The characters are rich, woke and sexually diverse. And, as the star narrator of the Gossip Girl reboot reveals, there’s a big surprise in store for fans.
They’re rich, they’re woke, and they’re sexually diverse. Seven privileged students head back to school on Manhattan’s Upper East Side wielding their social media savvy, striking fear into the hearts of their teachers and, it is hoped, winning over audiences worldwide.
While the original Gossip Girl made stars of its young cast, the hotly anticipated reboot – airing tomorrow – will thrust less familiar faces into the spotlight and on to a world stage that has changed since the OG’s noughties debut.
The characters and cast of the new Gossip Girl include Julien Calloway (Jordan Alexander), Zoya Lott (Whitney Peak), the scheming Audrey Hope (Emily Alyn Lind), Maximus Wolfe (Thomas Doherty), Obie Bergmann (Eli Brown), and Aki Menzies (Evan Mock).
Alexander’s Julien is the Queen Bee at Constance Billard high. Reunited on the first day of school with her much poorer half-sister Zoya who has won a student scholarship, the siblings begin a cyber-rivalry.
If Julien is “the new Serena” (Blake Lively’s Queen Bee in the OG), this time she’s black, bald, and much more aware of her power as a famous influencer.
“I feel like the way Julien moves is very specific,” says Jordan Alexander, adding that this is enabled and “curated” by her teen sidekicks. “She knows the kind of power that she holds and she definitely utilises that to create an image. That’s what she’s presenting and that works for her.”
While it might seem anti-feminist that Julien and Zoya begin competing for the same boy, Alexander says it is about the “bond between the sisters. Yeah, it’s fun drama, but people will really attach to the fact that they are building a bond”.
This new generation of privileged private school teens acting beyond their years is the creation of show runner Joshua Safran, who was also writer and executive producer on the original series. Safran wanted to develop a version that reflects America now, while carrying forward the DNA of the characters.
“When I went to write these characters, I was really hoping that they wouldn’t be like the originals because I wanted to set them apart and make them different,” Safran reveals. “But halfway through writing the pilot I called (producer) Stephanie Savage and said, ‘Stephanie, I think Max is a little bit like Chuck. And I think Audrey is a little bit like Blair. And I think Zoya’s a little bit like Jenny. What am I doing wrong? And Stephanie’s like, ‘You’re just realising that now? I’ve known that since you pitched it. When Cecily (von Ziegesar, the author of the Gossip Girl novels) researched the books, she found these archetypes have existed for Edith Wharton, for Shakespeare, you can go back through literature and see these types. And 20 years from now we’ll still be writing about these types. And there’s nothing wrong with leaning into that’.”
The only cast member from the original show is the narrator, Kristen Bell, who revels in channelling “the cattiest version of myself” as she voices the invisible titular character. Comparing the OG and reboot, Bell says: “The new show is very different and really cool because it talks all about how social media has changed us. I would also say it’s a lot more risque.”
Then she adds a teaser for Thursday’s launch: “There’s also a twist at the end of episode one that’s really different …”
While the theme of social media saturation is powerful, so is the rise of sexual fluidity, reflecting an increasing trend for members of Generation Z to identify as LGBTQ.
Audrey may be “the new Blair” (Leighton Meester’s Machiavellian OG), but this time she finds herself caught between her metrosexual boyfriend Aki and her queer friend Max, as the guys explore their attraction to her – and each other. Max (“the new Chuck”) is not just a ladies’ man, he’s a raunchy, pill-popping, polyamorous pansexual who’s trying to seduce his male teacher – even busting in on him in the school gym shower.
Safran, who is gay and also grew up on the Upper East Side and went to private school, notes that in the 1990s and 2000s much of the student body was white; even up until recently, black students started social media groups anonymously. Safran wanted the new iteration of the show to “talk about issues that were real. What has changed? What is new? What have we learnt?”
Part of that includes having characters that might fit a glamorous fantasy but also look like where they come from: multiethnic, mixed race, blended families – Julien has a white father and a black mother; Max has two dads, one is transgender.
“It’s been really, really interesting, especially for me, as my character is pansexual,” says Doherty. “It definitely does open up the spectrum of things as opposed to, you’re either straight or you’re gay mentality. It does question the conditioning that you’ve gone through your whole life.”
While the show is designed as entertainment (the fashion is again fabulous, thanks to costume designer Eric Daman) there may just be a message wrapped in all the fun.
“I think the show will definitely broaden people’s minds and make for a much more tolerant, accepting society,” says Doherty.
Watch the original Gossip Girl on BINGE; and catch the new season from 5pm AEST Thursday July 8
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMimQFodHRwczovL3d3dy5oZXJhbGRzdW4uY29tLmF1L2xpZmVzdHlsZS9zbWFydC9nb3NzaXAtZ2lybC1yZWJvb3QtYWlycy1vbi1iaW5nZS1kaXZlcnNlLWNhc3Qtc2V0LXRvLXRocmlsbC1mYW5zL25ld3Mtc3RvcnkvMTJjN2E3MjAwMjM0M2VhM2MzYTRhNmY4OGQxOWE3YmLSAQA?oc=5
2021-07-06 22:46:57Z
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