Gossip Girl (2021 TV series)

## Gossip Girl

**Gossip Girl** is an American teen drama television series based on the eponymous book of the same name, as well as a sequel, soft reboot, and confirmed "extension" of its predecessor.

## Premise

Eight years after the conclusion of the original series, a new cast of Manhattan private schoolers take the lead under the watchful eye of Gossip Girl, while demonstrating how much social media – and the landscape of New York City itself – has changed in the intervening years.

## Cast

### Main

* Kristen Bell as the voice of Gossip Girl: The one and only source into the scandalous lives of Manhattan's elite. Eight years after the original Gossip Girl was revealed and the site was shut down, a new somebody has taken on the job to report on the newest Upper East Siders. And who are they now? That's one secret they'll never tell.

* Emily Alyn Lind as Audrey – A girl who has been in a long term relationship and is beginning to wonder what more could be out there.
* Whitney Peak as Zoya Lott
* Eli Brown as Otto "Obie" Bergmann IV
* Johnathan Fernandez as TBA
* Jason Gotey as TBA
* Tavi Gevinson as Kate Keller
* Thomas Doherty as Maximus "Max" Wolfe
* Adam Chanler-Berat as TBA
* Zión Moreno as Luna La
* Savannah Smith as Monet de Haan
* Jordan Alexander as Julien Calloway
* Evan Mock as Akeno "Aki" Menzies

## Production

### Development

*Gossip Girl* was officially announced on July 18, 2019 in a straight-to-series order as part of HBO Max's lineup of original shows. Showrunner Joshua Safran will return as well as creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage as executive producers.

The series [is] slated to feature more adult content than the original on The CW, owing to the relaxed standards of the HBO Max streaming service. The series is also slated to be more diverse, with non-white leads and LGBT characters.

In regard to continuity, executive producer and showrunner Joshua Safran stated that it is officially in the same continuity of the original Gossip Girl series. However, rather than a direct continuation of the story, it is instead set in the same world where previous characters existed and can be freely referenced and potentially reappear, but stars a different set of characters from a different point of view. Safran likened this to a shared universe, akin to that of the Marvel Universe.

### Release

WarnerMedia ordered a revival of the series for HBO Max in July of 2019. Although called a "reboot", it was confirmed to be a continuation of the original story by Josh Schwartz. In November 2019, it was announced Kristen Bell would be returning as the voice of Gossip Girl in the new series.

In March 2020, it was reported, alongside scheduled filming in New York City, that Emily Alyn Lind, Whitney Peak, Eli Brown, Johnathan Fernandez, and Jason Gotey were cast. Later that month, Tavi Gevinson, Thomas Doherty, Adam Chanler-Berat, Zion Moreno. were reported to have joined as well.

On May 23, 2020, it was announced that the series was delayed until 2021 due to a global production shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Trivia

* The original cast has not been asked to take part in the new series, according to Leighton Meester and Chace Crawford, refuting an earlier message made by Schurtz that he had informed the original cast of the revival prior to its announcement and invited them to appear.
	+ Meester has said she will not appear whereas Crawford was open to reprise his role.
* Cast member Eli Brown admitted the cast has been sworn the secrecy regarding their characters and their plots. What he was able to say about his character is that he's "a good guy from a wealthy family, and he's a humanitarian".