Blake Lively starts business, returns to acting

CEBU, Philippines - In the latest issue of British Vogue, Blake Lively revealed that she’s founded her own company that will feed a multitude of interests she’s had beyond acting—from which she’s just returning after a year-long hiatus.

“It’s something that will be launching in a few months and that I’m really thrilled about. The main element of it is that it’s about storytelling and living a very one-of-a-kind, curated life, and how to achieve that. There’s nothing like it out there—it’s without a genre,” says the 26-year-old actress.

The blond bombshell added that the business was an opportunity to expand her brand beyond her day job. “I have so many passions outside of acting and things that I grew up being good at and that I don’t utilize when acting,” she said. “Acting was something that my family did so I just kind of got into it by default, but there was so much that I cultivated, thinking that I wouldn’t be an actor.”

During her year off following the end of “Gossip Girl,” Lively indulged those passions big time—such as designing a custom oven for her new home and filming cooking segment for Vogue’s website. But now she says she’s ready to get back in front of the camera.

“A lot has changed for me in the last year! I got married [to “Green Lantern” co-star Ryan Reynolds], I finished ‘Gossip Girl’ after six years, I had my first break in a while and I’ve been working on this company…it has been nice to have a separation from my show,” she confessed. “The first film I did coming out of ‘Gossip Girl,’ I wanted to it to be different from anything I’ve ever done but also representative of where I want to go, because now I’m in a different place.”

Blake’s last big-screen appearance came in Oliver Stone’s 2012 drug thriller “Savages” but she hinted that her next film project will allow her to stretch out in ways her fans haven’t seen before.

“When I was doing ‘Gossip Girl,’ I had these short breaks where I could play a character on weekends, but there’s a movie I’m really excited about that I’ll be doing this winter and one of the most enticing parts of it is that it spans from the 1900s until now,” Lively said. “The fashion is amazing, and my character gets to experience all of the different time periods and tell the story through fashion. It’s not a movie about fashion, but it’s an integral part of who she is and the whole story.” (FREEMAN)