The Gossip Girl remake emphasized how indispensable the original was. Based on the same-named novel by Cecily von Ziegesar, Gossip Girl lasted from 2007 to 2012 and permanently changed things.

It provided us with memorable moments, fierce fashion, and a ton of drama while introducing viewers to the lives of an affluent clique of teenagers residing on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

Related:Blake Lively And Penn Badgley Didn't Tell Anyone From The Gossip Girl Cast That They Had Broken Up

Gossip Girl couldn't have possibly been any other way, yet strangely, things had almost turned out quite differently. Several well-known and beloved actors and actresses attended the show's casting call, and some of those chosen initially were meant to play different roles. We should warn you, trying to picture it might give some, a headache; xoxo The Things.

8 Was Jennifer Lawrence Supposed To Play Serena Van Der Woodsen On Gossip Girl?

What Jennifer Lawrence Has Said About Being A New Mom
via: Instar

It's nearly impossible to think of anyone but the amazingly beautiful and talented Blake Lively playing Serena on Gossip Girl, but a lot of other actresses tried out for the part. According to creator Josh Schwartz, another very famous face almost stole this role.

As hard as it is to imagine, Jennifer Lawrence really wanted to play Serena on Gossip Girl. At the age of 16 then, she sent in her tape, and was devastated when she didn't make it. Luckily for her, though, that left her open to take the place of her sister Primrose as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games; clearly a career-defining role for the actress.

This is a little mind-blowing, but originally, Rumor Willis was slated to play Serena van der Woodsen. It's not just us; Rumor herself was shocked as well. While Bruce Willis' daughter tried out for the role, she thought it went very poorly.

She seriously couldn't believe she was even in the running. Rumor, with her sisters Scout and Tallulah were thrilled that the books they loved so dearly were being made into a series. Rumor knew she had to at least attempt to play one of her favorite characters. Surprised and honored that she made the final cut, she also has said she thinks Blake and Leighton did an amazing job with it.

7 Was Ashley Olsen Originally Pitched To Play Blair Waldorf On Gossip Girl?

Ashley Olsen
Instar

Leighton Meester has just the right amount of sass to make the role of Blair Waldorf really shine. However, Ashley Olsen of the famous Olsen twins was actually who got pitched to play this part, said, director David Rappaport.

From a creative perspective, though, they eventually went with lesser-known actors for every role. It tends to make us really fall in love with characters when we only see them as one person, like Leighton Meester just was Blair Waldorf and Blake Lively just as Serena Van der Woodsen.

Blake, of course, went on to play many other excellent roles, but for those six seasons, all we saw were upper east siders.

6 Did Lily Collins Almost Play Jenny Humphrey On Gossip Girl?

Lily Collins looking concerned as'Emily Cooper in 'Emily in Paris', wearing a pink silk scarf.
via: Netflix

Before Emily in Paris and To the Bone, a young Lily Collins auditioned to play Jenny Humphrey in the first season of Gossip Girl. The actress recounted taking a screen test when she was just 17 years old, and how surreal it felt driving on the set of Warner Brothers Studios.

Collins wanted the role so badly, but it ended up going to Taylor Momsen. Lily didn't give up there, though. She went on to appear in The Blind Side, Abduction, Mirror, Mirror, and, of course, Emily in Paris. The latter being hugely successful with her in the lead role.

5 Was Mischa Barton Supposed To Play Georgina Sparks In Gossip Girl?

Mischa Barton ‘The Hills_ New Beginnings’

Mischa Barton was written off the hit show, The O.C. in 2006. Shortly after, she was approached to take on the role of Georgina Sparks. If you recall, Georgina was Serena's long-time, devious friend. The role ended up going to Michelle Trachtenberg, who nailed it.

Mischa was going through some very personal issues at the time, and while initially, she was going to take on the role, her rep then stepped in and confirmed she would not be taking it.

4 Was Chuck Bass's Girlfriend Almost Played By Greta Gerwig?

Greta Gerwig
via IndieWire

In season 4 of Gossip Girl, Chuck Bass was dating the character, Eva Coupeau, who was eventually played by Clemence Posey. Greta Gerwig tried out for that part, too. She really wanted the part, and she said, she wished they wanted her. She had her fair share of auditions where she tried to look a certain way or act a certain way to be what others wanted.

Related:Everything Michelle Trachtenberg Has Done Since Gossip Girl's Finale (Including Joining The HBO Reboot)

In the long run, it wasn't very productive for her. Just being herself has proven to be more than good enough in helping her succeed. Greta Gerwig is mostly known for her amazing work writing and directing Ladybird and Little Women. Currently, she is working with Margot Robbie on the set of the Barbie movie.

3 Penn Badgley Originally Tried Out For The Role Of Chuck Bass

Penn Badgley as Joe in You on Netflix
via Vogue/Netflix

Can you imagine puny little Dan Humphrey portraying Chuck Bass? It almost went that way! Ok, not almost, they did not even consider Penn for the strong and dominating role of Chuck Bass. They did offer him Dan Humphrey, though, and Badgley turned it down at first.

Related:What Gossip Girl Stars Penn Badgley And Chace Crawford Really Think About Their Time On The Show

He was depressed and broke and didn't get the role he wanted, so initially, he didn't want to be a part of it at all. In fact, he didn't even want to put himself out there at all anymore. He was applying to be a server instead.

After the creative team went through all the Dan auditions, they couldn't find anybody to fit the role and went back to Penn one last time. He finally said yes, and well, the rest is history.

2 Did Alden Ehrenreich Audition To Play Dan Humphrey On Gossip Girl?

Alden Ehrenreich
Instar

Alden Ehrenreich, who by the way has a mountain of new roles slated for 2023, actually auditioned for the role of, Dan Humphrey, but sadly producers thought he was too short to play him.

Coming in at just 5'9" the creative department wanted Dan to be taller. Alden had to settle for playing Han Solo instead. Who really won there?

1 Did Ed Westwick Audition For The Role Of Nate Archibald On Gossip Girl?

Our favorite protagonist, Chuck Bass, could have had a very different look. Ed Westwick went into Gossip Girl vying for the role of Nate Archibald. Producers thought he looked too much like a serial killer to play the preppy lacrosse player.

The producers absolutely adored Ed, though, and knew he would be perfect as Chuck. They were not wrong. Ed Westwick engulfed the role of Chuck Bass. It's hard to imagine it ever could have gone a different way.