Penn Badgley Swears He’ll Never Cross Over His ‘You’ and ‘Gossip Girl’ Worlds—Here’s Why!

by

Spotted: Penn Badgley‘s You character steering clear of the Upper East Side. 

As a devoted fan, I’d like to share that the 38-year-old actor, who breathes life into Joe Goldberg on Netflix, has made it clear he has no intentions at this time for a crossover between his captivating psychological thriller series and the CW hit, Gossip Girl, both of which are characterized by voiceover narration.

It was suggested that if every line from the TV show Gossip Girl were narrated in Joe’s voice, it would be very appropriate, according to Penn, who spoke to Will Marfuggi of TopMob News. However, it’s important to clarify that such a thing will never occur, as stated by Penn. In other words, it was proposed as a humorous idea but is not going to materialize in reality.

Why doesn’t the host of Podcrushed seem keen on being part of his TV worlds? Penn, who starred as Dan Humphrey throughout all six seasons of Gossip Girl, thinks that Kristen Bell’s voiceover abilities on the early 2000s teen drama have become legendary for good reason.

According to him, “What made it successful, in my opinion, was simply – it was Kristen Bell.” (Don’t forget to catch Penn on TopMob News, airing tonight, April 21, at 11 p.m.)

Actually, it’s because of this that Penn is open to working with his Gossip Girl co-star once more on a fresh venture, but under one condition. After providing a voiceover for her series Nobody Wants This, he has a particular requirement for the collaboration.

He clarified that she is the one he’d like to collaborate with, but in a romantic comedy setting, it’s not the kind of relationship he seeks.

Currently, the main priority at Penn is readying the premiere of the fifth and concluding season of You, set to air on Netflix starting from April 24th.

It’s worth mentioning that the installment, featuring Anna Camp as twins Maddie and Reagan Lockwood, Charlotte Ritchie as Kate Lockwood-Goldberg, Tati Gabrielle as Marienne Bellamy, and Griffin Matthews as Teddy Lockwood, brings a much-anticipated layer of complexity to his character.

As a lifestyle connoisseur, I’d put it this way: “I, myself, am just Joe on the outside, but delving deeper into who he truly is is what we’re all about. It’s like taking apart a complex machine to understand its workings, and that journey is incredibly rewarding.

For more behind-the-scenes tea on the cast of Gossip Girl, read on…

Spotted: Leighton Meester and Ed Westwick delivering major chemistry. 

The last scene of the pilot, where Ed’s rebellious character Chuck Bass and Leighton’s character Blair Waldorf watched as Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively), their former friend, left a party with Dan (Penn Badgley) and Jenny Humphrey (Taylor Momsen) – this moment sparked the idea in co-creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage to develop the famous couple.

In his own words, Josh described the moment as having an instant, undeniable charm and playfulness that was palpable. He went on to say that this is where their connection truly took root for the first time.

Stephanie remarked, “Watching it felt like an enlightening experience.” She went on to say, “It was reminiscent of ‘Dangerous Liaisons.’ Just like Valmont and Merteuil, they share a love-hate relationship and devise plots together. That story was so intriguing to delve into.

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

He enthusiastically shared to his former co-star, Jessica Szohr, on her podcast XOXO with Jessica Szohr in February 2022, that he had a fantastic experience working with Leighton. Many found their relationship intriguing, and it holds significant value for many people, which is both adorable and amusing.

Concerning his genuine relationship with Leighton, he shared with Jessica, who portrayed Dan’s childhood best friend turned something more (Vanessa Abrams), “She’s an exceptional artist. I deeply miss her. We had fantastic chemistry, and we would often make each other laugh. At times, I even felt a sense of protection towards her. Yes, she likely helped bring out the best in me.

Ed and co-actor Chace Crawford, who portrayed Ed’s on-screen best friend, the privileged character Nate Archibald, grew particularly close as they resided together during the initial two years of filming.

On the TV show XOXO, Ed shared that Chace suggested they cohabit from the start, with him saying something like, “Would you prefer sharing a place?” At that time, Ed had never resided anywhere other than his parents’ home, and he responded casually, “Sure, why not?

The British actor shared, “He inspected some areas and then sent me peculiar images. It seemed to be a section of a ceiling with a bit of floor included. I chuckled at this point, saying, ‘Alright, alright, whatever you say! Looks good to me!’ And that’s how we cohabited for the initial two years.

The role of Serena, which eventually was given to Blake, was also attempted by none less than Jennifer Lawrence during the auditions.

