Joanna Garcia Gets Sexy on Gossip Girl: "We Spent a Good Bit of Time in the Bedroom"

The former Privileged star shares secrets of her onscreen romance with Chace Crawford

You know who is awesome? Joanna Garcia is awesome. She is quite simply one of the kindest, most gracious ladies we have ever met on our tour of TV land, and we're delighted that she's joined Gossip Girl, one of our fave shows.

We just caught up with Ms. Joanna to find out what her character, Bree Buckley, will be doing during her four-episode sojourn on the show, and it turns out that ladylike Joanna's going to be getting a little sex-ay.

Read on to find out about the time she spent between the sheets with Chace Crawford...

What do we need to know about Bree Buckley?
She's really confident; she has a clear opinion about what she thinks about life. She definitely differs politically with Nate Archibald, but there's this instant chemistry that they have, and it kind of turns into a pretty sweet little love affair. It's pretty secret at first, but as it slowly unfolds, I start getting woven into his social circle. Things are revealed; things happen.

What surprised you most about Bree?
It's funny because she's very cool and collected at the beginning, very much in control. I think that Chace sort of brought out a vulnerability in my performance, which was something I wasn't really going for. But Bree's very much a loyal, strong girl, and I'm always attracted to play characters like that, especially feeling so passionately about being a role model to young girls in real life. She just surprised me with her strength. At the end of the day you really can see just how strongly she feels about Nate.

What draws Nate and Bree together?
It was instant chemistry, instant connection, and we built upon that in a really sweet way. The more I'm seeing of the episodes, the more I'm seeing that it's a sweet, pure relationship. It has tense moments, but not for any reasons but the families. They're star-crossed lovers.

So she's more tragic than dangerous? There's been some talk that she's a bad guy.
She's certainly not a villain as everybody's written she is. She's not a villain. She definitely comes from a complicated family. I think some of the more controversial stuff comes out because of her family.

What's it like working with Chace Crawford?
I can't say enough good things about Chace—I feel this way about the entire cast, but I especially felt so blessed to have him as my partner. You know, Gossip Girl has an exceptional reputation. It's a cool, sexy show, and I traditionally haven't played characters that have been that sexy—this has definitely been a departure for me, and it's been so fun to have Chace kind of hold my hand through the whole process and we've had an absolute ball together. I really can't say enough about him. I'm the kind of person, if I don't have something nice to say I won't say anything at all, so the fact that I'm talking about it will hopefully indicate how highly I feel about him.

Have you worked at all with the rest of the cast?
I actually have. I just adore them. I was just so surprised around every corner. From head to toe on that show, every castmember is delightful. I really had an excellent time and they welcomed me with open arms. It was a really fantastic experience.

You've done four episodes—do you have a particular favorite one?
I really like my second episode. We spent a good bit of time in bedroom. That was a little nerve-racking. Basically, I got a nice little spray tan, and Chace was very sweet. I also really enjoyed the last episode I shot, because I got to work with everybody and that was a lot of fun.

Is your role on Gossip Girl a limited engagement, or was it left open-ended so that perhaps we could see you again?
[Laughs.] Yes, it's definitely a possibility—a very firm possibility.

Ooooh…will Bree be back?
I would like that. We've definitely chatted about it. So we'll see. I'll let you know!