Recently I have found myself contemplating a Gossip Girl rewatch with Leighton Meester being one of the main reasons for this hankering (the other things being the clothes, music and noting all the times Dan is surprised by something Gossip Girl does). Meester has been busy after taking off the Queen B crown; she recently finished Of Mice and Men on Broadway and her new album Heartstrings came out this week. Plus a couple of movies with Like Sunday, Like Rain and Life Partners (starring another TV Ate My Wardrobe favorite – Gillian Jacobs) and Meester is covering the November issue of Nylon (on newsstands November 4) to promote these various projects.
It’s a typical Nylon selection of clothes on the cover with all the patterns, fabrics and colors and while the star furry vest is giving me Independence Day feelings – this is the America Issue which I guess is where the star spangled vest and striped top come in – giving it a somewhat summery in tone, however the red is rather autumnal and it makes me want to reach for my favorite red lipstick (MAC Russian Red).
In the issue Meester talks about why she has pursued a variety of things post Gossip Girl citing how young she was when it started “once it was over, I wanted to do things that were more exciting and challenging and more me—more my adult taste. Of course, that’s said with nothing but gratitude and love for that experience in that time of my life.” There’s also talk of the kind of roles Meester is interested in which explore characters who are “flawed, real human beings” and sadly “the roles of women standing alone on their own as whole, real, full people are few and far between.”
During Meester’s Of Mice and Men run she wrote an op-ed for The Huffington Post in response to the reactions she saw during most performances and looking at why the audience is so unsympathetic to her character’s plight. It is a thoughtful well reasoned piece which discusses misogyny and what it feels like to be on stage night after night playing a character who people laugh at when tragedy befalls them. Meester has long been an inspiring actress going way beyond her Blair Waldorf headband appeal and if anyone from that cast was to do a lifestyle website I wish it had been her.
Watch the trailer for Life Partners and hear the excellent title track from Leighton Meester’s new album below. For the full interview and more photos pick up a copy of Nylon on November 4 (available from both digital and physical newsstands).
TV Ate My Wardrobe 
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