Friends,
We’re back with another installment of our video series, Further Ado, and this time I sat down to talk with my friend of twenty years, the actress, entrepreneur, and soon-to-be feature film director, Blake Lively. Blake and I talked about growing up in the entertainment business, defying the odds and expectations of being a woman in any business, learning to love and trust who we are and who we aspire to become, and so much more.
I met Blake in 2004 during auditions for The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Since then, she’s gone on to become not only an unstoppable film and television actress, but a multifaceted creative and entrepreneurial force. In 2021, after years of hard work—and an incomparable dedication to bubble size—Blake launched her award-winning specialty drink company, Betty Buzz, creating high-quality sparkling beverages made with real ingredients. Two years later, she started a sister company, Betty Booze, under this same ingredient-first philosophy.
Blake has also recently expanded her role from in front of the camera to behind it too, co-writing and directing a music video for Taylor Swift; executive producing and starring in the highly anticipated big screen adaption of the #1 New York Times best-selling novel, It Ends with Us; and mounting her next big project: directing a feature film written by Edgar Wright, based on the beloved graphic novel Seconds by Bryan Lee O’Malley.
Blake and I have been through so much together over the years—a lot of which you’ll hear about in this conversation—from on and offscreen sisterhood to motherhood, postpartum to pandemic podding. From first boyfriends to marriages, big losses and even bigger wins. I got to be there in the room when Blake auditioned for her first major movie role in the Sisterhood franchise when she was just sixteen years old (and she got the part!), and she was the first person after my husband to hold my daughter, Marlow, in the hospital just after she was born. Blake is, as I describe her in this interview, a lover of all things and an ever-curious, playful, joyful soul. I'm thrilled people will get to experience this special one-on-one and see all that we have cultivated and nourished in each other for more than two decades.
Love,
Amber
More from today’s conversation:
Ernie and Elaine Lively
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares (book series)
Ken Kwapis
Teen Witch (film)
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (film with Julianne Moore)
A Simple Favor (film)
Blake at the Met Gala
Ashley Longshore
Every Frame a Painting (video series)
Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O’Malley (graphic novel series)
Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World (film)
Marc Platt
Jared LeBoff
Directing Paint It Black
80 for Brady (film)
Barbie (film)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (film)
You Must Remember This (podcast)
Karina Longworth
Dark Sparkler by Amber Tamblyn
Good Inside by Dr. Becky Kennedy (online parenting classes)
Destini Ann Davis on Instagram
The Conscious Kid on Instagram
Past Lives (film)
Welcome to Wrexham (TV show)
Coming up!
Good Riddance: Join us in the Chat for a weekly space to let go of something that’s been bugging you. Every Saturday, I’ll share something I’m letting go of and invite you to do the same. It can be big or small, serious or silly—an interaction that left you feeling not so great, a piece of clothing you’ve been hanging on to for too long, or your anger over a tragically canceled TV show that ended on a cliffhanger. For All Subscribers.
Further Ado: This year’s guests for our video interview series include Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Suleika Jaouad, Eliza Clark, and many more to be announced. For Paid Subscribers.
Readings + Prompts: A couple times a month, I'll share a new video made just for you reading something I've written over the years—a poem, an essay, an unpublished work (GULP)—as well as a unique prompt based on that work. Come get entertained and creatively energized. For Paid Subscribers.
Here, Take This, I Love You: Every month we will give away memorabilia and artifacts from the vaults of my office. A signed Joan of Arcadia script! Limited edition broadsides of poetry! Some gum Alexis Bledel once chewed! (I would never.) For Paid Subscribers.
