Why Wendy From The Gossip Girl Reboot Looks So Familiar

The "Gossip Girl" reboot, which arrives on HBO in July 2021 — could potentially change the entire legacy of the show, which aired on the CW from 2007 to 2012. Set eight years after the original "Gossip Girl" blog went dark, the reboot follows the next generation of Upper East Side private school teenagers, watching as their scandalous lives are exposed by a new Gen Z version of the titular blogger.

Ahead of the show's premiere, fans already know details about key cast members, such as teen influencer Julien (Jordan Alexander), newcomer Zoya (Whitney Peak), and prim, popular Audrey (Emily Alyn Lind). However, "Gossip Girl" is full of twists and turns, which means some characters are still complete mysteries to viewers. One such character is Wendy, played by Megan Ferguson. Whether she'll end up being one of the students' teachers, confidantes, or something else entirely is unclear, but you may be wondering where you've seen the actress before. Let's break down some of Megan Ferguson's most memorable roles.

"Gossip Girl" will be one of Ferguson's first major leading roles, but she's already built an impressive resumé of supporting roles in film and TV. The actress broke into Hollywood with one-off appearances on shows like "Boardwalk Empire" and "Law and Order: L.A.," before landing the guest role of Ms. Swenson on "Mad Men" in 2013.

Later, she had longer recurring roles on shows like "Hart of Dixie (where she plays Daisy), "The Comedians" (where she plays Esme), and "Grace and Frankie" (where she plays Nadia). Ferguson has also appeared in a number of notable films over the years. In the 2016 comedy "Bad Moms," she appears as Tessa, and later, she played Jessie in the 2017 comedy "The Disaster Artist," which tells the behind-the-scenes story of the notoriously bad cult movie "The Room." Most recently, she portrayed Randy in the 2020 romantic comedy "The Broken Hearts Gallery."

The "Gossip Girl" reboot actually marks the second time that the series' showrunner, Joshua Safran, and Megan Ferguson have worked together. She had a regular role on his short-lived Netflix musical drama "Soundtrack," which debuted on the streaming service in December 2019 and ran for 10 episodes. The series explored how several different individuals in Los Angeles' lives eventually become romantically intertwined thanks to their shared love of music. Ferguson played aspiring artist Eleanor O'Brien's (Callie Hernandez) best friend Gigi Dumont.

The show was unfortunately cancelled after just one season by January 2020. However, it led to a working relationship between Ferguson and Safran that later resumed through "Gossip Girl." In an Instagram post announcing her role in the reboot, Ferguson wanted to clear up that she wouldn't be playing a teenager, writing, "Spoiler alert I am not playing one of the sexy children but @joshsafran is in the byline getting credit where credit is due."

In a recent high-profile role, Megan Ferguson plays "Seinfeld" co-creator Larry David's assistant Alice in "Curb Your Enthusiasm" Season 10. In the season, which debuted on HBO in 2020, Ferguson's character accuses Larry (a loosely fictionalized version of the actor) of sexual harassment. His attempts to fix the situation only make things worse, as the show takes on comedy in the age of #MeToo and Hollywood's numerous reckownings.

During her appearance on the podcast "Greatness Adjacent," Ferguson broke down the complicated yet rewarding process of auditioning for her "Curb Your Enthusiasm" role. "You don't get anything [to rehearse] beforehand," she said. "The brief outline of the scene they gave me right before was... that I have a tattoo, and I won't tell Larry what it's about... I could use my nerves and be mad at the audition process for that. I think that worked in my favor." 

Tune into the "Gossip Girl" reboot to learn all the juicy details about Ferguson's mysterious character on July 8, 2021 on HBO Max.