The new 'Gossip Girl' has found its squad

Gossip Girl and her uncanny insight into the scandalous lives of Manhattan’s elite are returning to screens thanks to HBO Max’s upcoming remake of the generation-defining series, and now there’s finally a cast in place to get excited about.The reboot — which producers are hailing as more of a “continuation,” leaving the door open for the OG cast to appear — picks up with five new characters at the Constance Billard School for Girls. While details about these new characters remain vague (Gossip Girl would approve), the casting has finally been sorted out.According to The Hollywood Reporter, HBO Max has closed a deal with Emily Alyn Lind (Code Black, Revenge) to play Audrey, a girl in a long-term relationship who wonders what else is out there. She'll be joined by Whitney Peak (The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Eli Brown (Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists), Johnathan Fernandez (Lethal Weapon) and Broadway vet Jason Gotay for the upcoming 10-part series. So for those keeping track, that's a whole bunch of fanbases that will be represented in this hot new take.[video_embed id='1913176']MORE TV NEWS: 'Judge Judy' will bang her gavel for the last time in 2021[/video_embed]And representation is a key word here. It’s been more than a decade since the original series debuted, and a lot has changed in the realm of diversity and queer representation on TV. This crew is already more diverse than the original cast, but the storylines that are being developed are also rumoured to be a bit more sexually woke. That’s an improvement for fans of the original who were disappointed that Dan’s storyline from the book, in which he experimented with a gay relationship, was dropped. Eric van der Woodsen (Connor Paolo) was the only major LGBTQ character in the six-season run.

 

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Here for the receipts.

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“It's just a new look at this particular society in New York, the idea being that society changes constantly,” the new showrunner, Josh Safran (Quantico) told The Hollywood Reporter when the series was announced. “So how has this world changed, how has social media and its effect changed? All of those things allow us to look at the world 12 years on [from the original's debut] as opposed to just redoing the story. None of us are interested in just redoing a story.”The creative also teased “a twist” at the centre of the new series that fans won’t see coming. He told TVLine that the 2.0 version would feature “non-white leads” and “a lot of queer content,” adding that the new show is “very much dealing with the way the world looks now, where wealth and privilege come from, and how you handle that.”Plus, Blair, Serena and the rest of the original characters still very much exist in this world. While Blake Lively and Leighton Meester haven’t reached out to participate just yet, Safron also told TVLine that they’re more than welcome to stop by. The good news for fans though is that Gossip Girl herself, Kristen Bell, is on board with plenty of xoxos. She’ll once again provide the voice for the mysterious character, who may or may not actually be a Lonely Boy.The series comes to HBO Max, along with a slew of others (and the anticipated Friends revival), sometime after the new streaming services debuts in May.[video_embed id='-1']Before you go: Pup carrying a giant stick determined to bring it into the dog park[/video_embed]