Serena van der Woodsen is the girl that every other girl thinks she wants to be. She’s tall (for a girl), blonde, blue-eyed, rich and beautiful. Her family is New York Society.
Serena is best friends (well, on again-off again) with fellow socialite, Blair Waldorf. They share an affinity for shopping, attention and the opposite sex – well, one member of the opposite sex in particular: Nate Archibald.
Always a pretty girl, Serena modeled a bit before landing a starring role in Breakfast at Fred’s, a remake of Breakfast at Tiffany’s (in the 9th book of the series, Only in Your Dreams).
Her relationship with her family has always been strained. Her relationship with her mother, Lillian van der Woodsen (“Lily”), is a particularly interesting dynamic. It seems like Lily wants to live a little vicariously through Serena and enjoys her daughter’s successes (while cringing at her failures). Shades of Dina and Lindsay Lohan?
In the pilot episode of Gossip Girl, Serena comes back to town. You can just feel the love at home, no?

[...] she hasn’t figured out is how to stop feeling insecure around sometimes best friend, Serena van der Woodsen. The two have shared secrets, clothes and, oh yeah, a boyfriend. Blair can’t shake that [...]
[...] in his role as Dan Humphrey; Dan is a soulful writer and musician who has spent years pining after Serena. Tags:gossip girl, Penn BadgleyShare [...]
[...] money or society going for him. His world is completely outside of the rich, privileged worlds of Serena and her friends. The question this season will be: does that really [...]
[...] as a mother: she plays Lillian “Lilly” van der Woodsen on Gossip Girl. Lilly is Serena’s mom – and their mother/daughter relationship is about to get [...]
[...] “Lily” van der Woodsen is the mother of Serena and Erik. She’s described in book one as “the middle-aged version of utter [...]
serena is very cool, shi’s cat