Leighton’s movie, The Roommate will be released on DVD on May 17th, 2011. Be sure to pick up a copy to support Leighton, and if you haven’t already, go see the movie.

“It was actually the most fun I had had on the show in a while,” Penn dished about his latest on-screen romance. “It was something new for my character, and I was having fun with the rapport, and I think my dialogue benefited from it. It was actually a lot of fun to work with Leighton. I hadn’t much. We were like the only two who had never really interacted.”

Well it seems they’ve quickly gone from 0 to 60 in the interacting department, and Penn admitted he’s not complaining. “It was great We all get along pretty impeccably, even after four years,” he shared. “I mean there are ups and downs, as there are in anything. It’s great. I’ve actually really enjoyed working with her.”

With Dan and Blair busy being Dair, what does that mean for his past ladies, like Serena and Vanessa? Well, he says, you’ll never believe what happens next. “I don’t know how much I can give away,” he teased. “It doesn’t end the way you think it does. I can’t say much.”

Source: MTV

The horror film The Roommate took the top spot as expected, claiming $15.6 million, according to studio estimates from box office tracking firm Hollywood.com.

The debut was on the low end of projections from most analysts, who expected poor reviews to limit grosses. The PG-13 film, starring Minka Kelly and Billy Zane, earned some of the toughest reviews of the year. According to the survey aggregator site RottenTomatoes.com, only 9% of the nation’s critics recommended the movie.

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TOP 10: See how your favorite films fared

Still, there was little competition to keep the chiller down. Sanctum, the 3-D underwater cave drama from executive producer James Cameron, was second with $9.2 million. That film, too, fell below projections and was raked by reviewers, 29% of whom gave the picture a thumbs-up, RottenTomatoes.com says.

Gitesh Pandya, president of BoxOfficeGuru.com, says several factors were working against the industry, which is hoping to buck an 11-week slide at the box office.

“The triple threat of the Super Bowl, the aftermath of a crippling winter storm affecting 100 million people and another weekend of not-so-exciting new releases (made) moviegoing a low priority,” he says.

No Strings Attached, the romantic comedy starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher, dropped two spots from its No. 1 debut to take third place with $8.4 million. The movie has earned $51.8 million in 10 days.

The slow weekend gave the slate of films contending for best-picture Oscars another chance to surge. The King’s Speech, the $15 million British film that has become the front-runner in the Academy Awards best-picture race, was fourth with $8.3 million. Since its release nearly three months ago, Speech has earned $84.1 million.

The superhero adaptation The Green Hornet continues to hold well, taking the No. 5 place with $6.1 million. The movie has earned $87.2 million since its release a month ago.

Ticket sales remain down 24% compared with the same period last year, while attendance is down 25%, Hollywood.com says.

Final figures are due Monday.

Source: USA Today

Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester is digging the show’s new Dan-Blair dynamic these days. She’s certainly not alone in that regard, as hardcore Dair ‘shippers abound.

“I love it,” Leighton told PopWrap in an interview. “[Dan] brings out a different side of Blair. One that we haven’t seen before since he doesn’t care what she thinks.”

“There are a lot of surprises there – some good, some not so good.”

No word on what the major Dair cliffhanger coming up consists of, but when she says some surprises are good and some are not, it certainly makes you think.

Source: TV Fanatic

My love for Leighton Meester runs deep. So deeply in fact that I actually adored the actress before she was “Leighton Meester” and was simply Debbie Pendleton on the fourth season of “24.” But little did I know that the sweet young girl who died for Behrooz’s sins was capable of conjuring up a character so conniving, duplicitous and brilliant, even Jack Bauer might have struggled to stop her.

I am, of course, talking about Blair Waldorf, queen of “Gossip Girl’s” Upper East Side. For four seasons she’s been lording over the headband-ed hens who fall at her feet and delivering the kind of epic one-liners, icy glares and smackdowns that warrant legend status.

Now, she’s putting the bitch on the backburner and bringing the crazy as Rebecca in “The Roommate” (out today). I caught up with Leighton to talk about the emotional toll playing a mentally unhinged psycho took on her, why she never even considered playing the “stalkee” role and what she thinks of Blair’s burgeoning relationship with Dan.

PopWrap: What attracted you to “The Roommate?”
Leighton Meester: It was a combination of things but the character was the biggest draw. It’s something I’ve never done and very challenging, which was exhilarating. I never want to do the same thing from one project to the next. I love a character that is 100% different from myself as well, because that’s part of the joy of this job — I get to be on someone else’s side. It was tough during this project to be on my character’s side, but I had to find small similarities.

PW: So there was never any debate about which of the girls you would play?
Leighton: None. I’ve known Minka [Kelly] for a long time and I thought she was the perfect choice for Sara because she has this sweet innocent quality while still being smart, savvy and very sexy. It’s a great combination on top of the fact that after a transformation of changing my hair and clothes, I kinda resemble her.

PW: What was the most challenging part of playing Rebecca?
Leighton: She has no grasp on reality. Every decision she makes is based on delusion and the deterioration of her reality around her. I have friends that I consider close and she can’t just have that. She has to have one friend to concentrate all her energy on and any threat to that is a threat to her livelihood. Obviously I can’t completely agree with that [laughs], but I understood it for the sake of the film.

