Leighton Meester Debuts Red Mermaid Hair at SAG Awards as She’s Poised to Join Cast of Nobody Wants This

The 'Gossip Girl' alum wore a strapless, cutout gown from Elie Saab while her husband Adam Brody opted for a brown Prada suit

Leighton Meester has gone auburn for spring!

The actress, 38, debuted her red hair transformation at the 2025 SAG Awards, held at the Shine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 23. Her newly dyed locks were worn in a sweeping side part and curled into mermaid waves.

Styling-wise, Meester opted for a black-and-white cut-out strapless gown from Elie Saab, which she teamed with an elegant necktie and pearl earrings. Meanwhile, her husband of ten years, Adam Brody, 45, perfectly coordinated with his wife in a brown Prada suit and tie.

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The parents — who share daughter Arlo, 9, and a four-year-old son whose name they haven’t made public — enjoyed a rare date night at the event and laughed and joked with one another as they posed on the award ceremony’s red carpet.

Adam Brody and Leighton Meester attend the 31st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards
Adam Brody and Leighton Meester attend the 31st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Monica Schipper/FilmMagic

Their appearance came after news that Meester is set to join the cast of her husband’s hit Netflix show, Nobody Wants ThisPEOPLE confirmed that she will play Abby, the middle school nemesis of Brody’s costar, Kristen Bell's character Joanne, who is now an "Instagram mommy influencer," according to Variety.

Leighton Meester at the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards
Leighton Meester at the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty

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The role will mark the latest time she and her real-life husband will share the screen, following 2023's River Wild and Brody's previous recurring role on her former ABC sitcom Single Parents.

Adam Brody and Leighton Meester attend the 31st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at
Adam Brody and Leighton Meester attend the 31st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at.

Emma McIntyre/WireImage

Meester joining the series is particularly fun given the red-hot chemistry between her husband and Bell onscreen — and their first kiss, which Brody, told PEOPLE back in November was described in the series' script as “the greatest of all time.'"

But Meester isn’t one for jealousy, she told Access Hollywood she thinks their headline-making kiss in the series was "great" and she didn't "mind."

Brody also made sure to say that his wife, "taught" him all he knows. "She gets the good stuff. That's not even like the A-material," the O.C. star teased the outlet. 

Leighton Meester attends the 30th Annual Critics Choice Awards; Leighton Meester attends the 31st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards
Meester's transformation.

Jon Kopaloff/WireImage; Neilson Barnard/Getty

While both Bell — who also hosted the SAG Awards — and Brody were nominated on the evening for their critically acclaimed performances in Nobody Wants This, they both went home empty-handed.

Brody lost out to Only Murders in the Building’s Martin Short for best actor in a comedy series while Jean Smart took home the award for best actress in a comedy series for Hacks over Bell. 

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