There’s a new Upper East Sider in town, and her name is Whitney Peak! The actress is the breakout star of HBO Max’s Gossip Girl series. Keep reading for more details.
What Is the New ‘Gossip Girl’ About?
Set four years after the original show — which aired on The CW from 2007 until 2012 — the new version of the series is set to be a continuation of the story fans all know and love, this time with whole new cast of characters in New York City. Alongside Whitney, the upcoming installment is also set to star Eli Brown, Jordan Alexander, Emily Alyn Lind, Savannah Smith, Jason Gotay, Zión Moreno, Thomas Doherty, Tavi Gevinson and more. As per showrunner Joshua Safran, it’s not considered a reboot!
“A) The cast aren’t playing the original characters B) It exists in the same world as the original C) The same creators and one of the original writers are making it D) No one involved with it is calling it a reboot,” he wrote in an Instagram Stories post in November 2020. During an interview at 2019 Vulture Fest, Joshua explained, “[The show] is very much dealing with the way the world looks now, where wealth and privilege come from, and how you handle that … The thing I can’t say is there is a twist, and that all relates to the twist.”
Who Is Whitney Peak Playing in ‘Gossip Girl’?
Whitney, for her part, will play a character named Zoya Lott. “I thought Zoya was really cool,” she told Dazed about her character during a February 2021 interview. “There’s a lot of representation, which I can’t say we saw a lot of in the first one. It’s dope being able to see people who look like you and who are interested in the same things, and who happen to be in entertainment, because it’s so influential and obviously reflective of the times.”
The original Gossip Girl starred Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Penn Badgley, Chace Crawford, Ed Westwick and Taylor Momsen. Throughout its TV reign, and thanks to streaming services, the series has gained a core group of die-hard fans over the years.
“We haven’t even finished filming the show yet and there’s already so much media attention and such a huge fandom,” Whitney told Wonderland magazine in their Spring 2021 issue. “Everybody has something to say about it, and I can’t add to the conversation. It’s kind of overwhelming. But I’m so excited for the audience to be caught off guard!”
Scroll through our gallery for everything you need to know about Whitney
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