Some girls grow up dreaming of a career in Hollywood. Others, like Blake Lively, have to be dragged into it by their brothers. Blake's parents were both talent agents in L.A., so she had nothing but doors open. Still, she resisted Tinseltown's siren call. So, brother Eric went behind her back and secretly signer her up with his agent. Unbeknownst to Blake, her career path had been laid out for her.

Imagine, a young Blake Lively trying to focus on her school (she was trying to get into Stanford) while being inundating with calls from her new "agent" with auditions and interviews. Not wanting to disappoint her brother, she said yes and joined the legions of hot, blond girls lining up for roles.

Blake got her first big role by bucking the traditional audition routine. It was for Sisterhood of Traveling Pants. Poor Blake was nervous beyond belief. Instead of reading her lines, she passed her headshot to the producers and awkwardly shuffled off. Luckily for her, the character she was auditioning for was equally awkward and she won the part.

Buoyed by her relative ease in winning that first major role, Blake Lively decided that maybe Stanford could wait. She was going to focus on acting. Was she blessed? Talented? Lucky to have ridiculously connected parents? Maybe a little of each, as she quickly landed the role of "Serena van der Woodsen" on the highly-anticipated teen drama Gossip Girl.

She played the bad girl gone good, and played it well. The show was a ratings disappointment, but squeaked out a second season where it began to graph upwards in both quality and viewership.

Being the new "it" girl has its privileges (invites to the MTV Video Awards, get-out-of-DUI free cards, etc), but it also comes with a price. Everywhere Blake Lively went, so too did a throng of camera-totting paparazzi. They documented every move she made -- who she was dating, what she was wearing and so on. It is just the price of doing business in Hollywood these days, but poor Blake loathed it. Those paparazzi captured her out on the town with co-star (and childhood friend) Penn Badgley.

The stars of the first manifestation of Melrose Place all struggled to find steady work after that show ended. Call us psychic, but we foresee a similar fate for most of the cast of Gossip Girl. Except Blake Lively. The adverbly-monikered chick has an undeniable screen presence that has her poised for stardom. Look for her in Ben Affleck's upcoming crime drama The Town. Not bad for a girl that never really wanted to be actress.