As a lifestyle expert looking back, I hadn’t initially realized this, but Jennifer Lawrence harbored a deep desire to embody the character of Serena and even dared to audition for the role. Josh, one of the co-creators, shared this intriguing tidbit with Vulture in 2017. The story wasn’t firsthand knowledge for us, but we were informed that she absolutely gave it her all during the audition process and was genuinely disappointed when she didn’t land the part.

During his audition for the character of Brooklyn’s “Lonely Boy” Dan, Penn sported a long hairstyle, often described as resembling that of a snowboarder. However, to everyone’s surprise, including the production team and executives, he decided to get a drastic haircut on his first day of shooting, cutting off most of his locks.

Josh reminisced, “Everyone exclaimed, ‘What’s going on? He shaved his head!’ But once they got a look at his fresh style, they all chimed in, ‘Wow, he looks great.’

It’s tough to imagine how Gossip Girl would have turned out if Taylor Momsen hadn’t been a part of it. Surprisingly, Lily Collins was almost cast as Dan Humphrey’s enthusiastic-to-belong little sister. In an interview with Glamour, the actress from Emily in Paris revealed that she went through the entire audition process, expressing her regret by saying, “I wanted it so much.

David Rapaport, the casting director for “Gossip Girl,” shared some inside details about the upcoming “Gossip Girl” spinoff focusing on Lily van der Woodsen (Kelly Rutherford), Serena’s mom. The pilot featured Brittany Snow and Krysten Ritter in lead roles.

He recollected on XOXO how Dakota Johnson and Rooney Mara, along with several other women who later became famous, walked in. At the time, they weren’t as well-known as they are now. However, he mentioned that one performance stood out among all auditions, and since you’re friends with Nina Dobrev, I should tell you about it because it was one of the best auditions I’ve ever witnessed, and she nailed that specific role exceptionally well.

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

The problem, as it turned out in the podcast discussion, was that she didn’t resemble Kelly Rutherford, as they had intended her character to portray a younger version of Kelly Rutherford.

However, he emphasized to the network that they should continue monitoring the Degrassi: The Next Generation actress, “‘and you all should find something for her,'” he recounted. “I distinctly remember thinking, ‘In a few years, I’ll look back and regret not having pursued this girl. She was so remarkable!’

On the XOXO podcast in 2022, Ed mentioned that Chuck Bass’s character was initially intended to appear as a recurring role for just a handful of episodes.

As a devoted follower, I consider myself fortunate that the influential figure played an expanded role in our show. Regarding my audition journey, I managed to bypass one of the screening stages since I didn’t need to audition like a regular series character. Instead, I underwent two auditions and a screen test, but I was spared from the network-level testing process.

Is this an instance where they first met in a charming or unexpected way, similar to the storyline of “Gossip Girl”? Josh and Stephanie knew that they had discovered their Vanessa when Adam Brody, whom they previously worked with on “The O.C.”, introduced her as a guest at their Fourth of July pool party.

Stephanie shared during an episode of XOXO that she and Josh quickly dashed to a computer (since iPhones hadn’t been introduced yet) and searched for Jessica online to find out if she was an actress.

As Josh explains, the process of hiring Ed was quite complex. Initially, Ed had tried out for the character of Nate, but that role later seemed destined for another actor. Interestingly enough, even the part of Chuck, which eventually went to Ed, had almost been given to someone else as well.

In Josh’s words during an episode of XOXO with Jessica Szohr, he mentioned that he was chosen for the role of Chuck but couldn’t secure his visa in time to film in the U.S., as he is a British citizen. The network was putting pressure on him to replace the character instead.

Josh recalled that as they drew nearer to the pilot’s start, they were informed by the team, ‘You guys should determine who your alternate Chuck will be since we’re not confident this will succeed.’ To which they responded, ‘There is no alternate Chuck, it’s always Ed.’

The network held off making any decisions regarding Chuck’s casting while they awaited approval of Ed’s visa, as both Josh and Stephanie were firm about wanting him for the role.

As a devoted fan, I was thrilled to learn that Kristen Bell was strongly considered for the voice of Gossip Girl. Interestingly enough, both Christina Ricci and Selma Blair were also under consideration, making it a highly competitive race, as shared by Stephanie – who served as the show’s executive producer.

Eventually, Kristen landed the role following the cancellation of “Veronica Mars” – a show where she provided the voiceover for its main character – after it concluded its run in three seasons.

Read More

2025-04-22 05:19