February 2, 2022 • 39 mins
All the way from London, Ed Westwick - who is not actually Chuck Bass, by the way - wakes up from his nap just in time to join Jessica on the podcast! Ed sets the record straight about his new puppy’s name, reveals just how close he came to not being allowed to work in the show, and gives some insight to the chemistry between Chuck and Blair. Oh, and his mum pops in to say hi as well.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
All right, I made Westwick. I played Chuck Bass on
Gossip Girl. Welcome back, listeners to your one and only
source and to all things gossip Crow. You know you'll
love it. X O x O. What is up, everybody?
(00:30):
I'm Jessica's door and welcome to another episode of x
O x O. Today's guest is a legend. As they
say in England. You may know him for his suits,
his confidence, or his relationship with the Queen Bee, but
I know him mostly as an amazing actor and an
even better friend. That's right, the wonderful Ed Westwick is
joining me on the podcast today. Gossip Girl wouldn't be
(00:50):
Gossip Girl without Chuck Bass or at Westwick. The tone
of his voice, his walk, his style. I mean, who
else could pull off those scarves? We're gonna hear ed
side of his crazy casting story, what it was like
rooming with Chase and the moment he realized the show
was going to be a big hit. And you know,
I wouldn't let Ed get away without those three words
(01:11):
Chuck and Blair. So here he is Ed Westwick. Hello, Hello, Hi,
how are you? I'm great? For second there, I thought
(01:34):
you weren't gonna yeah and then I thought I was
just gonna be talking to me myself, which happens quite
a lot. That's all right, how are you doing? So
you're in London, in London, and I nearly missed your
nearly missed this amazing because I was taking a laugh. Okay, wait,
so you have a little baby to now, Yeah, a
(01:57):
lot of work and you don't get some sleep a
lot of the nights. Well, he's, uh, he's absolutely fine.
But he just had to have a procedure. But so
he's just been recovering from that. But but no, he's
he's an absolute he's absolutely darling. He's wonderful. But French
bulldogs are my absolute favorite dog. And there what was
(02:19):
what coda? Yeah? The French bulldog. Yeah, they just like
have their own little personality. They do. I can hear
your mum's voice and you in my head right now
saying his name. No, they're they're they're really fantastic, they
really are. I mean, he's I don't know, it's one
of those things, you know, maybe it's like it's like
(02:40):
it's an interesting kind of maybe appropriate, kind of fantastic
amount of responsibility right now without doing you know, the
full thing, which is, which is what you've recently done.
Congratulations by the way, thank you too, you have congratulations again.
Um so so, so cool and exciting. It is. It's
a life changing, amazing thing that I can't you can't
(03:03):
even really put into words. But um, I do who
If I were to get another dog, it would be
a French bulldog. Um, but I think I'll take a
beat on that. Yeah, steady, yeah, but do you know
what else? With French they're like stubborn? Is your stubborn?
Oh my god, he's so stubborn. He's so stubborn. Um,
(03:24):
you know what he about. I think about seven months,
eight months, that stubbornness really started to show. And then, um,
I don't know, man, I don't whether I've adjusted to
it or yeah, it just happened. They're not really changing,
you know. I bring out the daddy voice, I'll bring
out the date bring other slightly deeper voice. Hey, I
(03:45):
don't know who I mean. I don't know if I'm boss,
but I'm certainly trying. Okay. And his name is Humphrey.
His name is Humphrey. And too, I think this is
the perfect place to set the record straight. Not that
I have to explain myself or anything like that. But
it is completely unrelated to Gossip Girl. A lot of
people when they in the name of the dog, they think,
(04:06):
oh my god. And you know what, it's funny when
we named him. I didn't. I didn't think about that
at all. Didn't click. Well. I also feel like it's
been so long and we're all kind of removed from
the show and on to another chapter in our life.
So I do feel like I get that. You're just like, no,
it actually has nothing to do with that, but thanks.
But it's funny. I mean, yeah, yeah, it is. No,
(04:30):
he was named after Humphrey Bogo I was watching. That's
very appropriate for you. I feel like, wife is I'm
a skinny old man from the Bronx who smokes a
lot of cigarettes. No, because that's just you're like an artist,
and that's just very to me. I would say, that's
why you named your dog up. I was in a
taxi the other day with some people and maybe I'm sure,
(04:51):
I don't know if he's showing my age, but I
don't know showing my age. I mean, it's the classic
movie style. But it surprised me that the thing it
was about to say, the people in the car who
were in the mid twenties did not know who Humphrey
Bogart was, And I maybe that's common the people I
don't know always shocked when I know something and then
(05:12):
and then apparently people don't know it, and apparently it's
not common knowledge. It's not like I look down on people,
but it's always just the thing. I'm like, Wow, does
it always shock you when you think when you think
of a piece of information that you think like common
knowledge and then apparently it's not. I remember that song
with Rihanna, Kanye West and Paul McCartney came out and
it went all over the internet. People like who's the
(05:32):
old white dude with Kanye. I'm like, wait, sold yeah,
and then yeah, I kind of thought, I'm like, wait,
am I getting that old? But like people still know
who Paul McCartney is. But I mean, yeah, that's wild.
