Blake Lively Shares New Gossip Girl Photos for Show’s 18th Anniversary

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Spotted: Blake Lively feeling nostalgic.

To mark the 18th anniversary of the show’s debut, Blake Lively, who played Serena van der Woodsen on *Gossip Girl*, shared a collection of behind-the-scenes photos from all six seasons.

The 37-year-old shared previously unseen photos on Instagram, writing that the show essentially *was* her college experience. She described it as her education, social life, and where she put in countless hours of hard work. She added that New York City and Silvercup Studios – and occasionally Paris – served as her campus for six years.

Lots of photos feature Leighton Meester, who played Blair Waldorf – Blake’s friend and rival – along with other popular cast members like Chace Crawford (Nate Archibald) and Ed Westwick (Chuck Bass).

“So many memories,” Blake continued. “What. A. Decade. What a University.” 

Blake posted an old photo with Penn Badgley, who was her boyfriend both on and off the screen when they filmed the first season episode, “Hi, Society.”

Throughout the years, the actors have talked about that period in their lives, and Penn has specifically shared details about his relationship with Blake, even after they split up in 2010 following a three-year romance.

The actor who played Dan Humphrey recently shared on his podcast, *Podcrushed*, that he and Blake Lively had been broken up for almost half the time they filmed *Gossip Girl*. Despite this, he said they always remained professional and handled some pretty wild storylines – including a fake marriage – without any awkwardness. He doesn’t remember things ever being strange or difficult between them.

Since the show finished in 2012 after six seasons, the cast has come together for several on-screen reunions over the past decade.

In June, Blake Lively teamed up with Zuzanna Szadkowski, who famously played Dorota on Gossip Girl, to promote the summer flavors of her canned cocktail company, Betty Booze.

Starting October 23rd, Leighton Meester will appear alongside Kristen Bell – the iconic voice of Gossip Girl – and her real-life husband, Adam Brody, in the second season of the series *Nobody Wants This*.

Kristen shared with Extra in February that the cast gets along really well, with a lively and sometimes overwhelming group text where everyone loves to joke around. She said having Leighton join them felt completely natural and great.

To learn some secrets about Gossip Girl, keep reading.

Spotted: Leighton Meester and Ed Westwick delivering major chemistry. 

Seeing the last scene of the first episode-where Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester) and Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick) watched Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) leave a party with Dan (Penn Badgley) and Jenny Humphrey (Taylor Momsen)-inspired the show’s creators, Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, to develop the famous relationship between Chuck and Blair.

Josh described an instant connection between them – something you could really feel and that was a lot of fun. He said that’s when things truly started to click.

Watching it was a real eye-opener,” Stephanie said. “It reminded me of *Dangerous Liaisons* – the dynamic between Valmont and Merteuil. They have this intense connection, but it’s full of manipulation and conflict, and it makes for a really compelling story.”

Yes, Ed was well aware that there was something there with Chair. 

He told Jessica Szohr on her *Gossip Girl* rewatch podcast, *XOXO with Jessica Szohr*, that he really enjoyed working with Leighton Meester. He also noted that viewers seemed to love their characters’ relationship, which he found “cute and funny” and meaningful to fans.

He shared with Jessica, who played Vanessa Abrams, that he really valued his connection with Leighton Meester. He described her as a talented actress, saying he missed working with her. They had great chemistry, always made each other laugh, and he often felt a desire to look out for her. He admitted she helped him grow as an actor.

Ed and his co-star, Chace Crawford-who played his best friend Nate Archibald on screen-became very close because they lived together for the first two years of filming.

Ed shared on XOXO that he and Chace decided to be roommates when they started working on the pilot. According to Ed, Chace simply asked if he wanted to live together, and since Ed had never lived on his own before, he readily agreed.

The actor described how a friend sent him bizarre photos of potential living spaces – things like just a corner of the ceiling and a small piece of the floor. He chuckled, saying he responded with a casual, ‘Okay, sounds good!’ and they ended up living together for two years.

