Blake Lively’s name has been on everyone’s lips following the release of her new film, It Ends With Us, based on the successful novel of the same name by Colleen Hoover.
Amid relentless fan interest in her rumored split with on-screen love interest Justin Baldoni and being accused of “trivializing” domestic violence during her latest press tour, the actress has endured a public relations nightmare over the past month.
This includes substantial backlash for her “mean girl” behavior and comments in multiple interviews that have resurfaced over the years, including her use of the transgender slur “tranny” in several uncovered videos.
As she continues to be criticized for her actions, several social media users have pointed out that many of her out-of-touch comments could be traced back to her privileged background as the daughter of a talent agent and a famous actor.
At age 10, the Gossip Girl star made her professional debut in a small role in her father Ernie Lively’s 1998 film Sandman.
While it is not public knowledge that she is a ‘nepo baby’, her family is full of other entertainers, including her four older siblings.
Blake Lively’s name has been on everyone’s lips since the release of her new film, It Ends With Us, based on the successful novel of the same name by Colleen Hoover; seen with her parents in 2016.
Is Blake Lively a ‘nepo baby’?
The Los Angeles native is considered a “nepo child.” Her parents, Ernie and Elaine Lively, were instrumental in fostering her successful acting career and used their industry contacts to help her break into the acting world.
Ernie, who passed away in 2021, even starred alongside his star in her breakout role in The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants franchise.
Blake played his daughter, Bridget Vreeland, in both films.
Throughout his 50-year career in the industry, Ernie starred in films such as Passenger 57, The Dukes of Hazzard and Turner & Hooch.
He also ventured into directing and producing.
Blake’s mother, who also did some acting, worked as a talent manager.
The Los Angeles native’s parents, Ernie and Elaine Lively, were crucial in boosting her successful acting career; seen in 2005
Ernie, who passed away in 2021, even starred alongside his star in her breakout role in The Sisterhood of Travelling Pants franchise (pictured in 2008).
Throughout his 50-year career in the industry, Ernie starred in films such as Passenger 57, The Dukes of Hazzard and Turner & Hooch (pictured in 2009).
Did Blake always want to be an actress?
In 2006, Blake stated that he didn’t have many options when it came to entering show business.
“The day I was born, when I came back from the hospital, I literally didn’t go home. I went to my sister’s studio,” she told Radio Free Entertainment.
Blake continued: ‘I grew up on sets, my mom is a manager and she always has kids coming in for training, my family is always going over lines for an audition, I’m always stealing craft services.’
“It was such a big part of my life that I never felt like doing it. It seemed like a nightmare. It was the last thing in the world I wanted to do,” the mother of four admitted.
While appearing on The View, Blake recalls a rumor circulating at her high school that her parents “paid off the show’s choir director” to put her in the singing group.
‘At one point, my parents lied and said that my parents had paid the choir director to put me in the choir because I can’t sing or dance to save lives,’ she recalled.
Despite saying she lacked the talent to be in the choir, Blake credited her passion for convincing the director to let her join the group.
“I lost a lot of friends because of it,” she said of the rumor. “It was hard to accept.”
In 2006, Blake stated that he didn’t have many options when it came to entering show business.
Who are Blake’s siblings?
Blake is the youngest in her family. In addition to her brother Jason Lively, whom her parents welcomed in 1981, her mother has three children with her ex-husband Ronnie Lively.
After marrying Blake’s mother, Elaine, his father, Ernie, adopted his wife’s three oldest children: Lori Lively, Jason Lively, and Jason Lively.
Although Blake is the most famous of his siblings, his sister Lori is best known for her role in the 1991 film Dead Space.
Her other sister, Robyn, rose to fame as Louise Miller in 1989’s Teen Witch and for appearing in The Karate Kid Part III and its spin-off, Cobra Kai.
Blake’s brother, Jason, was in the pilot episode of Dukes of Hazzard and appeared in National Lampoon’s European Vacation.
Meanwhile, Eric made an appearance on The L Word, So Weird and Speak.
Blake is the youngest of her four siblings; pictured with her sister Robyn Lively in 2022.
How did you get your first breakout role?
Ultimately, Blake credits her brother, Eric, for convincing her to pursue acting professionally.
‘(Eric) decided I needed to be more cultured and took me around Europe for two months while I studied world history,’ she recalled to Radio Free Entertainment.
After traveling together throughout London, Florence, Venice, Rome, Cologne, Brussels and Paris, she recalls him sitting her down and asking, “What are you going to do with your life?”
“I was 15 at the time,” she said, before noting that her brother predicted she would become an actress and told her own agents to start sending her out for auditions.
Blake continued: “I didn’t want to make him mad because he’s such a good brother, so I just went to auditions to appease him. And then after a few months of auditions, I got Sisterhood (of the Traveling Pants).”
The mother of four was 16 when she played Bridget in the first Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants film.
By the age of 17, Lively was regularly attending auditions.
Less than three years later, she landed the role of Serena van der Woodsen on Gossip Girl, which made her a household name.
The mother of four was 16 when she played Bridget in the first Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants film; seen in 2024