Gossip Girl Reboot: Sabrina, PLL Alums Among 5 Cast in HBO Max Series
Spotted: An official cast list for the Gossip Girl reboot.
TVLine has learned that HBO Max has closed deals with five actors to star in the upcoming sequel series, and they are Emily Alyn Lind (Code Black, Revenge), Whitney Peak (The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Eli Brown (Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists), Johnathan Fernandez (Lethal Weapon) and Broadway vet Jason Gotay.
Details on their respective characters are being kept under wraps.
It was last July that HBO Max placed a 10-episode order for a new iteration of the former CW hit that will “introduce a fresh crop of gorgeous Manhattan private-schoolers to Gossip Girl’s all-seeing eye.” Per the streaming service, the reboot “will address just how much social media — and the landscape of New York itself — has changed in the intervening years.”
Josh Schwartz, who will exec-produce the new series alongside fellow Gossip Girl co-creator Stephanie Savage and former EP-turned-reboot showrunner Joshua Safran, recently described Gossip Girl 2.0 as more of a “continuation” as opposed to a “remake,” adding, “There aren’t, like, new actors playing Serena and Blair.” That said, the door is open for the original stars, which included leading ladies Blake Lively and Leighton Meester, to make an appearance. “We’ve reached out to all of them to let them know it was happening, and we would love for them to be involved if they want to be involved. But [we] certainly didn’t want to make it contingent upon their [participation].”
One OG Gossip Girl star who is on board for the reboot: Kristen Bell, who will reprise her role as the series’ omniscient narrator.
Safran previously confirmed that Gossip Girl 2.0 would feature “nonwhite leads” as well as “a lot of queer content,” adding, “It is very much dealing with the way the world looks now, where wealth and privilege come from, and how you handle that.”
Safran also teased “a twist” at the center of the new series, while also confirming that the show’s new crop of students will similarly attend Constance Billard School for Girls. And it will be set in present day. “It is 12 years, I guess 13 years after the original,” Safran said.
Having seen the first script for the reboot, HBO Max head of original content Sarah Aubrey said in January, “We all breathed a big sigh of relief, because it’s very good… as you can imagine, the bar is very high.”
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