Head Of The Class
Posted by Rob Ortenzi on 17-Jan-07 @ 06:12 PM
BLAKE LIVELY probably didn’t have much of a choice when it came to picking
a career path. After all, her entire family—dad, mom and siblings—play
the showbiz game. The enthusiastic overachiever busied herself with everything
else besides being on-camera while in school, but after her big bro convinced
her to try out for—and totally nail—one of the leads in last year’s The
Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants, Lively got the acting bug. Good thing,
because now her friendly face will fill the silver screen in this year’s
college comedy Accepted, the quirky dramedy love story Elvis And Anabelle and
anything else her family can convince her to take part in. But we’re getting
ahead of ourselves. It’s best to pick up Lively’s story right after
we saw her last…STORY: JR Griffin PHOTO: Christopher Beyer I read that after you finished The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants you went back to your old high school full time. I did. School was my number-one priority. I went back to high school and continued in all of my clubs and activities and was at every single game and every single event. And when I finished school, that’s when I did Accepted and Elvis And Anabelle. Why didn’t you hit the party circuit like so many starlets do? It’s a personal preference. I’m a shy person. There’s nothing better than staying home and watching good movies. Some people want to go out and dance every night. I want to sit home, cuddle and bake cookies. What were you involved in during high school? I was class president; I was in the number one show choir in the nation; I was in varsity cheer; I was in Key Club; I was in California Scholarship Federation; I was in H.O.P.E., which stands for Helping Other People Eat; I was in all AP and honors classes. I was in every activity my high school had to offer. No wonder you just wanted to go home and chill and bake cookies at night. Yeah, I guess so. Since you were in choir, do you want to do musicals? More than anything in the world, I would love it. If I had any choice of any job in the world, I would want to be on Broadway. But I can’t sing or dance to save my life. It’s, like, painful. Even my friends and my boyfriend have to admit that it’s pretty painful to see and hear. Wait. How did you sneak your way into the No. 1 show choir in the nation? I acted my way into it. I’m not joking. I went in there acting like I knew exactly what I was doing and that I was the best thing that ever happened to them. And it was a complete fake act, because I was dying inside. I couldn’t believe I was trying out for choir. And it’s show choir, which means that you sing and dance. It’s very musical theater-esque. I got on stage and did the big facial expressions and was all excited, like “Oooh, ahhh!” So you have great jazz hands. Yes, I do. I have very energetic ones. They always had me in the front row. I don’t know why. And you just mouthed the words? Are you kidding? I sang my heart out, as loud as I could. Luckily, we had 43 other incredible singers so it didn’t matter. After finishing high school, was working on Accepted like reliving senior year again? It was more like post-senior year, so it was like living the next step in my life, going to a college. Are you planning on going to college? My deal with my agents is that I would take one year off and act. So I did Accepted and Elvis And Anabelle. Now I’m going to go back to school in the fall. I’m going to take courses over my computer while doing a movie, which is basically going to kill me. But I want to keep up with my schooling and broaden my horizons and, you know, learn everything. I looked up another movie, Simon Says, on the Internet Movie Database and just about your entire family is involved in it. It’s a fun horror movie that my dad produced. My family and my boyfriend and I went up to Northern California to visit him while filming. We were just sitting on set and my dad was like, “Why don’t you just hop in there?” So we did. I said two words. I think I said, “And ice.” That was the extent of it. Crispin Glover is the lead in it. He’s a very talented actor and I was honored to, I guess you can call it, “work” in his presence and say “and ice” with him. With your family so involved in the business they must be a big help. Yes, they’re very, very supportive. For Elvis And Anabelle, I play a Texas beauty queen and I my sister grew up in Georgia and was in beauty pageants when she was younger. So when I got this role, I didn’t realize how difficult it was going to be. My sister was there 15 hours a day working on this with me into the wee hours in the morning. She helped me out, my mom helped me out; everyone did. I really wouldn’t be able to do it without them. They’re all very, very talented. It’s like, “I’m in over my head; I need your help!” I still don’t know what I’m doing yet. It’s like the national show choir all over again. That’s kind of the story of my life. I just jump in and figure it out as I go along. ALT [SIDEBAR] BLAKE LIVELY AGE: 18 HQ: Burbank, CA RÉSUMÉ: The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants, as Bridget, the soccer star in a circle of four denim-clad BFFs; this month’s Accepted, as Monica, a popular girl who gets a life lesson from Justin Long and his misfit pals when they start a fake university; upcoming Elvis And Anabelle, as Anabelle, a Texas beauty queen who falls for a mortician. FAMILY AFFAIR: “My brother and I get a lot of love-interest roles. He’ll go, ‘It’s down to me and two other people for this movie.’ And I’ll go, ‘It’s down to me and two other people for this movie.’ And we’re like, ‘For who?’ And we find out that we’re supposed to be lovers. It’s like, ‘Uh, you can have it.’” MUSICAL MUSES: “I’m obsessed with Muse. They’ve literally changed my life. It’s like all other bands kind of seem like, ‘Ohhh, that’s sweet’ after you hear Muse. I feel the same way about Radiohead. The level of music they make is so incredible. And I love Gnarls Barkeley. Camera Obscura, I love. I think they’re fantastic. Oh, and Lovedrug and Bloc Party.” ALT |
