Rumer Willis Could Have Been Our Blair Waldorf on Gossip Girl, if The CW Had Its Way
It looks like Gossip Girl could have been very different.
The CW's Gossip Girl was one of the defining teen shows of the current television era. Thanks to the series' success, Blake Lively and Leighton Meester, who played the two main characters, are still admired by fans and enjoying their superstar careers.
Interestingly, their candidature for the leading roles was not initially supported by The CW, and the actresses would never be in the show if it wasn't for the network's casting director David Rapaport.
When the show was still in the early stages of development, Rapaport was tasked with choosing young actors to play the main characters, and he immediately had Lively and Meester in mind for the two leads. However, The CW producers perceived the future of the project differently, suggesting much bigger stars for the roles of Serena van der Woodsen and Blair Waldorf.
'I think the network initially pitched us Ashley Olsen and Rumer Willis for Blair and Serena,' Rapaport said. '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.'
Yep, it looks like Bruce Willis' daughter was being considered to play Blair, but the casting director understood right away that Rumer lacked the qualities to play the role and simply wasn't a good fit for the cold Upper East Side Queen B. Unlike Rapaport, however, The CW was looking for a star for their show, and Rumer was getting a lot of attention at the time.
'Thank goodness that fell through, she could play a lot of the characters, Georgina for instance, maybe even Vanessa, but I don't see how she could be Blair,' one fan pointed out.
In the end, it was clear that Rapaport did the right thing by pushing Lively and Meester for the roles, as Gossip Girl would have been a total train wreck of a show without those two performers in the lead roles. Thank you, Mr. Rapaport!
Source: Buzzfeed.