Hey Upper East Siders, The 'Gossip Girl' Reboot Cast Is Here

If you've heard news about a Gossip Girl reboot, it's not just a rumor spread by some faceless blogger. Nearly eight years after the hit CW show came to a close, it's actually being brought back to life, with a whole new cast and network this time around. HBO Max has announced new members of the Gossip Girl reboot cast, and the ensemble will definitely get you even more pumped to revisit the Upper East Side.

On March 2, Emily Alyn Lind, Eli Brown, Whitney Peak, Johnathan Fernandez, and Jason Gotay were the first-announced cast members. Lind, Brown, and Peak will reportedly be the series' leads. Lind, who previously appeared on Code Black and Doctor Sleep, will play Audrey, who will be questioning her long-term relationship at the beginning of the series, according to Entertainment Weekly. Few other details have been released about the characters or their storylines, but you may already know Brown from his role as Dylan Walker in Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. Peak may also be a familiar face, since she recently appeared as Judith Blackwood in Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Part 3.

Gotay and Fernandez, however, might be slightly less familiar faces. Gotay is best known in the theater world, while Fernandez is a an actor and comedian, and was in the FOX action series Lethal Weapon.

On March 11, further casting announcements were made: Tavi Gevinson, Thomas Doherty, Adam Chanler-Berat, and Zion Moreno also joined the upcoming series. Gevinson has previously starred on Scream Queens, Doherty was recently on Hulu's High Fidelity, Chanler-Berat is best known from Broadway, and Moreno previously appeared on TNT's Claws. The details of their characters have not yet been released.

Describing the ethos of the spinoff, executive producer Joshua Safran explained at Vulture Festival in November: "There was not a lot of representation the first time around on the show. ... So, this time around the leads are nonwhite," he said, adding: "There’s a lot of queer content on this show."

Because the reboot is a continuation of the original Gossip Girl series (inspired by the books from Cecily von Ziegesar) these newbies won't play the original show's characters like Serena van der Woodsen, Blair Waldorf, Dan Humphrey, or Chuck Bass. Instead, they'll play brand-new characters, which not only allows the series to tell brand-new stories, but also opens up the opportunity for original stars like Blake Lively and Leighton Meester to possibly reprise their old roles in some capacity, which the creators said they'd like to happen.

“We've reached out to all of them to let them know it was happening and we'd love for them to be involved if they want to be involved, but certainly didn't want to make it contingent upon [that],” executive producer Josh Schwartz said at the Television Critics Association summer press tour, according to Entertainment Tonight. Nonetheless, there will be at least one original returning: Kristen Bell, who will once again serve as the iconic narrator.

The spinoff will have 10 episodes in its first season, and will take place eight years after the original Gossip Girl website was shut down, aka in present day. The episodes will follow teens in today's prestigious New York private school system as they face new methods of social surveillance and show just how much social media — and the city itself — has changed since the original series.

There's still no word when the reboot will air, so fans should be on high alert for an official Gossip Girl blast — I mean, announcement from HBO Max — at any moment.

Editor’s Note: This article was updated to include the announcement of Gevinson, Doherty, Chanler-Berat, and Moreno as cast members.