Joshua Safran, the creator of HBO Max's Gossip Girl reboot, admits there was a good chance the series wouldn't have happened without the involvement of Kristen Bell. The original Gossip Girl ran for 6 seasons on The CW and, during that time, reigned as one of the biggest teen shows on air. Even now, nearly ten years after it came to an end, it continues to be a part of the cultural conversation for its scandalous plots, varied couples, and the controversial final reveal of Gossip Girl's true identity. Now, the series is being rebooted for a brand new generation on HBO Max, featuring a diverse new cast and another anonymous blogger ready to spill their secrets.
Though the rebooted Gossip Girl takes place in the same world where Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) and Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester) once ruled from the steps of the Met, none of the original cast members will be making appearances in the first season. Instead, new characters like Audrey Hope (Emily Alyn Lind) and Kate Keller (Tavi Gevinson) will populate the Upper East Side. However, there is one familiar face - or better yet, voice - who has returned: Kristen Bell, who narrates the series as Gossip Girl.
While speaking about the Gossip Girl reboot with The Wrap, Safran revealed that getting Bell involved was vital. "There was never a question for us to not have Kristen," he said. Though the original GG was unmasked in the series finale, there's a brand new blogger around, and for the show's creators, it was only fitting that Bell continue to voice him/her/them. Safran explained:
“And I think, if anything, if she hadn’t wanted to return, I think we would have thought long and hard about whether we should either. Like, I think Josh [Schwartz] and Stephanie [Savage] felt at a certain point, if we’re going to do this again, we should do it with Josh Safran. And then I felt, as did they, that if the three of us were going to do it again, we needed to do it with Kristen. I just don’t think it would have worked with anyone else. And it was so early on that it could have gone away, if Kristen had been like, ‘You know what, I don’t want to revisit that.’ We reached out to her before it was even close to going to ensure that she would be as interested as we were.”
Bell put in an onscreen cameo for the Gossip Girl series finale, but for the most part, her role was kept entirely to voiceover. Though HBO Max's iteration of the show is far different than the original, it's fitting that Bell be the one piece that remains a part of the next generation. Even those with only a passing knowledge of the first Gossip Girl can likely recall Bell's coy voice as she addressed the Upper East Siders, and putting someone else in the role of the titular figure would feel wrong.
Considering how the ending reveal that Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley) was Gossip Girl all along didn't win over many fans, hopefully the reboot will be more careful in picking a new culprit. In fact, Gossip Girl has the chance to fix a lot of issues that popped up within the original, from its lack of diversity to some of the more questionable relationship developments. One thing is certain, though: Bell's omniscient narrator will preside over it all, and it's bound to be juicy.
Gossip Girl premieres on HBO Max Thursday, July 8.
Source: The Wrap