A Weird Reason Alden Ehrenreich Was Rejected as Dan on Gossip Girl
Dan Humphrey in Gossip Girl became one of Penn Badgley's most notable roles, and Dan, in turn, became one of the most iconic characters of that series.
In fact, you can argue that the whole series' success rode on Penn's performance, given how crucial his character was to the plot.
However, Badgley getting that part was not an outcome set in stone. As usual, several actors were considered and auditioned for the important role.
In fact, as casting director David Rapaport later admitted in an interview, the actor whom he initially had in mind for the role was Alden Ehrenreich. Rapaport was desperate to get him, but Ehrenreich got rejected by the producers for a really weird and almost inexplicable reason.
And what was that reason exactly? It turns out the show's producers thought he was too short to play the role of Serena van der Woodsen's boyfriend. According to them, he wouldn't have looked good next to Blake Lively, who played Serena.
This may sound fine, considering that movies and TV shows normally like their male characters to be noticeably taller than females, but this is hardly a valid explanation for Alden Ehrenreich's rejection because… Penn Badgley is about the same height as him, insofar as we can tell from Internet sources.
And for that matter, both of the actors appear to be about the same height as Serena — on the screen, Badgley and Lively often seem to be equally tall.
Whether this was a result of the producers' misguided perception or some sort of a personal grudge, Alden Ehrenreich got shafted and Penn Badgley was chosen for the role, making a name for himself and earning quite a bit of money in the process.
As for Ehrenreich, he only managed to make a real breakthrough to fame four years later with his role in Hail, Caesar! (2016). His most recent major role is the lead character in the thriller Fair Play, to be distributed by Netflix.
Penn Badgley, meanwhile, remains in the world of TV series, playing the main character in You (recently renewed for the fifth and final season) and also working as a producer on it.