The new Gossip Girl is officially on its way, with a premiere month and everything.
Showrunner Joshua Safran revealed on Wednesday, April 28th that the series, a sort of reboot, sort of sequel to the beloved 2007 series, will arrive in July. And if you've been thinking that you've heard so much about this new show and yet also so little about this new show, there's a reason for that, according to a new Cosmo feature about the highly anticipated series. Apparently, there's a lot of secrets to be kept, even if the identity of Gossip Girl isn't exactly one of them.
Executive producer Josh Schwartz revealed at a TCA panel long ago (OK, July 2019) that in this iteration, "We're all Gossip Girl now." It's not going to turn out that one dude has been inexplicably acting as the all-knowing gossip queen for the entire series, because, "We are all purveyors of our own social media surveillance state."
In the Cosmo interview, Safran remained vague about what exactly that means in practice.
"My hope is that we make it to airing and people don't know," he said. "I would love to see that conversation happen in the context of people having seen it as opposed to talking about something they haven't seen."
The story teases a "twist" that apparently has yet to be uncovered, despite all the paparazzi photos of the cast filming on the streets (and steps) of New York City.
It's possible that that twist also has something to do with the secrecy around the character played by real-life fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson. While nearly all of the other characters have descriptions, hers only has a name that sounds like it would fit better on Riverdale: Kate Keller.
It's not terribly likely that she's actually the cousin of Riverdale's Kevin Keller (played by Casey Cott), but stranger things have happened, so who knows?
As for the rest of this new group of Upper East Siders, there's a little more info to be found. Whitney Peak plays Zoya, the relatable Dan Humphrey-type. Emily Alyn Lind plays the posh Audrey with an athleisure designer for a mother. Audrey is dating Aki (Evan Mock) and she's best friends with influencer Julien (Jordan Alexander).
Thomas Doherty plays the "libertine" and occasionally naked Max, and Eli Brown plays "rich do-gooder and German import" Obie. Zión Moreno plays Luna and Savannah Smith plays Monet, and all of these fabulous-sounding friends are part of the Blair and Serena-esque it-crowd.
The show takes place years after the original Gossip Girl, meaning the events of that show happened in this world, but they don't necessarily affect the story. The only original cast member who's confirmed to return is Kristen Bell as the voice of Gossip Girl herself, though in theory, anyone else (Blake Lively? Leighton Meester? Penn Badgley?) could pop up at any time. One can only dream.
You can get a taste of the new series below!
The revival series simply described this character, Zoya Lott, as "perspective."
The character Aki will embody "innocence" in the new Gossip Girl.
We can't tell if we're getting big Chuck Bass or Nate Archibald vibes from Otto "Obie" Bergmann IV, who will represent "privilege."
You better watch out for Tavi Gevinson's character. Why? Because Tavi's character's descriptor is "ambition."
Could there be more to Audrey Hope's story? She's been described as "grace."
Another striking co-star! Thomas' character has the label "freedom."
Your next style icon? Perhaps. The character Luna La has been described as "style."
We're already feeling inspired by this character. Monet de Haan's label is "power."
This character is ready to "influence" on Gossip Girl.
Here's the cast of the new Gossip Girl on the steps of the Met in New York City. The actors include (from left to right, top to bottom) Evan Mock, Eli Brown, Zión Moreno, Emily Alyn Lind, Thomas Doherty, Jordan Alexander and Savannah Lee Smith.
Emily Alyn Lind's portrayal of Audrey, a teen who has been in a long term relationship and is beginning to wonder what more could be out there, already seems like one of the series' most enticing.
Whitney Peak and Jordan Alexander get close.
Just like the original, Savannah Lee Smith and Zión Moreno look very ready to judge anyone that walks by.
Could Whitney Peak's character be far different than the kids on the steps of the Met? It appears that way. Throughout these images, she walks past that group as she carries a brown paper bag (lunch) and a red tote that says Revolution Books.
Tavi Gevinson, Emily Alyn Lind and Thomas Doherty.
Whitney Peak is honestly getting us excited to see the city as this series' background.
The cast already looks perfect.
We're guessing that Peak and Brown's characters got into a huge fight here.
Just like the original, the new Gossip Girl is already promising head-turning looks. Here we see Jordan Alexander, Zión Moreno and Savannah Lee Smith.
While the new series takes place eight years after the original, Tavi Gevinson and Adam Chanler-Berat's looks seem plucked from another decade.
Peak and Brown were photographed in between nighttime scenes in New York.
And, because we're in the middle of a pandemic, they slipped their masks on while shooting.