'Gossip Girl' Creator Explains Why Original Stars Don't Appear in HBO Max Series

The creator of the new Gossip Girl extension series is explaining why none of the lead stars of the original series will be appearing in the new version.

The HBO Max series’ creator Joshua Safran revealed that there will be some cameo appearances from minor characters from the original show, but you won’t be seeing characters like Serena or Nate or Blair.

Click inside to see what he said…

“The decision was: Let’s get season 1 under our belt, and should we get season 2, we’ll have the chance to bring in cameos that are more than glorified cameos but actually give them storylines,” Safran told The Daily Beast.

He added, “Hopefully we’ll get there and will reach out to the cast if that time comes and see if they’ll want to come. There are some cameos in season 1 from people on the original show, but not the series regulars.”

Safran talked about why he didn’t want to have the leads from the original show appear in the first season.

“The audience would never accept these [new] characters if they were in the shadow of the original characters. They’re already in the shadow of the original characters, but if the original characters were there with them in some way, why would you want to briefly get to know Zoya if you suddenly can see Nate?” he said.

He continued, “Also, this show is much bigger than the first show. It’s got 16 series regulars instead of seven, and 22 recurring instead of 12, so because the show is bigger, there isn’t enough screen time. If Blair showed up for two scenes, you’d say, ‘I want more Blair.’”

Watch the trailer for the revival series, which premieres on July 8.