PW: You mentioned that it was tough to get under the character’s skin — did you do much psychological research?
Leighton: I researched what a “psychopath” exactly is but she didn’t really fall into that category to me. I talked to some psychologists who explained in gross detail their experiences with criminals and the mindset it takes to get someone to this point. It helped me develop her backstory and gave me a very good base for understanding why she is the way she is. Why A plus B equals C for her because you can’t always connect the dots when so much is going on behind her facade.

PW: Lots of actors talk about the difficulty in shaking this kind of character when filming is wrapped, did you find that to be the case?
Leighton: During filming, I didn’t try to shake her at all because it was the only thing I was working on, so for two months I really experienced her. Afterwards, it was a lot like a cold in the sense that you have to get over it. Playing Rebecca did not affect me in the most positive way in terms of sleeping soundly and interacting socially.

PW: From talking to your co-star Kat Graham, I know that you found moments to work on your album during the shoot — what’s the status there?
Leighton: I’ve been writing for the past year and it’s been a very good time for me – getting back in touch with that. I’m not in a hurry to release anything until it’s perfect. I feel like I’m getting there. The whole process just makes me so happy so the type of music I’ve been making has been straight out of my heart.

PW: And, lastly, I must talk to you about one of my favorite things happening on TV right now — Dan & Blair. Thoughts?
Leighton: There are a lot of surprises there — some good, some not so good. They are two characters who haven’t had much of a chance to interact, and thus Penn [Badgley] and I haven’t. Before our scenes were mostly just been me dictating to him, now we get conversational scenes, which are great. I love working with and off him, and I’m just as curious as you are to see where that friendship goes. For me, he brings out a different side of Blair. One that we haven’t seen before since he doesn’t care what she thinks.

PW: Now, I love them together, but don’t want them to be together in a romantic way. How do you feel about a possible romance there?
Leighton: I like Chuck and Blair [laughs]. But I have no control over how they write her. Plus, I always love what the writers do — I know they’ll do her justice. Like the storyline with Prince Louis. I really enjoyed that because I always think Blair should be with a Prince. Although that might just be me projecting for myself [laughs].

“The Roommate” is now playing

Source: New York Post

I’ve added 1 Medium Quality photo of Leighton on the cover of Nylon Korea! Be sure to check the picture out – she looks beautiful!

GALLERY LINK:
Magazine Scans • Monthly • Nylon Korea (February 2011)

I’ve added 6 Medium Quality scans of Leighton on the cover of Glamour Italia! She looks stunning as always. I’ll post the outtakes from this shoot soon!

GALLERY LINK:
Magazine Scans • Monthly • Glamour Italia (February 2011)

Thanks to her magnetic screen presence and weekly must-watch TV show, it’s never been hard to watch Leighton Meester. But thanks to two back-to-back movies – Country Strong, out now, and The Roommate, premiering February 4 – the Florida native has quickly catapulted from TV star to Hollywood’s new hot property.

She’s also our February cover girl – after all, it is The Love Month, and we’re totally head-over-heels for this New York-based actress.

Leighton Meester on Blair Waldorf:
Blair is…. I don’t know what she is… I have to enter a completely foreign body to sympathize with Blair and her decisions. You know, Blair grew up very savvy, well-educated, and lonely. I think her mother is not the most supportive person and… Blair is very competitive and conniving, and it obviously comes, usually, from a very human place, but she makes decisions that I would never make.

Leighton Meester on her Country Strong character, Chiles Stanton:
She is so scared of people thinking of her as this ignorant, vapid, pretty face, and you know, I can totally understand where she’s coming from because, especially if you come from Dallas Texas, you’re a beauty queen – you don’t play the guitar, you’re writing seemingly meaningless pop songs. All that I can relate to, totally. It’s sad and sweet at the same time.”

Minka Kelly on Leighton Meester during the filming of The Roommate:
She worked with psychologists; she really studied the illness of the character, so much that at times on set i was a little concerned whether or not she was there because she scared me so much! The look in her eye was so surreal I was in awe at how much she committed to it.

Leighton Meester on Her Family and Friends:
I like to be judged by my family and friends because they know me. If they think I’m being an asshole I’d like them to tell me, but if I’m fat or something I’m like, “Well, so? OK? Great!” It doesn’t even matter; it’s like, “What if I am fat? Does it matter?”… I’m a grown woman and sometimes, I might be a little fat, you know! Am I alone there? Not really!

Source: Nylon

GALLERY LINK:
Photoshoot Sessions • 2011 • Nylon/Nylon Korea

Gossip Girl is back tonight on The CW at 9/8 central, with 4.12 – The Kids Are Not Alright.

Check out the episode sypnosis below!

A former associate of Chuck’s (Ed Westwick) father, Russell Thorpe (Boatman) – along with his daughter Raina (Sumpter) – returns to Manhattan with some unfinished business for our Upper East Siders. Serena (Blake Lively) and Chuck join forces against Lily (Kelly Rutherford). Blair (Leighton Meester) realizes that her mother, Eleanor (guest star Margaret Colin), may be her key to becoming a future CEO. Nate (Chace Crawford) worries that his father, The Captain (guest star Sam Robards), is having a little too much fun and not taking his parole seriously. Penn Badgley and Matthew Settle also star. Allan Kroeker directed the episode written by K.J. Steinberg (#412)