Almost ten years have passed, but New York City stays the same. Season 2 of the 2021 revival of Gossip Girl is coming back to HBO Max sooner than we thought. Taking place nearly a decade after the events of the original Gossip Girl series, a new group of students reigns supreme within the Constance Billiard and the Upper East Side.
Just like its predecessor, these privileged private schoolers are constantly documented by the new Gossip Girl. Add social media into the mix, and you have yourselves an explosive mix of teen drama and disaster. Goes to show that no matter how far up high you are in the upper echelons of New York City, you can never escape the watchful eye of Gossip Girl.
Season 2 of Gossip Girl is set to premiere on HBO Max on December 1, 2022. In the meantime, check out the show’s cast and character guide. P.s. Someone from the original Gossip Girl series is going to create some sparks in the new season.
The Students
Jordan Alexander as Julien Calloway
Jordan Alexander plays Julien Calloway, Constance Billard’s ultimate “it girl” and queen bee. Julien has always had an easy life – her dad is a music mogul and record producer with exclusive access to celebrities, exposing Julien to the glamorous spotlight from an early age. Despite being surrounded by wealth, she never had a motherly presence around her. Her mother, Marion, left Julien and her father for Nick Lott. Marion eventually died from Lupus when giving birth to Julien’s younger half-sister, Zoya Lott.
Today, Julien’s an uber-famous influencer on Instagram and an aspiring model. With the help of her two tech-savvy and equally stylish besties, Julien’s social media presence is off the charts. But with millions of followers comes a set of responsibilities. Despite being highly intelligent and benevolent at times, Julien’s vanity and arrogance can get the best of her sometimes. It’s up to her to decide what matters more in her life – her friends or her followers.
Alexander is a Canadian actress who took on the role of Elsie/Maya in the second season of Sacred Lies: The Singing Bones. She’s also a singer-songwriter, releasing her debut album The Lonely Hearts Club in 2018.
Whitney Peak as Zoya Lott
Whitney Peak plays Zoya Lott, a freshman at Constance Billard who’s studying on a scholarship and Julien’s half-sister. After Julien tracked Zoya on social media, Julien persuaded her long-lost sibling to move to Manhattan and go to the same school with her. Hoping to get to know her sister even better, Zoya agrees with Julien’s plan and now lives in the Upper West Side with her father Nick Lott. With her “I couldn’t care less” attitude, not everyone at Constance is a fan of Zoya’s newcomer status, especially Julien’s posse. As her relationship with Julien grows rocker, Zoya unwillingly finds herself downward spiraling into her complicated new life in Manhattan.
Her humble beginnings lay a strong foundation for the independent and outspoken Zoya. Never to shy away from her beliefs and activism, Zoya doesn’t shy away from commenting or two regarding her classmates’ privileged entitlement, civil rights, and social liberties. But that doesn’t mean Zoya isn’t swayed from time to time. The aspiring playwright can sometimes be blinded by the glimmering lights and shallowness of the Upper East Side.
Before this project, Peak was featured in Aaron Sorkin’s directorial debut Molly’s Game, and Season 2 of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
Eli Brown as Otto « Obie » Bergmann IV
Eli Brown plays Otto “Obie” Bergmann IV, arguably the richest student in all of Constance. The precious son of a highly successful real estate mogul, Obie does not share his mother’s business aspirations. He’s guilty of the wealth that isn’t rightfully his, and with his immense privilege, Obie turns to political and sociopolitical activism instead – even if it means going against his parents’ Hilton-level property group. Instead of attending glamorous sky bar parties, he can be found volunteering at the nearest charity.
Despite self-proclaiming that he hates the rich, he’s still doing very well for himself. Obie lives by himself in a Dumbo Loft, and wouldn’t think twice before spending tons of cash to buy lavish gifts for his loved ones. He tries to rub his penchant for social justice on his friends, including Zoya and Julien – although not all of them are on the same boat as his ideals.
Brown was previously featured in Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists, as well as Run Hide Fight.
