The Surprising Guest Star The Cast Of Gossip Girl Want On The Show - Exclusive
When it comes to epic TV guest stars in the early 2000s, few shows went wilder than the OG "Gossip Girl." Between the likes of a private Lady Gaga concert, Tyra Banks appearing as a satirized depiction of an unruly celebrity named Ursula, and Blair's casual wedding fitting with Vera Wang, it would be difficult to top the frequent A-listers the original series snagged. With a show set in the glitz and glamor of a charmed high society, it's only fitting that the characters would use their wealth and connections to bypass namedropping all together, and straight-up invite the likes of Cyndi Lauper and Gwen Stefani to their glamorous events.
During an exclusive interview with Looper, Eli Brown (Obie Bergmann IV), Whitney Peak (Zoya Lott), and Jordan Alexander (Julien Calloway) dished on their celebrity guest star wish list for the reboot "Gossip Girl" series — and their biggest answer may surprise you.
A presidential twist
While the original "Gossip Girl" had an unbelievable roster of celebrities who crashed the show, everyone wants to see some old faces from the OG series in the reboot, too. Jordan Alexander was already thinking of the OG star she wants to appear while filming. She said, "I had a day on set where I was like, 'I feel like Hilary Duff should come back.' I was teaching Zión [Moreno] about Stuff by Duff, which is Hilary Duff's brand, and she was laughing about it. I don't know. That would be fun." Duff played Lonely Boy's short-lived celebrity girlfriend on the series, but her role was small enough that it wouldn't overshadow the new characters.
Whitney Peak wanted to go in a much more unexpected direction. She added, "I just want to see the most unexpected... I don't know who that would be, but just the farthest from the "Gossip Girl" universe. I would think it would be so funny if Kamala Harris was on the show. I think it'd be so hilarious if we just brought in Kamala Harris just to say what's up. I think that'd be so funny."
Considering the amount of activism work Peak's character Zoya and Brown's Obi get into, there's certainly room in the plot for Madame Vice President Kamala Harris to pop by set. Now, whether or not there's room in VP Harris' schedule — well, that's another issue entirely. Jordan Alexander and Eli Brown were pumped by the idea, though, with Alexander commenting, "I love that, actually," and Brown noting, "That's really great."
Alexander wants The Powers That Be to make it happen, saying, "That's really fire. Somebody pick that up." Seriously. Somebody pick it up, please.
Getting the Gossip Girl gang back together (maybe)
In a separate interview with Looper, Zión Moreno (Luna La) and Savannah Lee Smith (Monet de Haan) revealed their OG character and actor wish list. Moreno said, "Well, I would love it if Blair came back. I'd love to do a scene with her. And maybe Chuck Bass, too. Maybe have a little romantic relationship with Chuck." Causing romantic tension between Blair and Chuck would certainly get people talking, but it also might cause fans to crash the steps of the Met to have a word with Moreno.
On her own choice of guest stars, Smith added, "I don't know, probably Blake or Serena because I look up to Blake Lively as an actress. And I've always just appreciated her work, so I think I could learn a lot — and it'd be really fun."
As it stands now, though, it looks like "Gossip Girl" reboot creator Josh Safran wants to avoid major players from the OG series appearing with Constance Billard's new Gen Z class, so they don't overshadow the new characters. However, during Looper's exclusive interview with Josh Safran, he revealed that we would, in fact, see some familiar guest stars.
Safran explained, "So, I didn't want to immediately bring in series regulars from the original series, because, as you saw, the cast is so much bigger now that there wouldn't be time to give them. Meaning if you want to see Blair [Waldorf], you want to see Blair have a whole story. You don't want to see her have two scenes." He continued, "So, there are supporting characters from the original cast that come back that [you] maybe are happy to check in with, but you don't need to spend the entire episode with. So, you'll start to see the first one is in episode five." Could it be Hilary Duff? Fingers crossed for Alexander.
Fans can tune into HBO Max's "Gossip Girl" reboot series on Thursdays. In between new episodes, the entire original series is also bingeable on the streaming platform.