In a new cover story with PorterEdit, Leighton Meester revealed she has mixed feelings about her time on Gossip Girl.
“I’m not haunted by that time, but it’s been interesting and helpful for me to look at it and examine it as an adult and go, ‘I don’t know if it was the healthiest environment,” Meester told the magazine.
The actress, most-known for her role as Blair Waldorf on the CW show, started acting at a very young age. She even relocated to L.A. at age 14, and got her high school diploma at 16. Gossip Girl was her big break, but the filming of the show was on a pretty tight schedule.
“I would get there at 5 a.m. and leave at 8 p.m.,” Meester told PorterEdit. “A lot of days I didn’t see the sun.”
In addition to the stressful schedule, the show turned Meester into an overnight sensation — something the young actress wasn’t prepared for.
However, Meester told the magazine she wouldn’t trade the experience for anything: “It’s sort of a time capsule. A lot of the questions that come from it are: ‘Do you miss it?’ ‘Did you love what you wore?’ And I understand that, but—and I say this with nothing but love—it is like saying, ‘High school was an amazing time for you. Do you wish you could go back?’ And the truth is, it was so special and such a unique, amazing experience, but no, I wouldn’t wanna go back to it. I was a kid!”
Meester will return to TV this fall with ABC’s new series Single Parents. We hope she finds this environment to be a lot healthier!