Will Any Original ‘Gossip Girl’ Stars Appear in the HBO Max Reboot?
Gossip Girl is being reimagined for the modern-day, but that doesn’t mean fans won’t be seeing some old faces in the upcoming reboot.
Speaking to The Daily Beast, the show’s creator Joshua Safran shared some details on what viewers can expect in HBO Max’s Gossip Girl, including some brief cameo appearances from original cast members, though not the series regulars.
“The decision was: Let’s get season 1 under our belt, and should we get season 2, we’ll have the chance to bring in cameos that are more than glorified cameos but actually give them storylines,” explained Safran, who also served as a writer and executive producer on Gossip Girl‘s original run on The CW network.
“Hopefully we’ll get there and will reach out to the cast if that time comes and see if they’ll want to come. There are some cameos in season 1 from people on the original show, but not the series regulars,” he continued.
Instead, the show will focus on a new crop of characters played by the likes of Jordan Alexander, Eli Brown, Thomas Doherty, Tavi Gevinson, Emily Alyn Lind, Evan Mock, Zion Moreno, Whitney Peak, and Savannah Lee Smith. While Kristen Bell will reprise her role as the “Gossip Girl” narrator, Safran said he didn’t want the original characters to overshadow the newcomers.
“The audience would never accept these [new] characters if they were in the shadow of the original characters,” he stated. “They’re already in the shadow of the original characters, but if the original characters were there with them in some way, why would you want to briefly get to know Zoya if you suddenly can see Nate?”
He added: “Also, this show is much bigger than the first show. It’s got 16 series regulars instead of seven and 22 recurring instead of 12, so because the show is bigger, there isn’t enough screen time. If Blair showed up for two scenes, you’d say, ‘I want more Blair.'”
Gossip Girl, Series Premiere, Thursday, July 8, HBO Max
Gossip Girl, Series Premiere, Friday, July 9, 8/7c, The CW
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