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This article contains character information for the American teen drama, Gossip Girl. The series is based on the popular novel series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. Featuring an ensemble cast, the series begins by introducing Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) and best friend Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester), as well as Blair's boyfriend Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford) and Nate's best friend Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick). Other characters in the show include Dan (Penn Badgley) and Jenny Humphrey (Taylor Momsen), who become involved in the lives of the main characters despite being less inclined to merge with the upper-east-side crowd. The series is narrated by a seemingly omniscient character, "Gossip Girl" (voiced by Kristen Bell)
[edit] Main characters
The following are characters who have led the plot, as listed in the order of the opening television credits of each episode.
| Name |
Actor or actress |
Seasons |
Episode count |
| Serena van der Woodsen |
Blake Lively |
1 |
18 |
| Former It girl of the Upper East Side and best friend of Blair Waldorf. Recently returned from a Connecticut boarding school for reasons unknown to her friends, as was her departure from Manhattan a year prior to the show's beginning. Serena van der Woodsen comes across as down-to-earth for someone from the UES, but things, relationships (Dan, Nate) and opportunities (fashion shoots) seemed to be handed to her on a silver platter. |
|
| Blair Waldorf |
Leighton Meester |
1 |
18 |
| Queen Bee of the social scene; a position she inherited from her best friend after Serena left New York. An only child, she is the daughter of a soon-to-be-divorced fashion designer mother and a gay father and is the longtime girlfriend of Nate Archibald although she became involved with Nate's best friend Chuck Bass in episode 107. |
|
| Dan Humphrey |
Penn Badgley |
1 |
18 |
| A loner, he is the son of a rock musician turned art gallery owner, Rufus Humphrey, and the elder brother of Jenny Humphrey. Smitten with Serena, he finds himself immersed in her moon-eyed world where he is made to attend St. Jude at his father's bidding. |
|
| Nate Archibald |
Chace Crawford |
1 |
15 |
| Torn between Serena and Blair – both of whom he has romantic histories with, the so-called golden boy also frequently finds himself making life decisions based on the whims of his controlling father, Howie "The Captain" Archibald. |
|
| Jenny Humphrey |
Taylor Momsen |
1 |
16 |
| A freshman at Constance Billiard with a desire to carve her own place in the in-crowd, Jenny is impressionable and quickly becomes the pawn of several characters. She also has a tight-knit relationship with her brother, Dan, which proves handy as she finds herself in frequent need of help. |
|
| Chuck Bass |
Ed Westwick |
1 |
14 |
| Cynical and world-weary, Chuck has no qualms about living life on the edge and possesses near-sociopathic tendencies of abusing and manipulating others who get in his way. The childhood best friend of Nate, his reputation as a patron of baser habits make them complete opposites. Portrayed firstly as the 'bad boy' of the group, we start to see a different side of Chuck in the succeeding episodes when he lends Nate 10K to get out of a shady poker game, and later when he falls in love with Blair. |
|
| Vanessa Abrams |
Jessica Szohr |
1 |
9 |
| The childhood best friend of Dan Humphrey. She comes back from Vermont to move in with her big sister, just as Dan is trying to make things work out with Serena. She is in love with Dan, but when she sees he is in love with Serena, she backs off. |
|
| Lily van der Woodsen |
Kelly Rutherford |
1 |
17 |
| The multiple-divorced, ex-ballerina, and socialite mother of Serena and Eric van der Woodsen, Lillian has a history as a former groupie of Dan and Jenny's father, Rufus, that she would rather not acknowledge. She is currently married to Bart Bass. |
|
| Rufus Humphrey |
Matthew Settle |
1 |
18 |
| A former rock star whose marriage has fallen apart, he is also an owner of a fledging art gallery. Determined to give his children a quality education, he's enrolled them at private day schools which lead him to bump heads more than once with his former flame, Lillian van der Woodsen. |
|
| "Gossip Girl" |
Kristen Bell (uncredited) |
1 |
18 |
| The narrator of the show, "Gossip Girl" is an unseen character whose gossip commentary blog is widely visited by the youths of the Upper East Side social scene. |
[edit] Recurring characters
| Name |
Actor or actress |
Seasons |
Episode count |
| Isabel Coates |
Nicole Fiscella |
1 |
14 |
| Blair's loyal sidekick until she loses her rank as Queen Bee. |
|
| Eric van der Woodsen |
Connor Paolo |
1 |
11 |
| The troubled younger brother of Serena, his suicide attempt becomes the catalyst for Serena's homecoming. Revealed his homosexuality later on season one. |
|
| Eleanor Waldorf |
Margaret Colin, Florencia Lozano ("Pilot") |
1 |
8 |
| The fashion designer mother of Blair Waldorf, Eleanor is a recent divorcée with their decades-long marriage ending when her ex-husband left to pursue a relationship with a man. |
|
| Bart Bass |
Robert John Burke |
1 |
8 |
| Chuck's father, owner of Bass Corporation and currently married to Lily. |
|
| Howie "The Captain" Archibald |
Sam Robards |
1 |
7 |
| The domineering father of Nate Archibald, who battles a cocaine addiction. |
[edit] Minor characters
Other characters whose relationships were elaborately aired were:
| Name |
Actor or actress |
Seasons |
Episode count |
| Dorota |
Zuzanna Szadkowski |
1 |
12 |
| Househelper of the Waldorfs. |
|
| Kati Farkas |
Nan Zhang |
1 |
11 |
| Blair's loyal sidekick until she loses her rank as Queen Bee; her parents move her back to Israel after spring break. |
|
| Alison Humphrey |
Susan Misner |
1 |
5 |
| Rufus' estranged wife and Dan and Jenny's mother. Had an affair while living in Hudson which causes conflict among the Humphreys. |
|
| Anne Archibald |
Francie Swift |
1 |
4 |
| Nate's domineering mother. |
|
| Penelope |
Amanda Setton |
1 |
5 |
| A member of Blair's clique until she was dethroned as queen bee; constantly shifts her allegiance between Blair and Jenny. |
|
| Hazel |
Dreama Walker |
1 |
5 |
| A member of Blair's clique until she was dethroned as queen bee; constantly shifts her allegiance between Blair and Jenny. |
|
| Elise Wells |
Emma Demar |
1 |
4 |
| A member of Blair's clique until she was dethroned as queen bee; constantly shifts her allegiance between Blair and Jenny. |
|
| Georgina Sparks |
Michelle Trachtenberg |
1 |
4 |
| A girl from Serena's past. |
|
| Asher Hornsby |
Jesse Swenson |
1 |
2 |
| Jenny's wealthy love interest. They broke up in Episode 1.16 because he was outed as being gay. He was in a relationship with Serena's younger brother, Eric, and had been a patient at the Ostroff Clinic around the same time Eric was. |
|
| Bex Simon |
Jill Flint |
1 |
2 |
| Lily's art dealer and frequent visitor of Rufus' art gallery |
|
| Carter Baizen |
Sebastian Stan |
1 |
2 |
| St. Jude's graduate, rival of Nate and Chuck. |
|
| Harold Waldorf |
John Shea |
1 |
2 |
| Blair's father who went to France to live with his male lover (Roman, played by William Abadie). |
|
| Nelly Yuki |
Yin Chang |
1 |
2 |
| Blair's academics rival. Despite being sabotaged by Blair during the SATs, she has become her friend. |
|
| CeCe Rhodes |
Caroline Lagerfelt |
1 |
1 |
| Lily's mother and Serena's grandmother. Caused the breakup of Rufus and Lily back in the day and tried to break up Serena and Dan to no avail. |
