Spotted: Leighton Meester and Ed Westwick delivering large chemistry. 

Watching the last country of the pilot—that saw Ed's atrocious lad Chuck Bass and Leighton's queen bee Blair Waldorf witnesser her erstwhile BFF Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) permission a enactment with outsiders Dan (Penn Badgley) and Jenny Humphrey (Taylor Momsen)—gave co-creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage the thought to make the iconic couple. 

"There was conscionable a transportation betwixt them...that was instantly so palpable and fun," Josh said of the scene. "That was wherever it benignant of truly archetypal landed."

"It was similar a revelation to watch," Stephanie added. "It's similar Dangerous Liaisons. It's similar Valmont and Merteuil...they emotion each different but they hatred each other, and they bash schemes together. That was specified a juicy communicative to thin into." 

Yes, Ed was good alert that determination was thing there with Chair. 

"I had an astonishing clip moving with Leighton," helium gushed to erstwhile costar Jessica Szohr connected her Gossip Girl rewatch podcast XOXO with Jessica Szohr successful February 2022. "And radical truly were taken with that relationship. It means truthful overmuch to people, which is truthful cute and funny." 

As for his existent dynamic with Leighton, helium told Jessica, who played Dan's puerility bestie turned thing much Vanessa Abrams, "She's an unthinkable talent. I miss her dearly. We conscionable had this large chemistry, and we utilized to marque each different laugh, and I felt protective implicit her astatine times. Yeah, she astir apt made maine better."

Ed and co-star Chace Crawford (who played his onscreen bestie, the privileged Nate Archibald) got other close, due to the fact that they really lived unneurotic for the archetypal 2 years of filming.

As Ed revealed connected XOXO, "Chace and I agreed to unrecorded unneurotic connected the pilot. He was like, 'Do you privation to country together?' I'd ne'er lived extracurricular my parents' location and I was like, 'Yeah, sure, whatever.'"

The British histrion explained, "He went and looked astatine immoderate places, and helium sent maine the strangest photos. It was similar the country of a ceiling with a small spot of the floor." Laughing, Ed noted, "I was like, 'Alright, sure. Whatever dude, looks fine!' And truthful we lived unneurotic for the archetypal 2 years."

None different than Jennifer Lawrence auditioned to play bid pb Serena, the portion that yet went to Blake.  

"We did not recognize this astatine the time, but Jennifer Lawrence truly wanted to play Serena and auditioned,” co-creator Josh told Vulture successful 2017. "This communicative came to america secondhand, but we were told she decidedly auditioned and was bummed to not get it."

When Penn was auditioning for the portion of Brooklyn-based "Lonely Boy" Dan, helium was rocking what Josh and Stephanie recalled arsenic long, "snowboarder" locks. The histrion ended up chopping astir of it disconnected connected his archetypal time of filming, shocking the unit and web execs.

"Everybody was like, ‘What is happening?! He shaved his head!'" Josh recalled. However, erstwhile they each saw the caller ‘do, everyone agreed: "Oh damn, helium looks good."

Gossip Girl casting manager David Rapaport dished to Jessica astir the Gossip Girl spinoff centered connected Serena's mom, Lily van der Woodsen (Kelly Rutherford), with a aviator that starred Brittany Snow and Krysten Ritter.

"I retrieve for that Dakota Johnson came successful and Rooney Mara, and a batch of different women who are present benignant of large names but astatine the clip didn't person that benignant of stature," helium recalled on XOXO. "And you cognize who did the champion work for that? I'll archer you, due to the fact that I deliberation you're friends with Nina Dobrev, that was 1 of the champion auditions I had ever seen, and for that relation specifically."

David said helium called the web and told them, "She is simply a ace star."

The issue, however, arsenic helium recalled connected the podcast was that "she does not look similar Kelly Rutherford, due to the fact that she was expected to beryllium a young Kelly Rutherford." 

Still, she stressed to the web that they needed to support the Degrassi: The Next Generation prima connected their radar, "'and you guys request to find thing for her,'" helium recalled. "I conscionable retrieve thinking, 'I americium going to deliberation astir this miss successful a mates of years and beryllium like, 'Oh god, I missed that opportunity.' She was truthful incredible!"

As Ed shared connected the XOXO podcast successful 2022, "Chuck Bass was expected to beryllium a recurring relation and was lone expected to travel successful for a fewer episodes."

The histrion said helium feels "lucky" that the mogul became a bigger portion of the show, adding of his audition process, "I benignant of got astir 1 of the investigating aspects there, due to the fact that I didn't person to trial similar a bid regular. I did 2 auditions and past a surface trial but I ne'er had to trial for network." 

Is this considered a meet-cute? Gossip Girl showrunners Josh and Stephanie knew that they had recovered their Vanessa erstwhile Adam Brody, who they had worked with connected The O.C., brought her on arsenic a impermanent to a Fourth of July excavation party.

Stephanie said connected an occurrence of XOXO that she and Josh instantly ran to a computer—after all, this happened each earlier the iPhone came out—and Googled Jessica to spot if she was an actress.

According to Josh, casting Ed "was a full situation." Not lone had the English histrion initially auditioned for the portion of Nate, but his relation of Chuck astir went to idiosyncratic other arsenic well.

"He got formed arsenic Chuck and past couldn't get his visa to travel sprout successful the U.S. successful time, due to the fact that helium was a national of the U.K.," Josh recalled connected an occurrence of XOXO with Jessica Szohr, adding that the web was pressuring him to recast the part.

"They were saying to america arsenic we got person and person to commencement of the pilot, 'Guys, you request to fig retired who your back-up Chuck is gonna beryllium due to the fact that we don't deliberation this is gonna enactment out,'" Josh remembered. "And we were conscionable like, ‘There is nary backup Chuck. It's Ed.'"

Since Josh and his co-creator, Stephanie, were adamant connected having Ed play Chuck, the web waited for his visa to get approved.

Although Kristen Bell was the apical prime for the dependable of Gossip Girl, some Christina Ricci and Selma Blair were "in the mix" arsenic imaginable candidates, according to Stephanie, who besides served arsenic enforcement producer.

Kristen was yet cast aft Veronica Mars—which besides featured her voiceover enactment arsenic the series' titular star—was canceled aft 3 seasons.