And then it kind of takes you down like a
whole avenue in your mind of like you know, the
state of humanity or like the state of people, and
you're like, I'm worried for the population of today if
(05:54):
they don't know who Humphrey Bogart is, or if they
don't know who Paul McCarty correct, correct or maybe it
doesn't matter, Maybe it don't. You should know what Paul
McCartney is. So that's good. That's I mean that we're
letting people know what Actually, speaking of legendary, amazing people,
I was like joining us. I wish I was going
(06:18):
through like just the list of people that you've worked with,
and it's so impressive. From Jude Law to Robin Wright,
Julianne Moore, you were cast by the legendary director Clint Eastwood,
worked with Leonardo DiCaprio, Damian Lewis, Paul Giamati, Minni Driver,
David Dukovney, and Jessica's Or. I mean, how is it
(06:40):
to work with people like that? Actors like that, artists
like that? Well, I mean, look, you've we've both been
in the game a long time now, and you know
you've worked with amazing people as well. I mean we've
both been very very lucky in our in our careers
and our lives. Um, it's uh. I think it's these
(07:04):
people are icons and legends are but a great people
as well, and I think that's the most important thing.
You know, I've been very fortunate to not kind of
come across a great amount of I don't know if
you to swear on this, but issues, yeah, I mean
we we we we know a couple we know we do,
(07:24):
but but no, it's been amazing. Look, and I've always
kind of that that set the tone for me. On
my first job, I was working with an Oscar winning
director Oscar on theinees. You know you mentioned some of them,
Altitude and Robin, and it's like, yeah, from the get
go when I was the first when I was my
first job and I was a kid, and I had
no clue what I was doing, and I didn't know
(07:44):
where I was and I was on this amazing film set.
It was breaking and entering and I was just like, okay.
But it's set a tone for me in terms of
professionalism and way to work and quality of work. And
it's a real awakening because you're not always going to
be working at that level, you know, right right for sure,
but what a way to start off. Yeah, and it's
something too spire too, and I feel blessed to have
(08:06):
had those experiences. Well, and I know you as an actor,
I know you always bring something special and amazing and
people even on that list, I've had conversations with some
people on that list about how amazing you are and
what you bring to set and bring to to your
roles and stuff. Thank you, thank you. Yeah. That the
people that I've had conversations with speak volumes of you two.
(08:26):
So that's awesome. Yeah, and that's actually speaking of I
have a clip from David Rappaport about you and how
the producers would not see any other tapes for Chuck
Bass when your visa wasn't coming through and they needed
someone for the role. Can we actually play that clip
from David Rappaport. So, Ed, coming from London, didn't have
(08:48):
a visa to work in the States, and his visa
did not come through until I think that either the
day before or the day of his first day of
filming on set, and so the studio said to us, understandably,
we need to look for a backup or recast this
role because if the visa does not come through in time,
you cannot shoot him. Yo. I that's like visa stuff
is a very serious thing, and I get that, but
(09:09):
let's be honest, no one else was going to play
Chuck Bass like Ed Westwick did. No, there was no
way and Josh and Stephanie would, to their credit, would
not even look at other tapes that I was sending them,
and I would say to them, you guys, like my
job was on the line. We have to recast this
role because if he's not on, like we are not
legally allowed to use him, and they would not watch
the tapes in the studio and network are checking in
with me saying like who do we have? Who are
(09:30):
we going to test? And I was like, I don't,
I don't have anyone, Like they won't respond to me.
And luckily they stuck it through and Ed's visa came
through and he was available, And I mean I could
not imagine anyone in that room. Besides, I don't think
anyone who liked the show watched the show as a
fan of the show. I think they'd all agree with us.
Can you tell me what was going through your mind?
Did you know that this was like going to be
(09:50):
a big show and you really wanted to go to
New York and do this? Like what was going through
your mind? I'll say he was going through my mind
right now? Is that? Thank you? Rappable? It needs to
be saw encouraging of some of the new tapes. I
sent him, and he needs to give me some more
jobs and know that the damn visa is ready to
roll right now. Let him I'll send him this clip.
