Cast and characters

The ensemble cast of Gossip Girl features nine regular speaking roles and was gathered from February to April 2007. For the television adaptation, the creators initially chose Serena van der Woodsen, Blair Waldorf, Dan Humphrey, Nate Archibald, Jenny Humphrey, Chuck Bass, Lily van der Woodsen, Rufus Humphrey to be the main focus of the series. Blake Lively and Leighton Meester were the first two actresses to be chosen in February for the lead roles of Serena van der Woodsen and Blair Waldorf, respectively Penn Badgley, Chace Crawford, Taylor Momsen, Kelly Rutherford, Connor Paolo and Florencia Lozano were cast as Dan Humphrey, Nate Archibald, Jenny Humphrey, Lily van der Woodsen, Eric Van der Woodsen, and the original Eleanor Waldorf, respectively. In April, Ed Westwick andMatthew Settle were cast as Chuck Bass and Rufus Humphrey. On May 17, 2007, it was revealed that Kristen Bell narrates the series as Gossip Girl. During the Writers' Strike, Jessica Szohr, who joined the series as a recurring guest star in September 2007 was moved to the main cast midseason as Vanessa Abrams. Michelle Trachtenberg who guest stars as Georgina Sparks, the primary antagonist of season one, returned for the end of season two and will back in season three for three episodes.