top celebrity photos: Leighton Meester

Leighton Marissa Meester (born April 9, 1986)is an American actress, singer, songwriter, and fashion model best known for her role as Blair Waldorf in the television series Gossip Girl.Meester was born to parents Constance and Doug while her mother was serving a federal prison sentence in Fort Worth, Texas.Although her mother, Constance, was serving time in prison for her involvement in a drug ring that smuggled marijuana from Jamaica to the United States, she was able to give birth to Leighton in a hospital and nurse her for three months in a halfway house before returning to prison to complete her sentence. At this time Leighton's grandmother cared for her.
Meester maintained that her parents gave her a normal upbringing and, despite their criminal past, are good people with experience that has only made Meester more open-minded and non-judgmental, "It made me realize that you can't judge anyone—especially your parents—for what they've done in their past, because people change."
Meester jokes, "Look, I could've turned out a lot worse"and has even cited her mother as her style icon.

In 2007, Meester appeared on the television film The Haunting of Sorority Row, and played a part in the ensemble comedy/drama Remember the Daze. She also appeared in the horror/thriller film Killer Movie in 2008.
Meester had a small role in the 2010 comedy Date Night and a cameo on Going The Distance.
She was cast in Screen Gems's upcoming dramas Country Strong and The Roommate.She will star in The Uncatchable Cowgirl Bandits of Nottingham, Texas alongside Amber Heard; in the indie dramatic comedy The Oranges opposite Hugh Laurie; and will star next to Selena Gomez and Katie Cassidy in the young femme comedy Monte Carlo, loosely based on Jules Bass's young-adult book Headhunters.In April 2009, Meester signed a recording contract with Universal Republic.Meester's first single, "Somebody To Love", featuring R&B singer Robin Thicke, was released for airplay on October 13, 2009 and became available for digital download on October 14, 2009.Her second single, "Your Love's A Drug", was digitally released on March 30, 2010.In 2008, Meester posed with Ed Westwick in a Nikon Coolpix series camera advertisement. Meester also appeared in Clearasil commercials and in 2009 ads for Reebok.She has been a spokesperson for Sunsilk's "Life Can't Wait" campaign.In June 2009, she and Ed Westwick were named the new faces for the Korean clothing line ASK Enquired.She has also been a spokesperson for Safe Horizon to raise awareness about and prevent domestic violence.Most recently, Meester has signed on to be the current spokesperson for Herbal Essences hair products. Vera Wang has also chosen Meester to be the face of her newest scent breaking in summer of 2011, stating that the actress's "beauty, talent and spirit will inspire all the young women that I hope will enjoy this passionate, new young fragrance." Leighton Meester has also just been named the new face of fashion house Missoni and South Korean makeup brand eSpoir.