For most people, being a movie star is a dream. But for Blake Lively, it turned into a nightmare when she suffered an on set injury that has never truly healed.
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00:00For most people, being a movie star is a dream. But for Blake Lively, it turned into a nightmare
00:05when she suffered an on-set injury that has never truly healed.
00:09Blake Lively was born and raised in Los Angeles by her parents, Ernie and Elaine Lively, along
00:14with her older brother, Eric. As a child, Lively was unusually tall, and as a result,
00:19she was subjected to bullying at school. Lively opened up about this painful time in her childhood
00:24in an Instagram post in 2018 featuring a photo of her with Big Bird, saying,
00:28"'Kids used to make fun of me in elementary school by calling me Big Bird, because I was
00:32too tall and had yellow hair. Here's to making best buddies with the thing that once hurt
00:36you.'"
00:37Lively ultimately attended a total of 13 different schools while she was growing up. It wasn't
00:41just her height that singled her out, though. Her mother, a former model, helped her daughter
00:45learn about style by making clothes for her, as well as taking her to vintage stores and
00:49encouraging her to wear the types of clothes her peers weren't wearing.
00:53But at one private school in Los Angeles, this didn't go over well. She told Vogue,
00:57It was the only school where people were just downright mean to me. They would make fun
01:01of my clothes because I dressed differently than the other kids."
01:04Blake Lively initially began acting because her beloved older brother Eric wanted her
01:09to. Lively was just shy of her 18th birthday when her breakout film, The Sisterhood of
01:13the Traveling Pants, came out in 2005. But she was more interested in going to college
01:18than acting. So why did she end up signing on to star in Gossip Girl?
01:22Lively told Vanity Fair that, in part, it happened because the producers lied to her.
01:26She recalled,
01:27I said, no, I want to go to college. Thank you, though. Then they said, okay, you can
01:31go to Columbia University one day a week. After the first year of the show, it'll quiet
01:35down. Your life will go back to normal and you can start going to school. We can't put
01:39it in writing, but we promise you can go. So that's why I said, okay, you know what?
01:43I'll do this."
01:44Unfortunately, Lively later realized that she'd been sold a lie, which is why they wouldn't
01:49write the stipulation into her contract. In the end, Lively not only ended up not getting
01:53to go to college, but also feeling pretty uncomfortable with the morally gray image
01:57of the show she spent six years making.
02:00Just months after giving birth to her first daughter, James, with Ryan Reynolds, Blake
02:04Lively was back at work filming the 2016 survivor horror thriller The Shallows. While most of
02:09the underwater stunts were done without a hitch, Lively told Entertainment Weekly that
02:13it took a huge toll on her physically. The tank that was used for filming was full of
02:17chemicals, which really irritated her skin and caused it to peel off, and the tank simulated
02:22the ocean a little too well, as she really was flung against obstacles like rocks and
02:26buoys. She said,
02:27"...your body is just really taking a beating. There's a scene where I'm swimming up to the
02:31buoy and I crack my face underwater and my nose is pouring blood, and that was real."
02:36Lively explained that there was an accident due to the turbulent waves, adding,
02:39"...I wasn't supposed to crack my face underwater. It was just this thing is crashing into the
02:43water with these four-foot waves and I couldn't see. My perspective was off. The waves pulled
02:48me the same time that the buoy crashed down and cracked my nose and blood was pouring
02:52out."
02:53Lively didn't get into acting to be famous, but nevertheless, that's exactly what she's
02:57become. Lively is known worldwide not only for her acting talents, but her sense of style
03:02and the personal brand she's created. Plus, her fans are super invested in her relationship
03:07and family life with Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds.
03:10"...you are the best thing, the best thing that has ever happened to me, second only
03:14to this star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame."
03:17But sadly, being in the public eye comes at a cost, and Lively has been subjected to a
03:22barrage of hurtful criticism online as a result of her fame. Lively commented on some of the
03:26hate she's received, admitting to Vogue that it can be painful for not just her, but the
03:30people around her as well. She said,
03:32"...there have been so many things written about me that are untrue and horrifying. I
03:36can't even believe that my family has to read this stuff. People like to gossip. They
03:40bond over it. They don't bond over complimenting famous people."
03:44In 2017, Blake Lively opened up about a horrifying experience that nobody ever should have to
03:50go through. Just days after The New York Times exposed Harvey Weinstein's sexual harassment
03:54and abuse, Lively revealed details about her own mistreatment in Hollywood. She told the
03:59Los Angeles Times that she experienced sexual harassment from a makeup artist she worked
04:03with on one of her films. Though she didn't say which film, detailing the harassment she
04:07received, Lively explained that the inappropriate behavior took place on numerous occasions.
