But that's not what happens. For starters, there's not a headband or haughty set of pearls in sight. Leighton shows up makeup-free in retro Nike sneakers, skinny jeans, a black tank top, and...horn-rimmed glasses (are you picturing this?). Clearly, she's not going out of her way to project an intimidating image on us or the customers doing double-takes as they walk by. "I never wear makeup when I'm not at work," she explains. "It can make you forget what you look like, and I've grown to really love the way I look without it."
Sound surprisingly unsnotty? She is. In fact, the night before, she ordered in burgers and watched Home Alone 2 with a friend. But that's not to say she's always a homebody — cast members often go out together, and Leighton's been written up in New York gossip columns for "downing tequila shots" and making out with abandon at nightclubs. "The evil side of Blair is somewhere in me," she muses, "but acting her out is like therapy. I get to do things nobody would ever say or do in real life."
Leighton, 23, says the nonstop scrutiny doesn't bother her. That seems impossible, but after watching her closely, we believe her. "In this world, everyone wants to know everything about you, and I think that's funny," she says, propping one elbow on the table and waving off the rumors with a raised hand. "I can't be annoyed. People speculate a lot about me, saying there's something else that's really the truth...."
She trails off, looks kind of sad, and bows her head. We barely hear her mutter "Maybe I'm just too boring." Uh-oh. Has Leighton suddenly gone all emo on us? Have we managed to make her cry three minutes into the interview? Um, not exactly. A couple of seconds later, she looks up with a huge grin and starts laughing so hard, she shakes.
The fact that Leighton isn't concerned with saying or doing anything phony to make sure we like her only makes us like her all the more. "If you're just yourself, you'll never lose," she says, shrugging and warming her hands around a mug of chamomile tea. "I want to be myself. That's when you feel the most comfortable, that's when you have the most success, and that's when you're the most happy."
THE IN CROWD
Leighton's childhood didn't start off comfortable or happy. Her mother had her while serving a prison sentence in Texas for drug trafficking. Her grandmother took care of her on Marco Island, Florida, until her mom was able to join them several months later. "My mom lived through a lot before I was born, and I can't judge her on that," Leighton says. "She and my dad are good people." Then she rolls her eyes, obviously used to telling this story, and smiles. "Look, I could've turned out a lot worse."
From a very young age, Leighton knew she wanted to act. "I watched a lot of TV, and it clicked one day that these people were acting," she says. "It sounded like the most fun thing ever." So she started doing local plays when she was 9 and then met a manager who encouraged her to move to New York to try out for bigger gigs. After several years and minor roles on shows like House and Entourage, she landed Blair.
It wasn't due to luck. Turns out, the creators of the show had had their eyes on Leighton for some time. "She has a great combination of intelligence, wit, and strength but also this mischievous quality," says Gossip Girl executive producer and writer Stephanie Savage. "Leighton's very matter-of-fact and up front about things, and unlike Blair, she's nonjudgmental."
The show has a fan base that's truly, well, obsessed — perfect for all that rumormongering. Is Leighton friends or frenemies with costar Blake Lively? (Answer: They don't hang out together often, but Leighton has denied any animosity over and over and over.) Was she born in a jail cell? (Answer: No, her mother had her in a hospital.) Did she secretly get engaged to a costar? (Answer: Read on.)
Blair is unquestionably the villain viewers root for: ditched by her dad, screwed up by her mom, and in a torturous will-they-or-won't-they relationship with gigantic a-hole Chuck Bass. Ed Westwick, who plays Chuck, really cuts to the chase when discussing his costar. "Leighton plays such a good bitch because she is one," he says. What follows is a silence so awkward, we actually start to sweat — until he bursts out laughing. "I'm joking! She's so good at it because she has fun with it." Boy, the Gossip Girl cast are quite the kidders.
Leighton fully understands why viewers have become fixated on the love affair between Blair and Chuck. "They're so perfect because they get each other. Chuck knows about her deep, dark side, and he finds it hot," she says, spearing a bite of creamy rigatoni and peas. "But the best part of their relationship is that it's realistic. People don't always date for a while and then slowly fall in love. They start by hooking up one night. It takes time to get to know someone, and then you realize that you're in love later on."
DEAL MAKERS, NOT DEAL BREAKERS
While Leighton remains tight-lipped about her boyfriend of about a year, actor Sebastian Stan, who plays Carter Baizen on Gossip Girl and stars on NBC's Kings, she does admit that Chuck Bass isn't her type. "I'm not into bad boys. I think the term is stupid," she says with Blair's blunt delivery. "A guy who cheats on you or is not nice to you? What is that?" She has an equally straightforward idea of what she does want: "Nowadays, I'm much more mature in relationships. I've let go of the bullshit. I think more about the deal makers than the deal breakers. I want a guy I can look up to."
So we have to ask: Is Leighton in love now? She looks cagey before answering. "I haven't been in a lot of relationships, but I've been in love. There's an inexplicable chemistry. You just really, really want to, like, stare at the person." She laughs as her face flushes, and she bites her lip as if she's both eager and reluctant to go on. "I've never fallen in love right off the bat. I get scared to say I love you too soon because it means so much. It means you're not seeing an end to things." So those engagement rumors about her and Sebastian? Totally false, she assures us.
These days, Leighton's filming her first starring role, in the flick The Roommate, out next year, and focusing on her as-yet-untitled album, which she describes as "quirky, electric pop." (If you're curious to hear how she sounds, check out her cover of "Bette Davis Eyes" on YouTube.) "I never pursued it seriously until this year," she admits. "I was making music, but I didn't see a future in it." And despite having fun recording, she's in no hurry to get it out there. "The only person pressuring me is myself, and right now, I have a lot of things going on," she says.
Among those things is decorating her new apartment. Actually, it isn't that new — she moved in a year ago — but she's just now finding the time in her intense schedule to settle in. "I've always had roommates," she says. "Now I'm finally living alone, and it's the best feeling ever. I think that's when you grow the most — on your own."
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