Leighton Meester joining James Franco in ‘Of Mice and Men’

Leighton Meester, who starred in the popular CW series “Gossip Girl,” will play a flirtatious farm wife who arouses the passions of migrant workers in the upcoming Broadway production of John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men.”

Meester will co-star alongside the previously announced James Franco and Chris O’Dowd in the production, which is scheduled to open April 16 at the Longacre Theatre in New York.

“Of Mice and Men” will be directed by Anna D. Shapiro, a Tony Award winner for “August: Osage County.” The play, which Steinbeck adapted from his novella, takes place in Central California during the Great Depression and follows two migrant workers -- George (Franco) and Lenny (O’Dowd) -- who are looking for work but only find trouble.

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Meester will be making her Broadway debut in the play. Her character, known only as “Curley’s wife,” is the lonely spouse of an ill-tempered ranch manager.

The 27-year-old actress played Blair Waldorf, a conniving social schemer on New York’s Upper East Side, in “Gossip Girl,” which aired on the CW network from 2007 to 2012.

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