Sexy Blake Lively Gets Excited About Risks, Penn and Cooking

Blake Lively tries out sexy menswear and a daring backless gown for the October issue of Marie Claire UK. The Gossip Girl dishes on her secret talents, her amazing experiences with Anna Wintour, and how she and Penn Badgley make it work. She plays a drug-addicted single mum in Ben Affleck's upcoming film The Town and tells the magazine she's ready to break out of Serena's shell and take her career in a new direction. Here are highlights:

• On whether she Googles herself: "No. Why? I mean, I'm with myself all of the time. Why would I want to see myself on the internet? I can look in the mirror. I think it's destructive."
• On her big-screen dreams: "I'm on a very commercial show so the last thing I want to do is a commercial movie. I wanna take risks, I don't wanna play it safe. I mean, I could probably make more money if I did more commercial projects. It would be nice to buy an apartment, but I'm 22 and I don't need to yet."

To see what she has to say about Penn and her true talent, keep reading!

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• On how she and Penn make it work: "At the end of the day, you're just in any relationship. How does anybody go to work every day and come home? You just do it and it either works or it doesn't."
• On cooking: "That's my true talent, acting pays the bills.