Image Source: TheThings, Teen Vogue, Grazia

Jessica Szohr who played Vanessa Abrams in Gossip Girl has been spilling all the tea about the show with the cast and crew in her new podcast titled 'XOXO'.

This week Jessica Szohr invited casting director David Rapaport along with Ed Westwick who played Chuck Bass on the show. David in the conversation revealed that the audience could have seen Jennifer Lawrence as Serena Van Der Woodsen but eventually, it was Blake Lively who was finalized for the ‘IT’ girl role. (Can you imagine Jennifer as Serena?)

Coming to Ed Westwick's revelations about the show, he whose iconic character of Chuck Bass was one of the most loved characters on the show even though he was not always a positive character. Chuck was also the love interest for actress Leighton Meester’s character, Blair Waldorf and the actor shared that both of them had an amazing time on-screen and they shared great chemistry on-screen. Ed shared, "I had an amazing time working with Leighton. And people really were taken with that relationship. It means so much to people, which is so cute and funny. She's an incredible talent. I miss her dearly. We just had this great chemistry, and we used to make each other laugh and I felt protective over her at times. Yeah, she probably made me better."

Chuck and Blair in no time became one of the most loved couples on the show and the audience kept rooting for them until they got married at the end of the show. It was also revealed by the creators of the previous episode of the XOXO podcast, that the storyline of Chuck and Blair only happened because of the chemistry between the two actors.

Ed Westwick shared that he and Leighton Meester shared 'great chemistry' on-screen. Image Source: Opentapes 

Josh had mentioned, "There was just a connection between them...that was immediately so palpable and fun. That was where it kind of really first landed." Stephanie added, "It was like a revelation to watch. It's like Dangerous Liaisons. It's like Valmont and Merteuil...they love each other but they hate each other, and they do schemes together. That was such a juicy story to lean into." 

The cast and crew of Gossip Girl have mentioned at times that they are incredibly grateful for the love and support the audience has shown and still shows to the series. Ed recalled, "We were all very lucky, and I think we realized we were lucky. We realized how amazing this ride was. I mean, goddamn… It's nice to reminisce."

Ed Westwick’s Chuck Bass was best friends with Chace Crawford’s character Nate Archibald on-screen and off-screen Ed and Chace were roommates. The actor mentioned in February, "Chace and I agreed to live together on the pilot. He was like, 'Do you want to room together?' I'd never lived outside my parents' house and I was like, 'Yeah, sure, whatever.' He went and looked at some places, and he sent me the strangest photos. It was like the corner of a ceiling with a little bit of the floor. I was like, 'Alright, sure. Whatever dude, looks fine!' And so we lived together for the first two years."

Ed Westwick and Chace Crawford lived together for the first two years of Gossip Girl. Image Source: Pinterest 

Ed Westwick also shared that Chuck Bass was supposed to be a reoccurring role and was supposed to appear in some episodes but eventually became a series regular and a huge part of the show. It was previously told that the makers only wanted Ed Westwick for the role of Chuck Bass and the fact that his acting was appreciated and his storyline grew to be one of the iconic ones on the show speaks a lot by itself. Ed mentioned, "I kind of got around one of the testing aspects there because I didn't have to test like a series regular. I did two auditions and then a screen test but I never had to test for the network."

The casting director David Rapaport revealed about the spinoff series of the show which highly centered Serena Van Der Woodsen’s mother with Brittany Snow and Krysten Ritter shared with the host and guest, "I remember for that Dakota Johnson came in and Rooney Mara and a lot of other women who are now kind of big names but at the time didn't have that kind of stature. And you know who did the best read for that? I'll tell you because I think you're friends with Nina Dobrev, that was one of the best auditions I had ever seen, and for that role specifically."

The spinoff series 'Valley Girls' was entered around Kelly Rutherford's Lily van der Woodsen character. Image Source: US Weekly 

Talking about Nina Dobrev, David recalled, "She does not look like Kelly Rutherford, (Kelly Rutherford played Lily van der Woodsen on the original show) because she was supposed to be a young Kelly Rutherford, so I don't know how we would cast her, but she needs to be on your radar and you guys need to find something for her. I just remember thinking, 'I am going to think about this girl in a couple of years and be like, 'Oh god, I missed that opportunity.' She was so incredible!"

Although the spinoff show was never picked up, fans have been gushing over Ed's statement of having great chemistry with Leighton and missing her and working with her. Their couple was not the one people started rooting for in the initial episodes but eventually they did. Ed Westwick will soon be seen in 'Wolves of War' and 'Deep Fear' where as Leighton Meester can be currently seen on 'How I Met Your Father' and is gearing up for 'The Weekend Away.