Penn Badgley says he'll "think about" returning for Gossip Girl reboot

20 December 2019, 21:08

By Katie Louise Smith

"I guess it would just depend on a lot of things. It would depend on how and why he's there."

Penn Badgley is set to return as the delightfully creepy Joe Goldberg in Netflix's delightfully creepy TV series, You. You season 2 lands December 26, but before we get to that, we have another important matter to discuss: the possible grand return of Dan Humphrey in the upcoming Gossip Girl reboot.

As you all remember, Penn played Dan who, after 6 seasons of red herrings, turned out to be Gossip Girl. With the reboot set 8 years later, it's completely possible that adult Dan could pop up at some point during the show but that, of course, all depends on whether or not Penn decides to return.

Speaking to ET while promoting season 2 of Netflix's You, Penn was asked that very question: Will he be returning as Dan Humphrey, a.k.a. Gossip Girl himself, in the HBO Max reboot of the series?

Well, he didn't say 'no'.

Penn Badgley addresses whether he'll return to Gossip Girl reboot. Picture: Adrian Edwards/GC Images, The CW

Answering the all important question, Penn said: "Could Dan Humphrey...? I don't... That's a message I gotta put at the top of my inbox, you know, to think about. I have not had conversations with any of the creators yet, but you know ..."

"I think it's pretty clear that, like, I've never been a proponent of Dan Humphrey's," he continued. "I've never been necessarily the greatest friend or fan of Dan Humphrey, which now I reconcile in this way that I'm like, you know, I would love to contribute in a meaningful way to it. And I guess it would just depend on a lot of things. It would depend on how and why he's there."

Thankfully, producers are really keen to get all the original cast members back on board, and like, what is a Gossip Girl reboot without... Gossip Girl, right?

At the Television Critics Association summer press tour in August, creator Josh Schwartz said he reached out to the original cast including Badgley, Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Chace Crawford and Ed Westwick to let them know that the door is open for potential cameos.

"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 [them being involved]," Schwartz said. "They played these characters for six years, and if they felt like they were good with that, we want to respect that, but obviously ... it would be great to see them again."

Chace Crawford (our beloved Nate Archibald) also previously told Digital Spy that he would "absolutely cameo" in a reboot, exclaiming: "I'd have to!"

So far, we know that the show will exist within the same Gossip Girl universe we know and love. The new series will take place eight years after the events of the original show.

The full show description reads: "Eight years after the original website went dark, a new generation of New York private school teens are introduced to the social surveillance of Gossip Girl. The prestige series will address just how much social media — and the landscape of New York itself — has changed in the intervening years."

HBO Max has ordered "10 hour-long episodes of a reimagined version of the pop culture phenomenon." There's been no updates on casting and there's also no confirmation about a release date just yet.

So, watch this space Upper East Siders, you never know when the news might drop.