When Adam Brody became the internet’s boyfriend a few months back, people started acting weird around Leighton Meester.

Of course, long before audiences became obsessed with Brody’s turn as a hot rabbi in “Nobody Wants This,” both he and Meester were cemented in the pop culture firmament as teen drama icons. She was “Gossip Girl’s” Blair Waldorf. He was “The O.C.’s” Seth Cohen. And it warmed everyone’s cold little hearts that actors from two beloved mid-2000s shows had ended up together in real life.

But when the couple — who have been married since 2014 — showed up at the Golden Globes in January, the vibes were off. Reporters on the red carpet couldn’t stop fawning over Brody during interviews, to the point where he had to step in and attempt to make things less awkward.

“Your date is the Hot Rabbi,” an “Entertainment Tonight” host gushed to Meester. “And she’s my real shiksa goddess,” Brody duly pointed out.

On the “Access Hollywood” podium, one journalist grabbed Meester’s face to ask if her husband kissed her as intimately as he did his scene partner on his new Netflix show. “She taught me,” Brody chimed in again. “I mean, she gets the good stuff. That’s not even, like, the A material.”

TikTok users zoomed in on their television screens that night, posting clips highlighting the odd energy being directed Meester’s way. This was Queen B, after all. Show a little respect.

But Meester herself swears she didn’t even clock the gushy line of questioning. “Wow, I don’t remember that,” the 39-year-old actor insists. “I understand that people are doing their jobs. I’m sure they’re generally trying to be nice and supportive and rooting for us, and me.”

From anyone else, this might read as frustratingly Pollyanna-ish. A politically correct answer from an actor trying not to offend the people who help her make her and her spouse’s livelihoods. But Meester really is that unbothered. It’s hard to square with the fact that she played a calculating, uppity character so well in the role that made her famous.

But the signs have always been there. In the 13 years since “Gossip Girl” wrapped, most of the paparazzi pictures snapped of her have been shot while she was surfing, appearing more concerned with sun protection — outfitted in a bucket hat and full-body wetsuit — than her appearance. Meanwhile, Meester and her husband, 45, have both continued to work steadily, often in independent films or as supporting characters in larger projects. Meester has played a country ingenue opposite Gwyneth Paltrow in the musical romance “Country Strong,” done an arc on the short-lived “How I Met Your Mother” spinoff and co-starred in an Elizabeth Meriwether-created sitcom that fizzled out during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In other words, she’s not overly precious about what she chooses to act in. Her latest role is in the comedic police procedural “Good Cop/Bad Cop,” which starts streaming on Amazon Prime Video in May. The show has been airing on The CW since February, but despite earning strong reviews, it has yet to become much of a talker.

Australian actor Luke Cook — the male half of the sibling detective duo on the series — attributes much of that to the fact that the show was co-produced by a streaming company in his native country.

“There’s a marketing budget in Australia, and there’s not been one behind the U.S. launch,” says Cook. “I have family members and friends over there sending me pictures of posters of the show everywhere, and over here, there’s no sign that it’s on other than on social media.”

But if Meester is the least bit salty about the show’s reception stateside — you guessed it — she doesn’t let on. “I’m super proud of this show,” she says. “I just really hope that if people watch it, they enjoy it. It’s my happy place.”

It’s February, about a week after the first episode dropped on The CW, and Meester has just arrived at an interview from a table read for Netflix’s “Nobody Wants This,” for which she’ll shoot a cameo in a few weeks. She says her scenes are mostly with sister characters Kristen Bell and Justine Lupe, rather than her husband. But they’ve acted together before — she thinks this is the seventh project for them — most recently on “Good Cop/Bad Cop.”

John Quaintance, the show’s creator, recalls, “When the camera wasn’t on her and we were doing his coverage, I would be like, ‘Leighton, you’re not acting. You’re just watching Adam with a big smile on your face.’ They’re so supportive of each other that it’s both heartwarming and a little sick.”

They’ve never played an on-screen couple, but Meester says she’d be down for it. “I really like hanging out with him and working with him,” she says.

Those who’ve worked with Meester would love for her to have her own renewed moment in the sun. “I don’t think enough people have seen how great she is at comedy,” says Quaintance. “I think that first huge role probably hangs over her in the form of expectations that people think, ‘Oh, I’ll go see her on some sort of nighttime soap.’ And I think the real Leighton is a lot more fun than that.”

Meester acknowledges that she and her “Gossip Girl” character share startlingly little in common. She’s definitely not into headbands. But you know that saying about ducks? They look calm on the surface of the water, but their feet are anxiously paddling away underneath. That feels like the thread connecting Meester and Blair Waldorf — they’re both ambitious, the latter is just unabashed about showing it.

At the moment, she’s focused on making her life as low-stress as possible. This summer, she’ll stay in Los Angeles, partly because of work: She has booked a recurring role on HBO’s forthcoming “Untitled Rachel Sennott Project.” But that’s about all she knows about how the next few months will go.

After the Los Angels fires, where her home burned to the ground, she’s focused on trying not to plan too far ahead. Her kids help with that. Lately, they’ve been fascinated with something called Stick Nation, a subculture of people on TikTok who upload videos showcasing unique sticks they’ve found in the wild.

“My son will see a stick and be like, ‘Can I take it home? It’s special.’ To see the world like that is pretty amazing,” says Meester. “I’m trying to spend those moments with them and absorb it. I was going to say trying to focus on the joy of the moment, but even sometimes the pain of it. It sounds strange, but I’ve really been enjoying this time.”