While she's best known for playing the scheming Blair Waldorf on the CW's hit show "Gossip Girl," Leighton Meester will now be making her Broadway debut opposite James Franco in a stage revival of John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men," Time magazine reports.
"Of Mice and Men" takes place in Central California during the Great Depression, and Tony award-winner Anna D. Shapiro is set to direct the play, which will begin in March at the Longacre Theatre and has not been seen on Broadway for 40 years.
Meester will play the role of the ranch boss, known simply as Curly's Wife, who fascinates the mentally challenged migrant field worker Lennie (Chris O'Dowd), putting Lennie and his friend George (Franco) in great danger.
After "Gossip Girl" ended, Meester found work in several film roles following her work in 2010's "Country Strong" and the 2011 thriller "The Roommate," including 2012's "That's My Boy" and "The Oranges." She is also persuing her music career, having released several promotional singles and songs for movie soundtracks and gone on a brief tour in 2012. Most recently, she became the face of French brand Naf Naf's autumn/winter 2013/2014 collection, and will be the new global ambassador for Biotherm, a French luxury skincare company.
Meester's engagement to fellow former CW star, Adam Brody ("The O.C."), was revealed last month, the couple having worked together on "The Oranges" and developed from good friends to an item since then, quietly and mostly away from the public eye. Brody popped the question to Meester after less than a year of dating, according to E! News.
