Blair Overstreet is an American actress and model. She is the youngest daughter of actress Madeline Darcy and director/producer Dan Overstreet and granddaughter of late actor Christopher Darcy. She is best known for her lead role as Clarke Griffin in The CW series The 100 (2014-present). She has had featured roles in films including Spring Breakers, Carrie, and Ingrid Goes West.
Overstreet was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, alongside older siblings Casey and Samantha. In her youth, she danced competitively and took summer intensives with the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. She became interested in modeling as a child after a photo shoot with her mother and sister for Teen Vogue magazine. In 2007, she was presented as a debutante at the Bal des débutantes in Paris. Overstreet attended the Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, where she was a cheerleader. After finishing high school, Overstreet decided to pursue acting instead of going to college.
Unlike her siblings, Overstreet did not show an interest in acting as a child, rather waiting until she had graduated to begin pursuing a career. In September 2008, she appeared in a three episode arc as a young rebellious model in the CW hit series Gossip Girl. She would continue working with the network in the future, with another guest apperance in The Vampire Diaries and a starring role in The Secret Circle, which was cancelled after one season.
Overstreet made her film debut starring alongside Miley Cyrus as antagonist Blaze in the film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' The Last Song. In 2011, she would appear in the Scream sequel Scream 4 playing Kirby Reed, a role for which she received critical acclaim despite the film's mixed reviews. She continued to be cast as rebellious bad girls in films like Spring Breakers and Carrie. "I think every actor wants to get out of the box and try something new sometimes, or else you'll just be bored and stifled and unhappy, but I also know what I'm good at, and yeah, I'll play into typecasting if that's going to be the difference between landing a role I want or not." - Overstreet has said about fitting the bad girl mold in the past. She added, "I always have more fun playing the mean ones, anyway."
In 2013, it was announced by The CW that Overstreet had been cast as lead character Clarke in the network's new post-apocalyptic drama series The 100. Overstreet has said of the network, "[The CW] is like my family... you have your ups and downs, but in the end they've had my back, more than anyone else in my career, and you can't take that kind of loyalty for granted. In most cases if your first show bombs, they're not going to ask you back for a second... but they did, and it changed my whole career. I'll always be grateful for that. You can be your own biggest fan and advocate all you want -- and I am -- but having people that believe in you is crucial."
Following the death of The 100 fan favorite character Lexa and subsequent fan backlash in 2016, Overstreet embarked on a heated public feud with the show's writers, taking to twitter to say "Let me make it CLEAR for anyone who isn't sure that if there was anything i could have done to change how Lexa's storyline went, I would... [The Writers] knew I as well as a lot of the cast was not happy about it, but there's only so much we can do as actors... It was weak storytelling, offensive to me as a woman and ESPECIALLY as a gay woman... We deserve better than #buryyourgays." Her comments spurred widespread mixed reactions in the media, with some calling her a traitor for biting the hand that feeds and others applauding her for standing up for her beliefs. Subsequent more minor spats between Overstreet and the writers led viewers to speculate that her character would be written off or recast, but the actress remained a regular through the show's final season, set to air in 2020. Upon the conclusion of the show's filming, which was completed shortly before the shutdown of all WB productions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Overstreet received criticism for posting a video to her Instagram story with George Michael's "Freedom! '90" playing in the background -- she has insisted this was purely a coincidence.
Overstreet would reunite with James Franco in 2014 to film I Am Michael, based on the true story of gay activist Michael Glatze who renounced homosexuality and became a Christian pastor. In 2017 she starred alongside Aubrey Plaza in the black comedy Ingrid Goes West to critical praise. Her latest work, the A24 film Zola, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2020. The actress has expressed an interest in focusing on her film work after The 100's end. "It would still have to be the right projects, though," Overstreet has stated, "I don't want to jump into something just to be 'doing a movie' and realize halfway through I hate it. I want to be in the kind of movies I'd want to watch, so it can't just be fluff... it doesn't have to be anything super serious either, though I'd rather have that than spineless crap. I have a sense of humor that needs to be appealed to."
In 2006, Overstreet signed with Ford Modeling Agency. Though acting remains her primary work, she has appeared in print campaigns including ones for Candie's, Skechers, Mondo Jeans, and Lancome. "I love fashion... I'm really, obsessively passionate about it, but I don't have that typical model frame, I'm too short," she divulged in a 2010 interview with Teen Vogue. "I can do makeup and some catalog work and if a brand wants to work with me that's a different story but I'll never be able to do editorial high fashion. That's why I love street fashion, there's no set way you have to look, it's about understanding your body and being fierce and confident and loving clothing. It's not about predicting trends, it's about making them." In 2013, Overstreet launced Overstreet Fashion, a fashion blog featuring her personal fashion as well as her friends', mostly other young actors and actresses. The blog announced a hiatus in September of 2015.
From 2009 until 2012, Overstreet had a public relationship with actor James Fornarola, whom she met while both were filming for The CW show Gossip Girl. They have remained friendly since the relationship's end.
Overstreet publicly came out as gay on twitter in April of 2012 after responding to an inquiry about rumors involving her and another young starlet. She has stated, "I get angry thinking about what a chicken I was [before coming out], but I'd also spent years being told by my agents, 'this isn't something you want people to know, this is going to affect the kind of roles you're offered', like not wanting to suck dick is going to destroy my career. It took me some time to realize how stupid that was. People who don't want to work with me for a reason like that aren't people I want to work with anyway."
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a lovable trainwreck, blair is adored by the likes of perez hilton and tmz for being a loudmouthed, pot-stirring brat. she is seen as the black sheep of her otherwise pristinely reputed family and foil to her golden boy older brother, whose success she has gone on the record as being "madly, bitterly jealous of". she is highly active on social media and known for her candid interactions with fans. though openly gay with a wide lgbtq fanbase, she has received backlash from the community for inflamatory statements about bisexuality and criticized for her hypocritical and voluntary participation in 'queerbating' with publicly straight celebrities. |
» continues to train in ballet during her free time » speaks fluent russian, as taught to her by her paternal grandmother » owns two dogs (arlo, a golden lab, and pippa, a border collie) and a ragdoll cat, reno |
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blair is accustomed to getting what she wants, but she's never wanted the world to be handed to her on a platter -- even as she uses her family's name and connections to get her into the right rooms or out of trouble, in the end she believes there's only one person she can truly rely on to get things done: herself. she likes being the best at what she does, even if that means habitually underachieving to avoid failure, and would rather be considered lazy than inadequate. she's shamelessly petty, mean to the people she loves the most, and won't hold back from telling the truth, even -- especially! -- if it hurts. missy pantone meets heather chandler meets malory archer on a coke bender. she knows she's difficult, and doesn't have the patience for anyone who can't deal with it.
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