Sebastian Stan reveals his first ‘serious love’ was a fellow Gossip Girl star: ‘Life seemed simpler’

Sebastian Stan mused about his first crush during his time on Gossip Girl.

The 42-year-old actor opened up in a new interview with Varietyand admitted it happened during his time on the hit CW series.

“It was the first time I was seriously in love with someone. Walking around the city, seeing the same buildings and streets — life seemed simpler.”

The actor didn’t mention any names, but he dated his Gossip Girl co-star Leighton Meester, 38, from 2008 to 2010.

The actor, who also spoke about playing Donald Trump in his upcoming film, played Carter Baizen on Gossip Girl, appearing in 11 episodes from 2007 to 2010.

Leighton, meanwhile, played Blair Waldorf, a privileged socialite known for her stylish outfits and sharp wit.

Although he rarely talks about his relationships, he raved about Meester when they were still in a relationship.

“She is the most interesting, sophisticated, talented, extremely funny person I know. She is truly hilarious,” he said of her in 2009.

The couple split in 2010.

Leighton told Seventeen magazine at the time, “I’ve only had one experience where it was really hard and I was really sad when it was over, but that taught me a lot about myself, love and life — and that’s good.”

Meester married her current husband Adam Brody, 44, in 2014.

The two have a 7-year-old daughter, Arlo Day, and a son together who was born in 2020.

Meanwhile, Stan has been linked to Malignant actress Annabelle Wallis, 40, since 2022.

In May, the two stole the show at the premiere of The Apprentice at the Cannes Film Festival.

He has also previously been linked to Jennifer Morrison, Margarita Levieva, Dianna Agron and Alejandra Onieva.

The handsome lead actor graced the cover of the magazine in a white tank top and gray pants, with a light beard.

Another black-and-white photo showed him in a white T-shirt, flaunting his muscles for the camera.

There was also a photo of him in boxer shorts and a gray vest, listening to music on an old-fashioned cassette recorder.

Elsewhere in the interview, he reflected on the role he would play in his upcoming film, The Apprentice.

He said that he had done a lot of research and that he had gained a lot of weight as a result.

“I had 130 videos of his physical appearance on my phone,” he said. “And 562 videos that I pulled with photos from different eras — from the ’70s to now — so I could pull out his speech patterns and try to improvise like him.”

He said director Ali Abbasi encouraged improvisation, which meant even more research.

‘Ali could come in on the second take and say, “Why don’t you talk a little bit about taxes and how you don’t want to pay them?” So I had to know what charities they were going to go to in 1983. Every night I would go home and try to prepare not only for the day that was coming, but for where Ali was going to go.’

Stan also admitted that he gained 15 pounds for the role.

“You’d be surprised. You can gain a lot of weight in two months.”

The Apprentice will be released in theaters on October 11.