Gossip Girl stars Penn Badgley and Chace Crawford just had one of the best cast reunions we've seen in… a while. The two actors interviewed each other for Variety's Actors on Actors issue, and they definitely had some things to discuss.
Penn, who played lonely boy Brooklyn resident Dan Humphrey, and Chace, who played rich, misunderstood underachiever Nate Archibald, have both come a long way from the iconic CW series. Penn, of course, now stars on Netflix's stalker thriller You, while Chace is a superhero in Amazon's The Boys. But both actors say they found similarities between their current roles and their characters on Gossip Girl.
"It’s interesting to me, because also, man, to be honest, we move on from Gossip Girl to playing despicable white male privileged guys," Chace said bluntly. He then added, “What’s interesting about Joe — it is almost like an odd continuation of Dan.” (Which, coincidentally, is something that fans of both shows have been inclined to point out.)
Penn seemed to agree, and he had some thoughts on Chace's comedy chops and how they were under-utilized on Gossip Girl. “I feel like the whole cast of “Gossip Girl” felt like if you could be given some leeway in your bizarre brand of humor, that it would just be such a phenomenal hit,” he said. Chace responded, “I felt like our scenes in particular were the only ones I tried to work it in. I think some of the most fun moments are in the Nate and Dan scenes.”
The You star also examined how these two shows are different from Gossip Girl's legacy as well. “People wanted to watch a show like Gossip Girl because it was aspirational,” he said. “It was like an escape. It seemed like it struck a certain cultural chord because it was this aspirational fantastical vision of excess and wealth. But now, cut to 13 years later, people are not interested in that. And I think rightfully so. Now they’re interested in deconstructing why we’re so fascinated with that in the first place.”
They agreed that what seemed edgy about Gossip Girl back in the late 2000s isn't edgy now. But would they want to watch old episodes? “I mean, I haven’t seen it in so long,” Penn said. “It would be very interesting to watch it now. Have you seen it recently?” Chace answered, “Buddy, you have to strap me to a gurney and pop my eyes open like Clockwork Orange. But no, it would be interesting to see the first couple maybe.”
Despite that reluctance, it looks like we might be in for a treat someday, when the two meet up to live tweet episodes of the series together. “I don’t like really watching myself that much in general. So to go back and open that time capsule, I think there would be some nostalgic value. We’re doing that when you come to L.A. We’ll have a drink,” Chace said. Penn was all in: “A little watching party. Dude, if we live-tweet a viewing of any episode of Gossip Girl, people would love that.”
Luckily, we also have a reboot on the horizon, a fact Penn and Chace are well aware of. They described the lavish accommodations and treatment they experienced while working on the show, and Chace joked, “The new kids won’t get that treatment [in the “Gossip Girl” reboot for HBO Max].” Penn responded with what we're all thinking: “Dude, I’m so interested to see what it’s like. I wish them well. I really am also interested to see how people react to it.”
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