From ‘Gossip Girl’ to Fashion Icon: Blake Lively Through the Years

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From 'Gossip Girl' to Fashion Icon: Blake Lively Through the Years

Serena van der Woodsen is all grown up. Blake Lively got her start on The CW’s Gossip Girl and never looked back. After starring in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Lively landed the lead in the popular teen drama series, which premiered in 2007. "There wasn't a period in my life like Serena went through, where I was doing drugs and having sex with my best friend's boyfriend. I never went through that kind of crazy," Lively told Cosmopolitan about her character in 2008, referring to herself as more of a “weird combination" of outgoing and shy. Lively’s love life first made headlines when she started dating her costar Penn Badgley, who portrayed Serena’s on and off love interest. The twosome called it quits after three years together in 2010. [jwplayer jLdZuX2w-l3ahXupL] Following The Town star’s brief fling with Leonardo DiCaprio, Lively started seeing her Green Lantern costar Ryan Reynolds. The couple secretly tied the knot in South Carolina in 2012. “About a year after Green Lantern had come and gone and we were both single we went on a double date – [Blake] was on a date with another guy and I was on a date with another girl – and it was like the most awkward date for the respective parties because we were just like fireworks coming across,” Reynolds told Entertainment Weekly in 2016. “We were buddies for a long time, which I think is the best way to have a relationship, to start as friends.” Lively and Reynolds welcomed their first child together, a daughter named James, in 2014. Two years later, the Savages star gave birth to daughter Inez. “Ryan had a nice, normal upbringing, and we want our kids to have the same normal life that we had,” she told Marie Claire in 2016. “We don’t ever want to rob them of what we had, because we’d feel really selfish.” The couple officially became family of five when daughter Betty was born in October 2019. “Blake has a really great support system,” a source told Us Weekly in August 2019. “She has several mom friends and loves having them over for play dates.” Scroll through to revisit Lively through the years:

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2005

Lively landed her first big role as Bridget in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants based on the novel of the same name.

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2006

The following year, the actress starred alongside Justin Long in the movie Accepted.

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2007

Lively’s star rose when Gossip Girl premiered on The CW in 2007.

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2009

The teen drama star stunned at the 2009 Emmys in Versace. 

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2011

Lively’s time as a redhead was brief, but memorable.  

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2012

Lively and Reynolds exchanged vows in 2012.

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2014

After Gossip Girl wrapped, Lively launched a lifestyle site called Preserve. A year later, the digital magazine was shut down and she returned to making movies. 

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2016

The California native debuted her post-baby body at The Shallows premiere in January 2016 wearing a strapless gown and leather gloves.

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2016

Lively and Reynolds made a rare public appearance with daughters James and Inez at his Walk of Fame ceremony.

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2018

The fashion icon turned heads at the 2018 Met Gala.

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2019

Us confirmed in October 2019 that the actress had given birth to her and Reynolds' third child earlier that summer.

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2019

Lively announced she is pregnant with baby No. 3 in 2019. 

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2020

Lively headed back to work after giving birth to promote her film Rhythm Section in January 2020. The star revealed that she was still on mommy duty as she pumped breast milk during a press day. “PUMP @therhythmsection press day Pump,” she captioned an Instagram Story photo of her Medela USA pump.

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2020

Lively and the Deadpool star documented their trip to drop off their vote-by-mail ballots in October 2020. She wore a chic tweed coat over pink trousers.

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2021

Lively looked her happiest when she received her COVID-19 vaccination in a photo shared via Instagram. “Find you someone who looks at you like I look at the heroic nurse vaccinating me 💕,” she captioned the March 31 post.

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2021

The Gossip Girl alum went on a date with Reynolds to a Yankees baseball game. “After 14 years in NY, I think tonight made me an official Yankee... ⚾️🍎,” she captioned her photos via Instagram on April 30. 

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August 2021

The Gossip Girl alum supported her husband at the red carpet premiere of Free Guy, matching her glitzy gown with a pair of sneakers. Days later, the Deadpool actor credited Lively’s help in the creation of the film.

“Free Guy wouldn’t be the movie it is without @blakelively,” he captioned an Instagram Story of the pair, adding a "partners in crime" animated sticker. “She was essential in every part of the making of this film, creatively and emotionally, and the cameo everyone is talking about was entirely her idea. #WorkWife.” 

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2022

While cohosting the Met Gala alongside Reynolds in May 2022, Lively rocked an epic Versace gown that transformed on the red carpet.

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August 2022

"☀️summer lovin’ …had me a blast," Lively captioned an Instagram photo of herself standing poolside in a white bikini.