(10:10):
So you sent this clip from read Westwick on visas
and right now. Look I love David, and look, I
mean super grateful and obviously super lucky that that situation
transpired in a way it did. So here's what happened.
Chuck Bass was supposed to be a recurring role. It
was only supposed to come in for a few episodes,
(10:31):
so that came. Yeah, that was actually I kind of
got around one of the testing aspects there because I
didn't have to test like a series regular. So I
did like two auditions and then I did a screen test,
but I never had to test the network, which is
you know, yeah, so I kind of very stressful and
(10:51):
nerve wracking and other things. Yeah, so I didn't have
to do it that so that was good. But so
the situation was, yes, didn't have a visa. Obviously you
have to have to work in the States, and then
I had to go to Canada to get my visa done.
An emergency like situation. I was with this lawyer in Canada.
I've never been to Toronto before I just met this
(11:13):
lawyer randomly. I was nineteen. I was like, what is
going on? Let this guy in a long coat in
the winter, and he said, come with me, walk me
to the front of this line at the embassy or
consulate in Toronto. But at this point, you're just trying
to get the visa to go or is the job
yours or they wanting you to get the visa so
you meet them. The job's mind as long as everything
(11:34):
goes right and I can get to work within a
few hours, which is like the next morning. And this
is for the pilot. O, this is for the pilot.
But I have to in order to get in order
to initiate the visa, you have to leave the country
and enter. So I had to go to Canada to
get it done and then fly back and then I
was starting work that next morning. Luckily, you know, it
(11:55):
all went through the people at the embassy or whatever,
because you know that government agencies can take their time
to like get paperwork done. But hey, this this lawyer
knew what he was doing. He said he was one
of those slick guys who knew everyone at the embassa.
It was like cruise to the front of the line,
and I didn't had no experience, and so I got
(12:15):
the I got the visa, and we started working and
that was it, you know, and so whatever happened with
at this point, you knew that Chuck was going to
have an American accent because I know there was a
conversation about maybe keeping your accent. No, that was never
really a thing for me. It was like, I, I know,
I auditioned because when I when I auditioned for Chase's
(12:37):
part as well, right, but I mean I was just
kind of yeah, but it was like super early on.
It was like I walked in and they said audition
for both, and then it was it was obviously like
to be more for the Chuck role, and it was
just it was a much more interesting role. You know,
I was having much more fun with it. I think
I had more of a character for it. That was
the part that resonated. So they were like, okay, just
(12:59):
stick with the shark thing. And then they just wanted
to hear it in an English accent. And you can't
just this is the thing that people don't get is
you can't just make a character. You can't just switch
their accent and a lot of people have had this
before where people will say, oh my god, do it
in an English accent, and it's like part of me
just does this, right of course, And if the characters
(13:23):
written to be American, and if there's if there's comedy,
comedy is a big thing. Everything sounds so different as
soon as it's done in an English accent. The timing,
the intonation and everything like that, the whole performance changed,
the whole character changes. And there was an argument that,
you know, you could have pulled it off as an
English accent, but this character didn't need They didn't need that,
you know, he didn't need the added thing. This character
he had to say there anywhere. Yeah, and he was,
(13:47):
you know, he was the arrogant New York, New York
type guy. So yeah, do you remember how many times
we would all be like out and about or doing
something in New York and people like these trust fund kids,
whether they were older than us or around Chuck's age
at the time, and they would be like, you know,
Chuck's written about me, and I'd be like, that's not true.
Though I still get it. I still get it. I
(14:10):
mean it happened often, it happens now. I mean, I've
got people who are like either way, either they're an
artists based on me or people just were like, hey,
I based my whole life on on that character. It's like,
well you need some different heroes seriously. But had a
big heart though. I mean it was it was a
hell of a character, you know. And I think one
of the things that we got out of doing so
(14:32):
many episodes with such an amount of um storyline is
you really get to go to different places with the
character and really see an evolution in the character. And
I think, you know you you really got that with
Chuck Bass And for me it was just like this
it was it was wasn't like just an education, but
it really wasn't for for an actor, you know. I
(14:54):
mean I got to do everything this character, go to
all different emotions, try all different things, and so it
was really this epic um It was epico exactly. Obviously,
(15:20):
you worked with Layton so much Blair and I always
say that Chuck and Blair were kind of like our
Ross and Rachel, Like you wanted them, you fought for them,
you rooted for them. And I was just rewatching some
of the episodes and I didn't even realize where the
moment was where you guys kind of like hooked up
and started. I thought it was later on, but it's
been so many years. Can you guys play clip three please?
