via yahoo tv

Did you think Upper East Side Queen Bee Leighton Meester always had a silver spoon in her mouth? Think again. She may play Blair Waldorf on “Gossip Girl,” but Meester’s past couldn’t be farther from her spoiled character. She was born when her mother was beginning a 10-year sentence for her involvement with a marijuana smuggling ring. At the same time, Meester’s father was finishing up a jail term of his own, for marijuana possession with intent to distribute. Though Leighton tells UsWeekly, “I clearly wasn’t an Upper East Side kid,” she managed to overcome a tumultuous upbringing to become one of the biggest TV stars of the moment and maintain a healthy relationship with her parents. Despite her mom’s criminal record, Meester contends, “Every question I’ve ever asked her – life questions, personal stuff like boyfriend advice – she’s always had the right advice for me.”

After both parents were released from jail, Meester and her brother lived with them in Florida and hit another bump in the road when her parents got divorced. After the divorce Leighton moved to New York and then California with her mom, attending the ritzy Beverly Hills High School which boasts famous alums like Angelina Jolie. Once again Leighton struggled because of her background, saying “most people there have a lot of money and my family really didn’t. They’d be making fun of my clothes or my bag or whatever.” After all that Leighton Meester proves that just like the rest of us, she’s been through some pretty tough times and still achieved her childhood dream of becoming an actress. Not only that but she seems to have stayed true to herself in the process. Close friend and actress, Emmy Rossum, comments that despite all of her success, Leighton stays humble, perhaps because of all that she has overcome. “She has a lot of humility and a lot of success right now.”

By CGG Contributing Writer Julia Steers