While many fans (myself included) rewatch Gossip Girl over and over again on Netflix, Badgley and Crawford have a hard time rewatching the series. In fact, the last time Badgley saw an episode was when he watched with his wife Domino Kirke before their wedding.
“I remember even then, it has nothing to do with the show, but it was very hard to watch,” he admitted. “These snapshots of yourself when you’re 20, 21, 22 years old. Who can enjoy that? Sometimes it’s just uncomfortable. ” Even so, Badgley and Crawford admitted it might be fun to rewatch an old episode and live-tweet together.
Dan and Nate are back together again! For Variety’s Actors on Actors series, Penn Badgley and Chace Crawford delighted Gossip Girl fans everywhere with a virtual reunion. In addition to discussing their latest roles on You and The Boys, respectively, they also reminisced about their time on the hit CW drama and the show’s lasting impact on fans today.
“People wanted to watch a show like Gossip Girl because it was aspirational. ”
“People wanted to watch a show like Gossip Girl because it was aspirational. It was like an escape. It seemed like it struck a certain cultural chord because it was this aspirational fantastical vision of excess and wealth,” Badgley said. “But now, cut to 13 years later, people are not interested in that. And I think rightfully so. Now they’re interested in deconstructing why we’re so fascinated with that in the first place. We’re interested in deconstructing those systems of privilege. I’m not saying that our television shows are doing that, but I’m saying that’s what people are more interested in, so therefore these shows reflect that. ”
Of course, one of the funniest parts of their interview was when Badgley brought up a gift he received from then-girlfriend Blake Lively: the very first iPhone. “I literally was like, ‘I don’t want this thing. It’s so cumbersome, and it has all these apps on it. ‘” Oh, how times have changed. Watch their cute reunion above.
