Leighton Meester joins Robert Downey, Vincent D'Onofrio and others in 'The Judge'

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester has joined Robert Downey Jr. in The Judge, the Warner Bros. dramedy being directed by David Dobkin.

Judge is a co-production between Team Downey and Big Kid Pictures and a Boston shoot beginning in June is being eyed.Meester joins a cast the includes Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga, Vincent D’Onofrio, Dax Shepard, and Billy Bob Thornton.

Downey stars as a successful attorney who returns to his hometown for his mother's funeral to discover that his estranged father (Robert Duvall), the town's judge, is suspected of murder. The man sets out to discover the truth, and along the way, reconnects with the family he walked away from years before.

Mester will play a character with whom Downey has a one-night and whose later revelations cause quite a bit of headaches for the man.

Judge is Meester’s first major move since wrapping Gossip Girl, which ran for six seasons on the CW. In that time, she appeared in such movies as Date Night, Country Strong, The Oranges andThat’s My Boy.

She is repped by WME, Leverage Management, and Stone Meyer.