Celebrities in the running to play young Lily van der Woodsen
Gossip Girl casting director David Rapaport spoke to Jessica about the pilot starring Brittany Snow and Krysten Ritter for the Gossip Girl spinoff, which centers on Serena’s mother Lily Vanderwoodsen (Kelly Rutherford).
“I remember Dakota Johnson coming in, Rooney Mara, and a lot of other women who are big names now, but they didn’t have that stature back then,” he recalled on XOXO. “So, do you know who had the best read for the role? I think you’re friends with Nina Dobrev, so I’ll tell you, that was one of the best auditions I’ve ever seen, especially for that role.”
David said he called the network and told them, “She’s a superstar.”
However, as he recalled on the podcast, the problem was that “she didn’t look like Kelly Rutherford because she was supposed to be a young Kelly Rutherford.”
Still, she stressed to the network that they needed to keep the Degrassi: The Next Generation star on their radar, “and you guys need to find something for her,” he recalled. “I remember thinking, ‘In a few years, I’m going to look back on this girl and think, ‘Oh my God, I missed that opportunity.’ She was just incredible!”
