The cast of Gossip Girl took over New York City on Wednesday, June 30, for a star-studded premiere days before the new series is set to premiere on HBO Max on Thursday, July 8.
Stars Whitney Peak, Eli Brown, Jordan Alexander, Emily Alyn Lind, Evan Mock, Savannah Smith, Jason Gotay, Zión Moreno, Thomas Doherty and Tavi Gevinson were all in attendance, and turned heads while showing off their high-fashion looks. These actors are bringing fans back into the world of the Upper East Side with a reimagined version of the CW series of the same name that aired from 2007 to 2012.
“These are new characters, new story lines,” Emily — who plays Audrey Hope — told Dazed magazine in February 2021. “It’s a new generation.”
After years without Gossip Girl, the anonymous blogger is back. But this time, she’s posing as an Instagram account. Viewers will watch as a new group of high school students at Constance Billiard and St. Jude prep schools handles their every move being blasted out to the masses. Whitney, who’s set to play new Upper East Sider Zoya Lott, told Rolling Stone in June 2021 that her character acts like a guide throughout the episodes. “She introduces the viewer to the world,” the actress explained.
“A lot of things she’s experiencing I’ve already had a taste of,” Whitney told the magazine. “Being an outsider in a new world and having to decide if you’re going to stick to your morals or try to change yourself to fit in, to make the adjustment less painful.”
Of course, the world of social media influencing will also be explored in Gossip Girl‘s new iteration. Jordan, for her part, stars as an influencer named Julien. “Living that high life is almost what everyone is expected to do with Instagram,” Jordan also told Rolling Stone. “Online, everyone is on the Upper East Side.”
Aside from the obvious addition of social media into the mix, HBO Max’s Gossip Girl has been teasing a giant “twist” that sets it apart from the original. “My hope is that we make it to airing and people don’t know,” showrunner Joshua Safran told Cosmopolitan in April 2021 of the surprise. “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.”
While we wait to see what this new group of socialites brings to TV screens everywhere, scroll through our gallery to check out pictures from the Gossip Girl premiere.
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