Thomas Doherty as Max Wolfe
Thomas Doherty plays Max Wolfe, the playboy of the group who can never say no to a party. The son of a theater impresario and a landscaper, his millionaire parents grant Max the luxury of being his most hedonistic self – jumping from one club to another on school nights, and going so far as to experiment with drugs and alcohol. Although he tries to keep his substance usage under careful precision to get a maximum kick out of them, in stressful situations, he develops a stronger reliance on them and ends up abusing them.
Max is very comfortable with his non-conforming sexuality and develops feelings for not just Audrey, but Aki as well. Despite being childhood friends with the rest of his group, Max tends to keep things to himself and lives in his little bubble. He tends to only be close to people who benefit him and is not afraid to throw sharp critiques at anybody getting in his way. Whatever Max wants, he gets.
Hailing from Scotland, Doherty is well known for playing Harry Hook in The Descendants film franchise and also Sean Matthews in The Lodge.
Emily Alyn Lind as Audrey Hope
Emily Alyn Lind plays Audrey Hope, the daughter of Katherine Hope, the fashion designer of a luxury athletics wear brand who’s having a difficult time coping with her divorce. Unlike her mother’s Lululemon aesthetic, Audrey exudes grace and class – complete with her manicured French tips and a book to read during her spare time. Even though she has a rough life at home, she has her best friend Julien and her high school boyfriend Aki to count on. But when Audrey starts having feelings for more than one person, things get even more complicated.
Audrey is the epitome of perfectionism, which explains her icy demeanor. Although she’s not as outspoken or social media savvy as the rest of the group, she’s very calculating on the inside. Things have to go her way, otherwise, she loses all the poise and manners she’s built up to hide her troubled home life.
Lind had her first taste of the film industry with her work in The Secret Life of Bees. As for TV, she’s made her debut in an episode of Days of Our Lives.
Evan Mock as Akeno « Aki » Menzies
Evan Mock plays Akeno “Aki” Menzies, the movie enthusiast who’s always carrying his skateboard at school. The youngest son of a right-wing media mogul, with a penthouse in a Park Avenue tower, Aki is surprisingly on the shyer side. Aki is Obie’s closest confidante and Audrey’s boyfriend. However, things take a twist when Aki has a realization about himself.
He may not be as socially aware as Obie, but Aki welcomes new faces and tries to be understanding of other people’s perspectives and circumstances. Given the nickname “Dr. Menzies”, Aki is the one person in the friend group whom you can depend on for objective advice – even if that advice is something that you don’t want to hear.
Before acting, Mock made a name for himself in the skateboarding and modeling world. Gossip Girl marks Mock’s TV debut.
Zión Moreno as Luna La
Zión Moreno plays Luna La, a student at Constance and one of Julien’s loyal devotees. With a passion for all things fashion, Luna is super aware of what’s hot and what’s not. She always has her iPhone in hand to share fashion tips and take cute pics for Julien’s social media. Hailing from Mexico City, Luna is the daughter of a famous director-actress duo. While her parents travel the world to make movies, she lives by herself in New York.
Luna doesn’t proclaim herself to be a “mean girl”, but her actions say otherwise. She’s deadset on making Julien famous in the hopes that she will succeed as well – even if that means going to extreme lengths just to get rid of anyone standing in their way, including Zoya. She barely gives a side eye to anyone below her social status, and always has more respect for the stronger power reigning over the school.
Moreno’s screen debut was in the 2019 surrealist film K-12. She’s also been featured in the Mexican Netflix teen show Control Z, starring as Isabela de la Fuente.
Savannah Lee Smith as Monet de Haan
Savannah Lee Smith plays Monet de Haan, another devotee of Julien’s and her official PR person. Unlike Julien, Money is power-hungry and isn’t shy to rule Constance with an iron fist. An heiress to old New York money, Money is the scarily smart daughter of pharmaceutical moguls – her parents are so rich, they donated a wing to the school. But Monet doesn’t plan on continuing her parents’ biotech pursuits, and would rather become Julien’s agent to secure her future on her terms.
