Leighton Meester and Adam Brody's Relationship Timeline

Mid-2000s: Crossing Paths

Contrary to popular belief, Adam and Leighton met long before they shared the big screen for their 2011 film, The Oranges. "Josh Schwartz produced both [of our] shows and literally the first time we met, that whole [Gossip Girl] cast was eating at Canter's—and I lived at Canter's for my entire 20s," Adam told Anna Faris on her “Unqualified” podcast in March 2021. "And I was leaving, and he introduced all of us." 

2011: High Profile Co-Stars

Years after their chance deli meeting, "Queen B" and "Cohen" would meet again on the set of The Oranges. "We did this movie together," Adam told Anna Faris. While he was admittedly into his costar (“I was very attracted to her from [the] jump. She's a heavenly creature. I thought she was gorgeous.”), their timing wasn’t quite right. "I was seeing someone at the time,” he explained. “We didn't get together [until] about a year after that movie when I was single." 

February 2013: Out of the Friend Zone

By February 2013, the actors had gone from pals to something more. Their blossoming romance seemed to all but be confirmed when Adam was photographed leaving the Country Strong star’s L.A. abode.

June 26, 2013: PDA Galore

There was no mistaking that the two were an item by June 2013. They stepped out together for their first public event: the premiere of the drummer’s movie Some Girl(s)—arm-in-arm.  

November 2013: She Says “Yes”

It didn’t take long for the young couple to realize that they were made for each other. People broke the news just ahead of the holidays that the actor had put a ring on it—and Leighton said “yes!”

February 2014: Flying Under the Radar

In a move that would make Blair herself proud, Leighton and Adam said their “I do’s” with a secret wedding ceremony for the ages. Adam confirmed the news himself in a paparazzi video that month, reportedly responding, "Yeah,” when a photographer asked if he had, indeed, tied the knot.

April 18, 2014: Dynamic Duo

The duo’s second shared film, Life Partners, which they filmed together several months ahead of their nuptials, was officially released in April.

June 8, 2014: Picture Perfect

The newlyweds were all smiles while attending the 68th annual Tony Awards together in support of Leighton's 2014 play, Of Mice and Men.

August 4, 2015: A Growing Brood

People reported that the ultra-private stars welcomed a daughter named Arlo Day on August 4, 2015, whom Adam would later gush over to GQ. “She’s the thing I’m most proud of and gives me the most joy,” he said in 2019. “She’s just so dang awesome. It just gives you a new perspective in the best way—something to focus on that’s greater and more important than yourself.”

June 29, 2017: Playing Up Their Parts

The husband-and-wife duo took time out from serving children for Feeding America to do their first-ever joint interview with ET. Apparently, they have an occasional chuckle over the fact that The O.C.’s Seth Cohen and Gossip Girl’s Blair Waldorf ended up together. “We have a Seth and Blair day, and we dress up, and uh…” Adam joked. “It’s exciting to us that it’s exciting to you,” Leighton added.

September 21, 2018: Wedded Bliss

Leighton subtly referred to her husband of four years as her one true love in an interview for Porter Edit in September 2018. “I’m happy where I am now,” she told the publication. “And I think that that’s one of the many wonderful parts of not only having a child and meeting your soulmate, but also I feel really lucky career-wise—really in a place that I want to be.”

March 11, 2019: Making It Work

Leighton talked about the compromises she and her husband make for one another to make their marriage work with Shape in early 2019. “Some days my husband makes dinner, and some days I do,” she said. “Other days, I'm too tired, and I eat a bowl of cereal for dinner. It's just the thing we do to make it work."

March 29, 2019: Back in Action

After a two-year hiatus from the red carpet, the lovebirds returned in full force for the premiere of Adam’s 2019 flick, Shazam!

May 8, 2019: BFFs

In an in-depth interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Leighton called her spouse her closest friend while gushing about his cameo as Derek on her show, Single Parents. “I mean, yeah, it’s a wonderful, great, lovely thing,” she said of working alongside him. “I mean, he’s my best friend, and I wanna work with him on everything, and I think he’s, um, the best in everything.”

August 20, 2019: Private Eyes

Adam offered some insight into the couple’s private approach to their relationship to GQ in August 2019. “She’s more inherently private than I am," he shared of his wife. He continued: "We’re homebodies. We don’t go to a lot of things that perhaps we could and don’t seek out promotion in that way. We’ve found this great balance so far that really works for us. We’re also not very active on social media.”

August 21, 2019: Instagram-Ready

Speaking of social media, Adam made an ultra-rare appearance on Leighton’s Instagram page in August 2019. “My hero,” she captioned a red carpet shot of the two from the premiere of his 2019 flick, Ready or Not.

October 9, 2019: Appreciation Post

In a blink-and-you-might-miss-it post, Leighton paid homage to her on and off-screen partner with a shot of Adam leaning against a trailer on the set of her show, Single Parents. “My boyfriend’s back,” she gushed.

April 2020: Bump Alert

By April 2020, there was no denying that Leighton was carrying the couple’s second child, as photos of her baby bump were leaked by The Daily Mail. 

September 2020: Living the Dream

Adam spilled the beans that his family had gained a fourth member via Twitch in September 2020. "I have a new kid. Since last I played, I have a new kid," he reportedly said. "I have a boy, and he's a dream. He's a dream boy."

December 21, 2020: Picking Up New Hobbies

Forget quarantine baking—according to Adam, he and his wife became beach bums in 2020. “A big part of our quarantine life is that my wife and I have been surfing our brains out,” he told the Wall Street Journal in December 2020. “Honestly, we’re just beach bums.”

The star said his family also got into some heavy gaming competition. “Go Fish was big for a while. We’ve stepped it up to Monopoly Junior. A little piano, a little karaoke, and a lot of walks through the neighborhood.”

March 29, 2021: Waxing Poetic

Adam couldn’t praise his significant other enough while chatting with Anna Faris on her “Unqualified” podcast in March 2021. Apparently, Leighton’s kind nature initially took him by surprise. “I had no idea whether she was a good person or not. And, in fact, kind of assumed she probably wasn't for the first handful of years that I didn't know her, just because, I don't know, Gossip Girl,” he confessed. Lucky for him, first impressions aren’t always accurate. “Come to find out, she's literally like Joan of Arc,” he conceded. “She is the strongest, best person I know. She is my moral compass and North Star, and I just can't say enough good things about her character. It's crazy."