Blake Ellender Brown (born August 25, 1987), known professionally as Blake Lively, is an American actress. A daughter of actor Ernie Lively, she made her professional debut in his directorial project Sandman (1998). She had her breakthrough role in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005) and its 2008 sequel. Lively achieved stardom with her portrayal of Serena van der Woodsen in the CW teen drama television series Gossip Girl (2007–2012). During this period, she also took on supporting roles in the romantic comedies New York, I Love You (2008) and The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009), as well as in the thrillers The Town (2010) and Savages (2012).

Lively shifted her focus to films in ensuing years. She starred in the romantic fantasy The Age of Adaline (2015), the survival film The Shallows (2016), the comedy Café Society (2016), and the comedy thriller A Simple Favor (2018) and its 2025 sequel. She expanded her career by directing Taylor Swift's 2021 music video "I Bet You Think About Me", and produced and starred opposite Justin Baldoni in Baldoni's romantic drama It Ends with Us (2024). The latter emerged as her biggest box office success, but drew controversies, resulting in a number of lawsuits, including Lively and Baldoni suing each other for defamation. In 2025, she was included in Time magazine's 100 most influential people list.

Blake Ellender Brown was born on August 25, 1987, in the Tarzana neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Her mother, Elaine Lively (née McAlpin), worked as a talent scout, and her father, Ernie Lively (né Brown), was an actor. Lively was named after her grandmother's brother. She has an older brother, Eric, and three half-siblings from her mother's previous marriage, Lori, Robyn, and Jason. Her parents and siblings have all worked in the entertainment industry.

During Lively's childhood, her parents took her along to the acting classes they taught, rather than leave her with babysitters. She later said that watching her parents teach helped her learn the "drills" and gain confidence as she got older and began working in the industry herself. She made her professional debut at age 10, appearing in the 1998 film Sandman, directed by her father. Lively describes her role as a "bit part." She was initially not interested in acting and wanted to attend Stanford University.

She is a 2005 graduate of Burbank High School, where she was a cheerleader, a member of the championship choir, and class president. Her elder brother asked his talent agent to send her to several auditions during the summer months. Subsequently, cast as Bridget in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005), she filmed her scenes between her junior and senior years of high school.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was released in 2005. Lively's performance earned her a nomination for a Teen Choice Award for "Choice Movie Breakout – Female". In 2006, Lively co-starred with Justin Long in Accepted, and she had minor roles in the horror film, Simon Says. Accepted was not well received by critics, but Lively's performance was, earning her a 'Breakthrough Award' from Hollywood Life. Lively starred in Elvis and Anabelle (2007) as Anabelle, a bulimic girl who hoped to win a beauty pageant. She said of getting into character for the role that she had "shed serious weight" for her height. She stated that that process was difficult for her because food was "the No. 1 love of my life."

Lively was cast in The CW's series Gossip Girl, based on the novel series Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar, which premiered in September 2007. Already having deferred college for a year, Lively intended to turn the role down and become a student, but was told that she could attend college part-time while filming the show (she later said "This is advice to anyone: when they say, 'We promise, but we can't put it in writing,' there's a reason they can't put it in writing"). She played the role of Serena van der Woodsen in the teen drama until 2012 when the show ended. Her first magazine cover was the November 2007 issue of CosmoGirl, where she discussed her time in high school and her career prior to Gossip Girl.

In 2008, Lively reprised her role as Bridget in the sequel The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. Similarly to the first film, Lively's performance was positively received by critics. As of November 2008, the film had earned over $44 million at the box office. In 2009, she appeared as Gabrielle DiMarco in the romantic comedy New York, I Love You, a sequel to the 2006 film Paris, je t'aime. Despite positive critical reception, the film failed at the box office.