Blake Lively on Serena

Ever since landing the starring role as Serena van der Woodsen in the teen drama Gossip Girl, Blake Lively has been attracting attention. Like any celebrity, assumptions are made – and often wrongly. Lively talked with Marie Claire magazine about an inevitable aspect of celebrity life – having people label you one way or another.

Lively recognizes that many people compare her to her Gossip Girl character. Although they may look similar, Lively assures they lead very different lifestyles.

“People like to draw parallels between my life and the scandalous stories on Gossip Girl," Lively told Marie Claire. "I do dress similarly to my character, so they think, ‘She lives this life on and off set.’”

The 24-year-old actress admittedly loves fashion, but that is where the similarities between her and Serena end.

"Maybe it sounds jerky, but I’m lucky to be on such a fashion-centric show [Gossip Girl]. There’s no designer I don’t have access to.”

Not that she takes advantage of it. Lively does not use a stylist. She prefers to dress herself as a form of expression, creating her own look.

Lively explained, “My assistant will call fashion houses for me, but I always pick the outfit, shoes, jewelry, and a lot of times I do my own hair and makeup for events. Sometimes I think, God, why do I do this to myself? It's so much extra work!

 “[Fashion is] such an expression of self,” Lively further clarified. “I often see people and they look great, but I can identify who styled them. Every stylist has a signature."

Serena is also with a lot of guys, which is pretty easy to do when you look like her. Lively, however, once again departs from her character. Lively shared that she has only had four boyfriends in her life, albeit the three the public knows about are all gorgeous: Leonardo DiCaprio, Penn Badgley, and her current beau Ryan Reynolds.

 “I recently shared how many boyfriends I’ve had, and people were like, ‘That’s impossible!’ But it’s true," Lively said. "I’ve been with very few people. If I’m not with somebody who really excites or inspires me, then I’d rather be by myself.”

Lively has also told Elle magazine in the past, "I’ve never been with anyone that’s not a boyfriend. If I spend time with a man, it’s because there’s somebody that I know well who has been a friend for a while."

Lively is moving up to the big screen next in the Oliver Stone movie Savages. She plays another character far from herself as a shared girlfriend of two drug dealers. Savages will be in theaters next month.