All the goss on the Gossip Girl castings

Our obsession with Gossip Girl and its beloved cast continues even three years after the show's finale. It’s hard to imagine that Blair Waldorf, Chuck Bass, Serena van der Woodsen or any of the original cast could be different, but the latest revelation by the show's casting director David Rapaport will both surprise and shock you.

‘I think the network initially pitched us Ashley Olsen and Rumer Willis for Blair and Serena,’ Rapaport revealed in a recent interview with Buzzfeed.

‘I love Rumer, she's grown into quite an amazing actress and person, but that, to me, was based on protecting the investment of a television show where creatively, these lesser-known girls really captured the essence of the show and carried it for six years.’

According to Rapaport, Blake Lively was originally too ‘sunny California’ and not sophisticated enough to suit her role as Serena, and Leighton didn’t have the right look to pull of Blair. To prove to CW network that they were the perfect pair for the roles, Blake straightened her hair and naturally blonde Leighton dyed hers brown!

‘Ultimately they were the best actors for it and brought something really special to their roles,’ Rapaport admitted. We couldn’t agree more!

But that’s not all he revealed…

Arrow actress and leg model of the Gossip Girl book covers, Katie Cassidy, was also in line for the role of Serena. Similarly, heartthrob Ed Westwick initially read for Nate, until he was flown over and chosen to take on Chuck’s role.