(15:42):
There's a big ass moment in the show. Thanks to Lime,
you were amazing, but this moment, oh, oh my god.
(16:05):
I never really remembered where this spark started and happened.
And this is super super major right now. I mean,
they're like our Rachel and Ross, you know what I mean.
I already loved this and I don't even remember what happened.
So it was episode seven in the first season, which
(16:27):
I thought for some reason it was later Yeah, isn't
that crazy? It was that early on? It was it
was that early on. But here's the things. You guys
are in the back of the limo. You guys hook up.
She loses her virginity to you, not Nate, which is
like another thing I didn't even realize. Yeah, and that
was like, isn't that wild? And so yeah, I was like, well,
(16:51):
this is kind of where little things were dropped for
us to be like start taking this ride with you guys,
But can you explain how you felt about that relationship?
Blair and Chuck and just how working with Layton was
because she was always fun and great to work with
and spontaneous and awesome. And you guys really had a
chemistry for those characters from Jump, because I also asked
(17:15):
David about it, and they didn't from the pilot. Serena
and Dan were the original kind of relationship that started
from from Jump. So I kind of think that when
you guys had the chemistry you did, I think that
kind of woke a lot of people up to be like, Oh,
we're going to explore this, but all of a sudden
that happened, and then you guys really throughout the whole
series were on a roller coaster and we just wanted
(17:37):
to be with you guys sitting next to you the
whole time. M M. I think I heard that as well.
You know, like the writers kind of watched stuff and
kind of got feedback from what was going on on
set as well in terms of what chemistry was there,
and they elaborated and they sold. You know, I've never
really seen a lot of a lot of the episodes,
(17:57):
you know, I've seen a little bits of pieces, so
I I'm one day maybe i'll watch them all. I'd
like to probably at some point I think it was funny. Yeah.
I actually think a lot of us haven't because a
lot of people that have already come on and done
their episodes are like, I don't know this, I don't
remember that, And I'm like, I know, we all got
together for a couple of months maybe and watched at
Stephanie's in the very beginning early, but I feel like
(18:18):
after a couple of months with then we started filming
again so people would be on set it was too hectic. Yeah,
and then you're in the middle of it, you know what,
We're going to run home on Monday at seven o'clock
at night, and you know it was I mean that
that would just be very weird, wouldn't just trying to
trying to get home so you can watch yourself. Yeah. Look,
I think I had an amazing time working with Lighton
(18:41):
and people. People really really well taken with that relationship.
It means so much to people, which is so cute
and funny, and especially as you say, because I'm slightly disconnected,
not because because I never saw it. I'm like, I'm
part of something that's so important to someone, but not
really part of it. You know. It's like even though
(19:02):
you are it even apparently, but she's She's an incredible talent,
Missa Dearly, and we we just had this great chemistry
and we used to make each other laugh and I
felt protective over her at times, and yeah, she probably
made me. She probably made me better, just the way
you guys played off each other, and then both of
(19:23):
your styles as Blair and Chuck were so epic. And
then yeah, right before action and getting into character, you
guys did have a cool vibe and that I think
that's what bleeds into when you watched the show. It
just wasn't You guys are both incredible actors that that
we know, but it was all of it. I think
you guys both respected each other very very much, and
(19:46):
that bled into playing off of each other for so
many years. And I just think it's really cool. When
I went back and watched Adam being honest, because I
didn't really see a lot of the show either, there
was times I teared up. There's times I was like,
oh my god, you guys, really it was special. It
was really really cute. It was it felt special, and
it felt I didn't have to fake that too much.
You know, I'm not saying I was in love with
(20:06):
Laton or whatever. But like it wasn't it didn't feel
like forced. You didn't do it, man. I mean, look,
she's a beautiful girl. She was incredible actress. She found
the vulnerability with that character that made it very easy
to work with and motivde it very easy for for me,
my character to fall in love with. So you had
(20:27):
a lot of them working with her. Give me one
give me one second, Mom, can you please take Humphrey away? Mom,
I can't believe he was that good, sitting in there
the whole time though. No, no, no, he just came
running out. Yeah, we'll give your mom a big hug.
Mom just sends a big hug to you. She sends
(20:48):
one back. Um, can we talk about just some of
the places that we filmed, Empire State Building, You guys
go to Paris all over New York City, Like we
were talking about this on another episode. Everyone was such
a fan and wanted to be such a part of
the show in the city that like it didn't matter
what concert, what restaurant, what venue. They were just like
you guys, come whenever you want. