. And then beyond that, I was getting so much more opportunity and choice with what I wanted to do, so it was a huge lucky break for me.

full look PRADA

We can currently watch you in the holiday comedy ‘EXmas’. The film follows Graham surprising his family by traveling home for Christmas, where he is shocked to discover them already celebrating with an unexpected guest of honor, his ex-fiancée, Ali. Throughout the film, they constantly try to one-up each other. What was the funniest scene of the film to you and how fun was working on this holiday rom-com?
The dinner scene when Ali accidentally bakes the cookies with THC butter and in doing so, the whole family eats them. These table scenes are always so long, but it was so fun because everyone had to connect with their inner stoner. It was so hard to keep a straight face. 

In this year’s thriller ‘The River Wild’ you starred alongside your husband. You and Adam have worked together before, but how was it starring together after such a long time again?
This was technically our fifth project together, really fourth in person as we did a cartoon together. We obviously have a closeness in almost every way that a married couple would. We have an intimacy and our own language really, so it’s very natural to work with him. He is very encouraging and supportive and truthful, yet non-judgmental, and gives me a lot of space and support. He is naturally a wonderful person to have a family with and then to work with, it’s exactly all those things. As weird as it sounds, playing complete adversaries works for us. Adam is my best friend and I would do anything with him. I really love working with him on anything. It’s funny, we’ve never played love interests in anything, and this project is the farthest thing from that, so that’s very interesting. But I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else.

dress, tights, shoes and necklace JACQUEMUS
rings HANUT SINGH
rings A.JAFFE
earrings JOSEPH SAIDIA

But that is always good, to have someone you are so close to, on set.
Yes, absolutely. Altogether, no matter what I am working on, I love having a closeness with whoever it is, whether it’s somebody that I already know or people that I get to know. One of the amazing parts of doing new projects is that you meet new people and hopefully you become close with them, but it is its own thing when you already have a familiarity with people. It’s wonderful, especially on a five week shoot or a six week shoot, to just be able to jump in and know people. It makes it very easy and especially with a project like this, where there are so many moving parts and trust is such an important element of a film with stunts, a film in nature, a film where there is violence and emotion. I felt very safe because I was with my partner and of course with my other close friends. Those relationships only added to the feeling of safety and comfort in what were otherwise going to be some pretty uncomfortable situations.

What kind of roles do generally challenge and excite you the most?
What I feel the most excited for is something that is different than the last thing I did. I had done a couple years on a comedy TV show and I enjoyed it so much, it was challenging in so many ways and I had a huge learning curve, but then to go to something like this thriller, it’s its own challenge just even shifting mindset, let alone the actual content. Having a variety, that’s what’s most exciting to me. Going from one project to the next, not repeating.

full look SCHIAPARELLI
ring KALLATI
earrings SIMONE

Blair was a huge fashionista in ‘Gossip Girl’. How important is fashion in your personal life?
I think it’s always been important to me to an extent because I know when I feel good and it changes my attitude, and what I’m wearing has a lot to do with that. Certainly when I’m playing a character, what that person is wearing impacts how I feel and it is really one of the last puzzle pieces to put into place. That aspect of it, whether the person is quote unquote fashionable, it’s very important. 

In my personal life, I would say it’s important for me to feel good and feel comfortable. But it’s definitely changed over the years. I guess I do enjoy fashion, but not just for fashion’s sake. I don’t feel any desire to go along with any kind of trend just because it’s trendy or wear something that’s uncomfortable or unflattering just because it’s designer. I have learned what I like and what I feel fits me and my personality. And at the same time, my style has changed, my body has changed and my life has changed a lot, so what I’m looking for in fashion and expressing myself in that way is very different than it was 15 plus years ago. I still enjoy it, but in a different way. It’s evolved for me.

full look MIU MIU
earrings, necklace and ring MESSIKA

How has your style evolved over the years, especially since becoming a mom?
I think it’s just changed my perspective. While I try to wear things that make me feel good about myself, it’s mainly about being comfortable and functional. So when I do dress up, even a nice pair of pants feel like a huge change, or a pair of heels. But that was almost my daily attire when I was in my early twenties. Also, getting older and with a changing body over the years, how I’ve evolved is really finding exactly what I like, keeping what I like and letting go of anything else that makes me feel not so hot.

Besides acting, you’ve also done some music. Is music still something you’re planning on doing more of in the future? 
In the last few years, I’ve taken a sabbatical. I had another child and I feel like Covid derailed me for a little while, which was not so fun at the time, but I sort of now see the value in that time. I love playing music and I love singing and I really love writing. I love everything about it. It’s just incredibly time consuming, so I get easily pulled away from it. But it’s always been a part of my life and I want to do it forever.

dress GCDS
tights SAINT LAURENT
necklace SWAROVSKI

dress VALENTINO
tights SAINT LAURENT
necklace ASSAEL

You’re also a philanthropist. Why is partnering with charitable organizations and giving back to community important to you? What philantrophic projects are you currently working on?
I think that when anybody who can lend their time, their money or their voice to a cause that is important to them, or one that could make a change, there’s infinite value there. To be able to put time, financial support and of course any amount of reach that I have through my platform, that is incredibly valuable to me. And also, to have the perspective, to have the time that is outside of myself and my own selfish ventures, my own desires, my own daily life, and spend the time working towards something that might help others, that is one of the most rewarding things that I can do.

I’ve been working with Feeding America for five or six years now and I really love working with them, I love volunteering with them. They have so many amazing programs and events. You can see actual results with the time and money that you put in. The organization itself is just run by amazing people and for an amazing cause.

Leighton, tell us more about your future projects. What are your plans and goals for the future of your career?
I want to continue the way I am going. I love working on comedies because it’s just a fun place to live in and really stimulating creatively. I hope to work with people that are really nice and people that I love as well. The road I’m on feels pretty good.

coat BALMAIN
shoes CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN
earrings SWAROVSKI
ring DAVID YURMAN
ring SELIM MOUZANNAR

TEAM CREDITS:
talent LEIGHTON MEESTER
photography PHIL CHESTER & SARA BYRNE
styling RAZ MARTINEZ at Tunnel Media
makeup BETHANY MCCARTY
hair DALLIN JAMES
fashion market assistant JOYCE ONUORAH
styling assistants CONRAD PAUL GYURAS & MONICA VALENCIANA
editor TIMOTEJ LETONJA
editorial director and interview JANA LETONJA
cover design ARTHUR ROELOFFZEN