“Gossip Girl” epitomized the dramatic and decadent lifestyles of privileged Upper East Side teens against a New York City backdrop, but that all might’ve been lost had the show filmed in ― gasp! ― Canada.
“Josh [Schwartz] and Stephanie [Savage] refused to do the show in Toronto,” Blake Lively revealed to Variety about the proposed film location. “They said, ‘No, New York City is the star of the show.’ And so they fought for it to be made in New York. If we would have been in Toronto, I don’t know if we would have made it past our first episode ... We were always in the coolest new spots. It was almost like a city guide as well as a fun show to watch. We were one of the first people to be at ‘Sleep No More.’”
A fake Manhattan set?! Perish the thought.
“Gossip Girl” creator Schwartz discussed how important Manhattan was for the storyline in a 2007 interview with The New York Times, explaining how he pushed for the location despite the additional costs shooting there would entail.
“I fought really hard to shoot the show in New York because we want New York to be a character in the show,” he said. “In my mind, there really hasn’t been a show that has that opulence and that wealth and that setting since the days of ‘Dynasty’ and ‘Dallas.’”
When asked about the possibility of a reboot, Lively told Variety she’s on the fence about resuming her role as Serena van der Woodsen.
“It sort of all depends,” she told Variety. “Would I do seven years of the show? No, because it’s hard work and I’ve got my babies, and I don’t want to be away from them that much. But I’ve just learned in life you never say never. I’m looking to do something that I haven’t done yet, not something that I did. But would I do that? Who knows — if it was good, if it made sense. We had so much fun shooting and living and working in New York City.”
But you’re saying there’s a chance?
Before You Go
