Leighton Meester has been in the Hollywood business for most of her life-- and it hasn't always been easy.

The struggle of a controversial upbringing is just one of the topics she tackles in an interview with Marie Claire Magazine.

The Gossip Girl star covers the glossy April 2012 issue and opened up about how her life has changed. She was born while her mother was serving a jail sentence for drug trafficking.

Her father also served time for drug-related offenses. Leighton and her mother struggled to pay the rent when the young actress was booking modeling gigs and some work in commercials.

She told the magazine, "When you see how you react when you suffer, that's when you know what you are made of."

But Meester doesn't hold grudges about anything in her past and hasn't let her upbringing stop her from becoming a successful actress, who is now living the good life.

She said, "You can take what is handed to you and use it as an excuse to mess up. But I've always handled what was given to me by life. I consider myself lucky. I was never lied to. And I was loved."

For a sneak peek of the interview, you can head over to . Make sure to pick up the April issue for the full story.

And check out all of Leighton's gorgeous looks in these photos and a video from her cover shoot.

《绯闻女孩》中的Queen B莉顿·梅斯特近日登上了新一期的《Marie Claire》，并为杂志拍摄了一组华丽丽的风情写真。在杂志访谈中，莉顿还谈起了自己的许多私密问题，她说：“我的家庭有一段很疯狂的过去，大概是我听说过的最疯狂的了。但是现在回想我会平和的去面对它。不能说那段经历不复杂不纠结，但是我会用躲到外面去的方法来解决，我经常跑到海边去玩儿，那是段很快乐的时光。”谈到自己的恋爱问题，莉顿也坦白说：“我到了18岁才交了第一个男朋友，我觉得这样也挺不错的。但是我不确定自己是不是想结婚，一段恋情中只有两个人相爱才是最美好的，我不愿意跟那些我只是觉得有好感的人在一起。”