Surprisingly, Jennifer Lawrence actually auditioned for the role of Serena on the show, but Blake Lively ended up getting the part.

In a 2017 interview with Vulture, co-creator Josh revealed that Jennifer Lawrence actually auditioned for the role of Serena, though they didn’t know that at the time. According to secondhand information, she was disappointed when she didn’t get the part.

When Penn auditioned for the role of Dan, a character from Brooklyn nicknamed “Lonely Boy,” he had long hair, which Josh and Stephanie described as resembling a snowboarder’s. He surprised everyone on set – including the crew and network executives – by cutting off most of it on his very first day of filming.

I remember when Josh shaved his head – everyone immediately started buzzing, like, ‘What’s going on?!’ But honestly, as soon as we saw it, all of us were like, ‘Wow, that actually looks amazing on him!’ It was a total transformation, and we all had to admit he pulled it off.

It’s hard to imagine *Gossip Girl* without Taylor Momsen, which makes it surprising to learn that Lily Collins originally auditioned for the role of Dan Humphrey’s younger sister. The *Emily in Paris* star recently told *Glamour* she really wanted the part and went through the complete audition process.

David Rapaport, who cast actors for *Gossip Girl*, told Jessica about a planned *Gossip Girl* spin-off focusing on Serena van der Woodsen’s mother, Lily (Kelly Rutherford). The spin-off pilot featured Brittany Snow and Krysten Ritter.

I recall a lot of talented actresses auditioning, including Dakota Johnson and Rooney Mara, both of whom have become very well-known since then. Actually, Nina Dobrev-I think you know her-gave one of the best readings I’ve ever witnessed, and it was perfect for that particular role. I remember being really impressed with her audition.

David said he called the network and told them, “She is a super star.”

He explained on the podcast that the problem was the actress didn’t resemble a young Kelly Rutherford, which was what the role called for.

She urged the network to keep an eye on the *Degrassi: The Next Generation* actress, telling them to “find something for her,” he remembered. He recalled thinking at the time that he’d regret not working with her, saying, “She was so incredible!”

In a 2022 interview on the *XOXO* podcast, Ed revealed that Chuck Bass wasn’t originally intended to be a major character. He explained the role was only meant to appear in a handful of episodes.

The actor expressed his good fortune that the show’s producer became more involved. He also explained that his audition process was somewhat simplified; he only had to do two auditions and a screen test, and didn’t need to audition for the network like the main cast members did.

It sounds like a classic ‘meet-cute’ story! The creators of *Gossip Girl*, Josh and Stephanie, were looking for someone to play Vanessa, and they found her when Adam Brody – who they’d previously worked with on *The O.C.* – brought her as his guest to a Fourth of July party.

On her show *XOXO*, Stephanie explained that she and Josh quickly checked on a computer – this was before iPhones were common – to see if Jessica was an actress by searching for her online.

Josh said casting Ed was quite complicated. The English actor originally tried out for the role of Nate, and someone else almost played Chuck instead.

I remember Josh talking about this on the *XOXO with Jessica Szohr* podcast – it was so frustrating! Apparently, they cast this actor as Chuck, but then he ran into major visa issues because he was from the U.K. It was a real scramble, and the network was really pushing Josh to find someone else to take over the role quickly.

Josh recalled being told, as they neared the pilot’s launch, ‘You need to identify a replacement for Ed, because we don’t believe this will succeed.’ They responded by firmly stating, ‘There is no backup; it’s always Ed.’

Josh and Stephanie were determined to have Ed play the role of Chuck, so the network held off until his visa was approved.

Stephanie, the executive producer, revealed that while Kristen Bell ultimately voiced Gossip Girl, Christina Ricci and Selma Blair were also seriously considered for the role.

Kristen landed the role after her show, *Veronica Mars*, ended after three seasons. She had also done the voiceover work for the show, playing the main character.

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2025-09-22 21:49