If Julien is the Queen Bee, then Monet is the princess. But this princess isn’t satisfied with her position. Despite being loyal to Julien, ultimately, Monet is only looking out for herself. She’s more than willing to abandon Julien if things don’t go her way. Monet has zero respect for teachers, and if they displease her, she can just snap her figures and terminate them in a matter of seconds.
Gossip Girl is Smith’s first TV work. Recently, she’s been cast for a role in the musical film Something Here.
The Teachers
Tavi Gevinson as Kate Keller
Tavi Gevinson plays Kate Keller, an English teacher at Constance Billiard. Growing up in Upstate New York, she spent most of her younger years in the library and developed a love for English. Upon graduating from college, Kate snags a teaching role at Constance, hoping that her newly-minted position at the prestigious institution ups her self-esteem.
However, teaching at Constance is a total nightmare, and teachers like her are constantly in the fear of their much more privileged and powerful students. Sick and tired of not being shown the proper respect she deserves, Kate decides to revive the long-dead Gossip Girl – only this time, instead of a gossip website, it’s now an Instagram page. Originally starting the page with good intentions and putting order into the school, Kate is about to get a lot more than what she bargained for.
Gevinson made headlines for being one of the youngest fashion bloggers at the age of 12, with her website Style Rookie. She was the editor-in-chief of the online magazine Rookie.
Adam Chanler-Berat as Jordan Glassberg
Adam Chanler-Berat plays Jordan Glassberg, a computer science teacher who assists Kate with her Gossip Girl account. Just like Kate, Jordan is also afraid of his students, which explains why he’s willing to risk his career to be involved with the whole Gossip Girl endeavor. However, Jordan and Kate aren’t always on the same page when it comes to their schemes, and you can see them butting heads with each other from time to time.
Chanler-Berat is primarily involved in Broadway and has taken roles in Next to Normal, Amélie, and Peter and the Starcatcher.
The Adults
Johnathan Fernandez as Nick Lott
Jonathan Fernandez plays Nick Lott, Zoya’s caring father who works as a lawyer. Nick was originally in love with Marion, the mother of Zoya and Julien. After Marion died, Nick ants up his responsibilities as a single father and is constantly involved in his daughter’s life. Upon moving to the city and transferring to Constance, Nick had reservations about Zoya’s new lifestyle. He’s also initially reluctant about letting Zoya reconnect with her half-sister, simply because he hates Julien’s father. Even though their relationship can get rocky sometimes, Nick and Zoya care a lot for each other.
Fernandez is an accomplished actor whose roles include Scorsese on Lethal Weapon and Flamien Flirst on Adam Ruins Everything.
Laura Benanti as Kiki Hope
Laura Benanti plays Kiki Hope, Audrey’s alcoholic mother who’s fallen into a deep depression due to her divorce. Because of her condition, Kiki is constantly absent from her daughter’s life, and rarely makes appearances at social events. Her once-successful fashion company is now on the brink of bankruptcy, and her emotional state leaves her both vulnerable and hostile, even to her daughter.
With her roots in Broadway, Benanti is the recipient of five Tony Award nominations and has won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She’s played in acclaimed theater productions like Gypsy and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.
Michelle Trachtenberg as Georgina Sparks
Last but not least, we have Michelle Trachtenberg playing the villain from the original Gossip Girl series, Georgina Sparks. Chaos always follows deliciously evil Georgina. Back in her younger days, Georgina has a complicated friendship with fellow New York socialite Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively). Her rebellious shenanigans are not only crazy but deadly as well. Even though Georgina has grown milder as the original series progresses, it looks like Georgina is back to her troublemaking schemes in Season 2. We might even see Georgina up to no good with Kate.
Trachtenberg is a familiar face in the world of TV. She played Dawn Summers in the successful early ‘00s supernatural series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She’s gone on to become the host of the Discovery Kids show Truth or Scare, earning her a Daytime Emmy Award nomination.
