The Stars of the ‘Gossip Girl’ Reboot Share the Biggest Differences From the Original

"It's about normalizing things that used to be different or taboo."

The debut of Gossip Girl 2.0 is fast approaching, and the Gen Z cast want to make it clear that though they were inspired by the original show, which ran from 2007 through 2012, this time, the gossip is fresh, the cast is diverse, and the drama is going to be a bit more gritty. Whitney Peak (who plays Zoya Lott in the upcoming reboot) Emily Alyn Lind (Audrey Hope), Evan Mock (Akeno “Aki” Menzies), and Jordan Alexander (Julien Calloway) spoke to Dazed about what has changed from one generation of Gossip Girl to the next.

Hints are sparse, as both cast and crew are trying to keep the show under wraps until the premiere, but Lind could confirm that the new Gossip Girl is much more focused on diversity on the whole in the new era.

“We’re making a series in 2020 and 2021,” she told Dazed in response to a question about the presence of queer relationships in the new series. “It’s really important for us to not just talk about these things but also express them as normal things that kids deal with. It shouldn’t be this new, exciting thing to talk about, it just exists. It’s about normalizing things that used to be different or taboo.”

“There’s a lot of representation, which I can’t say we saw a lot of in the first one.” Peak added. “It’s dope being able to see people who look like you and who are interested in the same things, and who happen to be in entertainment, because it’s so influential and obviously reflective of the times.”

Gender roles will also be more of a discussed and “dissected” topic, Lind said, noting that the trope of powerful women has carried over from the OG Gossip Girl to the reboot, but this time, “We’ll be exploring what it means to be a woman in this generation, and in general, exploring ideas that we didn’t before,” Lind said.

Peak added, “It’s also just humans being humans, doing what they wanna do instead of being fit into, ‘This is a man, this is what a man is supposed to do.’ I think it’s a pretty raw take on the kind of lives that we’re trying to portray on screen.”

And just as social media is dominated the lives of young people today, we’ll most likely be seeing a lot of how it impacts the characters in Gossip Girl, as well.

Despite the diversions from the first generation of Gossip Girl, one thing will definitely remain the same: the incredible fashion moments.

There’s a trademark style for everyone, Alexander told Dazed. It’s not just cool fashion, it’s something that reflects who the characters are.

It’s not going to be the same Gossip Girl of the 2000s, but wow, this version is going to be good.

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