04:12She said,
04:13"...he was saying things inappropriately, insisting on putting my lipstick on with his finger.
04:17I was sleeping one night on location and I woke up and he was filming me. I was clothed,
04:22but it was a very voyeuristic, terrifying thing to do."
04:25After that terrifying incident, Lively reported the makeup artist to the movie's producers,
04:29but nothing happened for months. The unnamed man was not removed from production, as the
04:33bosses seemingly didn't want to make waves. It was only when Lively reached out to lawyers
04:38that the producers took the allegation seriously and fired the makeup artist, but there was
04:42no justice for what he did. Lively said in the end,
04:45"...our unit production manager wrote him a letter of recommendation because nobody wanted
04:49there to be bad blood."
04:51The Shallows wasn't the only movie that left Blake Lively physically hurt. In 2017, a mishap
04:56on the set of The Rhythm Section with Jude Law caused Lively serious injury. The actors
05:01did most of their own stunts for the film, and one scene where Lively had to fight her
05:04co-star went very awry. During an appearance on Good Morning America, Lively detailed the
05:09difficult experience, saying,
05:11"...I was lunging towards Jude Law with my fake rubber knife, and my hand collided with
05:15his elbow and I broke some things, dislocated some things, and severed a ligament. It was
05:20pretty intense."
05:21It turned out that Lively had completely shattered her hand, and production on the movie had
05:25to be shut down for six months, and her recovery was not straightforward either. The actor
05:30needed a lot of pain relief and multiple surgeries to combat the injury. While production on
05:34The Rhythm Section was shut down, she had to undergo grueling physical therapy. For
05:38the rest of the shoot, after filming resumed, Lively had to have her hand strapped up. In
05:43fact, according to Lively, her hand never fully healed from the injury.
05:47On The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Lively explained that as a result of the severed
05:51ligament, her knuckles are kind of dropped.
05:52And I go, yeah, you should see the other guy. I'm like, I've always wanted to do that."
05:59Blake Lively's appearance, style, and impeccable sense of humor make her an icon to her many
06:04fans, but that doesn't mean she's immune to feeling self-conscious at times. In 2022,
06:09Lively told Forbes that she feels a bevy of insecurities coming at me a million times
06:12a day.
06:13The actor previously got candid about some of the body insecurities she's had to overcome
06:17and how they've been made worse by Hollywood and societal pressure. Lively chose to speak
06:21out about this when she posted a photo of the outfit she wore for an appearance on The
06:25Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on her Instagram story and explained how she was
06:29made to feel bad about her weight after giving birth to her second daughter, Inez.
06:32"'No one had samples that fit me after giving birth, and so many clothes from stores didn't
06:37fit either. So many. It doesn't send a great message to women when their bodies don't fit
06:42into what brands have to offer. It's alienating and confusing."
06:45Lively found it difficult being in the spotlight as she kept comparing herself to other celebrity
06:50moms. It took a lot for her to overcome those feelings. In her Instagram story, Lively added,
06:55"'I wish I felt as confident then as I do now. A year later looking back, that body
07:00gave me a baby and was producing that baby's entire food supply. What a beautiful miracle.
07:05But instead of feeling proud, I felt insecure, simply because I didn't fit into clothes.'"
07:10Lively comes from a well-known entertainment family. Her parents, Ernie and Elaine, both
07:14worked in the industry while she was growing up, her dad as an actor and director, and
07:18her mom as a model and talent agent. They also both taught acting classes, which Lively
07:23would frequent as a child, something she credits for giving her the confidence to become an
07:27actor later in life.
07:28Ernie was perhaps best known for his role as the sheriff in Passenger 57. As Lively
07:32followed in her father's footsteps, she maintained a close bond with him. She told People in
07:372020,
07:38"'It all goes back to family. It has always been the most important thing in my life.
07:42Everything I do is at the heart of it.'"
07:44Unfortunately, Lively suffered a devastating blow when Ernie, who also played her father
07:51in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants films, tragically died from cardiac complications
07:55in June 2021 at the age of 74.
07:59Following her dad's death, Lively shared a sweet snap of him with her husband, Ryan Reynolds,
08:03on Instagram, which she captioned,
08:04"'My guys!'
08:05But she didn't make a public statement beyond that. However, the actor found a way to honor
08:09her dad's side of the family when she launched her drink company, Betty Buzz, a few months
08:14later. She wrote in a statement,
08:15"'When I was working hard to build this company, I wanted any success to be in a name that
08:19was meaningful to him. Betty was his mom and his sister's name. Also, Ernie would not be
08:24the best name for a mixer.'"