Leighton Meester is lifting the lid on the personal struggles she's faced. The actress used to judge herself in the past while she consciously put effort into self-love, however, she's turned a new page since.
The actress recalled: "There was a long time where I was like, this is kind of embarrassing to say and feel, and really put weight onto," per People.
The Gossip Girl actress expressed: "I was like, 'No, just power through and say the words I love myself' over and over and over, and love the deepest parts of yourself. I do think that practicing it even before you believe it is how I have felt that I've brought it into true practice."
Practice makes perfect as they say, and Leighton eventually found herself gaining confidence. The entertainer added: "It's good, because then you really go, 'Actually, this isn't so hard.'"
She also tossed to the side her use of self-deprecation as comedy. Leighton shared: "I think that self-deprecation is innate, and we're so used to it ... but I think I do [it] much less so now, just because I don't think it really gets me anywhere."
Leighton put an end to it and continued: "It doesn't make more ideas, doesn't make me more creative, doesn't make any pitch better, nothing. I do think that, in private moments, I need as much self-love as possible, and I think it trickles out into other parts of my life."
The actress found her own individual take on self-love and she's helping pass the message along. Leighton added: "I think self-love, for me, does look like just speaking positively to myself. Certainly speaking positively of others too, but [it's important] that I really include myself in that, because there are plenty of not-so-nice feelings that you can absorb out from the world. But I really do have to enjoy continuing the journey of self-love and telling myself and believing that I'm worthy of it, just because I exist."
Besides self-love, the entertainer has been happily married to fellow actor Adam Brody since 2014 and the couple welcomed their daughter Arlo in 2015 and their son in 2020, whose name remains unknown. The pair are currently acting alongside each other in Nobody Wants This.
Leighton had her breakthrough as an actress portraying the role of Blair Waldorf on the hit show Gossip Girl when it aired in 2007.
She was born in Texas, however, she moved to New York when she was 11 with her mother to pursue acting. Her first on screen role was for Guiding Light, and she then appeared on 7th Heaven and CSI: Miami.