The Rise Of Leighton Meester

by Helen Earnshaw | 6 April 2011

The Roommate

Leighton Meester is back on the big screen this week as she takes on the role of Rebecca in thriller The Roommate.

She leads an all stars cast of Minka Kelly and Cam Gigandet in the Christian E. Christiansen
directed movie - which is unlike any of the roles that she has taken on before.

To celebrate the release of the movie we take a look at some of her most famous acting roles.

Tarzan

Like many young actors Meester kicked off her career in TV and after appearing in the likes of Law & Order and Boston Legal she landed the role of Nicki Porter in Tarzan.

Tarzan was a modern day re-telling of the series by Edgar Rice Burroughs but was set in New York.

Despite this being the first re-curing role in a TV series it was a show that was not to last long - cancelled after just eight episodes.

Gossip Girl

Despite her film work it is the role of Blair Waldorf in super popular TV show Gossip Girl that has made her a house-hold name.

The American drama series is based on the series of books by Cecily von Ziegesar and hit smalls screens for the first time back in 2007.

Meester's character of Blair Waldorf is the queen bee of the social scene in Manhattan as well as at her high school.

While the series has not always been a hit with the critics it's loved by it's teen audience as Mester, Blake Lively and Ed Westwick have all been propelled to fame.

Date Night

Over the last twelve months we have been seeing more and more of Meester on the big screen - she moved into comedy last year with Date Night.

The movie saw her star alongside Tina Fey, Steve Carell and Mark Wahlberg in the Shawn Levy directed movie.

In New York City, a case of mistaken identity turns a bored married couple's attempt at a glamorous and romantic evening into something more thrilling and dangerous.

The comedy was met well by the critics and went on to open at #2 at the U.S. box office, missing out on the top spot to Clash of the Titans.

Country Strong

2011 has already been a busy year for the actress as she starred in Country Strong alongside Gwyneth Paltrow.

The movie saw her singing talents on show as she took on the role of Chiles Stanton, an up and coming country star.

Soon after a rising young singer-songwriter gets involved with a fallen, emotionally unstable country star, the pair embarks on a career resurrection tour helmed by her husband/manager and featuring a beauty-queen-turned-singer.

Between concerts, romantic entanglements and old demons threaten to derail them all.

The Roommate

There are 2,000 colleges with 8 million possible roommates for a dorm student. When things are out of your control, you get to be with someone you don’t really know.

Sara Webber (Minka Kelly) is a college freshman who was assigned to be the new roommate of Rebecca Woods (Leighton Meester).

But when Rebecca begins an obsession with Sara things start to get violent.