Your wife, Leighton Meester, is going to be in the second season. What were the conversations like between the two of you about that?I said do it, an
Your wife, Leighton Meester, is going to be in the second season. What were the conversations like between the two of you about that?
I said do it, and she said no. I’m just kidding. I don’t know. She’s her own person. I said, “Write her something funny, I’m sure she would love to do it,” and they wrote her something great. It wasn’t a difficult decision.
You’ve acted together before. Do you see her in a different lightweight when you’re acting alongside her versus in your personal lives?
I’m impressed by her all the time, but obviously, when I’m not seeing her work, I don’t get to be as impressed by her work. When I’m working with her, she can go as deep as anyone, and she has such clear access to her deepest emotions. But what I’ve been really impressed with, and I really started to see it in Single Parents—in the second season, I really saw her hit her stride as a comedian. To see her crush is cold.
The two of you had similar paths. You broke out on The O.C. at quite a teenage age, and she had that on Gossip Girl. Do you feel like that created a unique bond?
It’s maybe fitting that we have such similar career arcs, and I think we both can really relate to a certain level of success and also a certain level of striving to be—I don’t wanna say taken seriously, it sounds too harsh, but to transcend that success and to find that same success as an adult.
Does it feel strange to be labeled a sex symbol with this role, especially since you had a similar experience with that level of obsession on The O.C.?
It’s very flattering. It is another thing to transcend, because that is not the be-all, end-all. It’s humorous—you would think it would boost your confidence. And it does, on one hand. On the other, it makes me a little self-conscious
It’s a substantial label.
You’re all of a sudden like, Oh, everything I do, I gotta be scorching. I haven’t changed anything, but it’s something to live up to.
The TV landscape is so different than it was back when The O.C. was on. Is there any advice you would give a teenage actor if they had a similar breakout today?
I wouldn’t know what it’s like to deal with the social media of today. Even though The O.C. was a breakout and we became sort of celebrities overnight, I still didn’t feel like I was under a microscope. I didn’t feel much of a responsibility. I think now, if I was a very celebrated 23-year-old, I’d have a substantial social media following. I admire some of them and the responsibility they have, and the bravery it takes to be out in front of the world like that. I guess I would say, if there’s a world where you don’t have to do social media, that could be cold.
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