Not everyone is familiar with Blake Lively.

But after the Gossip Girl season premiere tonight, this should change. Below, the young actress talks about landing the role of a lifetime...

IGN TV: We always hear that it's a nightmare process to get a lead on a network series. What was it like for you for Gossip Girl?
Blake Lively: Well, you'll have to ask the people behind the scenes. For me, it was great! [Laughs] I never was interested in doing television, just because it's a very big commitment and you have to be really passionate about the project you're going to take on, because you're signing on for six years of your life; six of maybe the most important years of your life, at the age I'm at right now. So I wasn't looking to do shows.

Anybody that called me [about TV], I said "No way." And Josh [Schwartz] called me, and he was very persistent! At one point, after we had met and everything, he said to me "You know, I wrote this show for you." He said "You have to do this. I will not do this with anyone else!" And that meant the world to me. But before I met with him, I was a little hesitant. I'd heard about the series of books, but I didn't know, really, what it was about. I sat down with him and Stephanie [Savage], and they're so passionate about their work.

They're not just some big jaded studio executive that signs his name on something and goes off to the Hamptons, you know?

He's so involved in every single thing that he does, and Stephanie too. They want the top quality people. They've already done The O.C., which set a generation. And now they just want to raise the standards. They've learned from their mistakes - they were talking about that - and their success. So they're involved in everything from the people they cast, to the clothes we wear. Every outfit we wear they approve of; every backdrop of every scene we're a part of; the way one hair flies away from me eye, they're a part of.

It's so great to have people that involved and that passionate about it, and that's the reason I wanted to do it, and luckily, we were able to work it out.

IGN TV: How much can you relate to her lifestyle? Does it connect at all to what you saw in high school?
Lively: No, not at all. She's practically royalty, you know? The money that she's been surrounded by... But you know, people, whether they're very rich or poverty stricken, teens go through trials and tribulations and dramas, whenever you're finding out who you are. There are struggles.

People gossip. People are insecure, so they talk about other people so that they won't be talked about. They point out flaws in other people to make them feel good about themselves. I think at any age or any social class that's present. So as far as that, I can relate to her, but her lifestyle, no way.

Click here to read the rest of the interview.

Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.