Attention Upper East Siders - could you imagine Ashley Olsen and Rumer Willis being your "Gossip Girl" teen queens instead of Blake Lively and Leighton Meester? Weird, right?
Well, according to CW Casting Director David Rapaport, Olsen and Willis were originally pitched to play the roles of Serena van der Woodsen and her on-and-off again best friend Blair Waldorf.
"I think the network initially pitched us Ashley Olsen and Rumer Willis for Blair and Serena," Rapaport told BuzzFeed. "I love Rumer, she's grown into quite an amazing actress and person, but that, to me, was based on protecting the investment of a television show where creatively, these lesser-known girls really captured the essence of the show and carried it for six years."
So, how did Lively land the role of Serena? It's all thanks to the actress' role in the 2006 comedy "Accepted," which also starred Justin Long.
"I had seen her in 'Accepted' and at that time, there were no Lena Dunhams or Zooey Deschanels - it was all about beauty and glamour, but being approachable and Blake was the ultimate It Girl," he recalled. "I think at the end of the day, we tested Blake, Katie Cassidy, and this girl who was [Serena] on the 'Gossip Girl' books. Not even her face, just her legs. But it made sense."
Rapaport also revealed that Meester's cold demeanor during the casting interview helped her land the part of Blair.
"Leighton is a little bit colder than Blake, but I like that. A lot of actors come in and want to please me and are super-kind [and] trying to be my best friend and they flirt and the whole thing, and that's great, but I look for people to come in and be professional and to be kind and courteous," Rapaport said. "Leighton wasn't a bitch when she came in, but she wasn't overly nice or overly generous. ...She wasn't going to kiss everyone's ass, and that was very Blair."
Rapaport has helped cast for CW "90210" reboot, "Arrow" and "The Flash."
