Don’t be fooled by Leighton Meester’s haughty portrayal of nepo baby Blair Waldorf on Gossip Girl — the actress’ childhood in real life was very different, and much more difficult, than that of the wealthy teen who treated New York City like her playground.
During an interview with E! News on Wednesday, Meester spoke about growing up on food stamps and welfare to help get by. “Towards the end of the month, but sometimes throughout the month, we either couldn’t go grocery shopping or put food back on the shelves before checkout,” she candidly shared. “We really had to do what we could to make ends meet.”
Because of her first-hand experience with lack of access to food, the Country Strong star is a fervent advocate for raising awareness of the estimated 9+ million children who go hungry in the United States, and she’s partnered with Feeding America for the past several years.
“It’s such a vital consistent need, and there’s so much pleasure in food beyond the nutrition,” Meester remarked. “It’s enjoying the tastes and trading with somebody during lunch and knowing as a kid, and then also as a parent, that the lunchbox is going to be full or that there’s going to be food on the table that we can all sit around and say we’re grateful for.”
Of her life with fellow actor and husband Adam Brody and their two children, the How I Met Your Father actress recognized, “We live in such a bubble, and we obviously are really happy and grateful to give [our 8-year-old-daughter Arlo] everything that we never had growing up.” Meester added, “But we also want her to understand that not everyone grows up like that.”
In order to teach Arlo about socio-economic disparities in an age-appropriate way, Meester and Brody have a nightly dinner ritual that they practice with Arlo. The Single Parents star shared, “When we sit around the table, we always talk about what we’re grateful for and what the best part of our day was and just give thanks to our food.”
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Meester added that her daughter is aware that life looked different for her famous mama when she was a child. “She knows, sort of in a child-friendly way, that there are different ways that people are growing up,” The Roommate actress explained. “So I hope that she can take that in, but mostly just to be grateful for everything that she has.”
In addition to Arlo, Meester and Brody share a 3-year-old son whose name has yet to be shared.
Before you go, check out how these celebrities are raising their kids to be good humans.
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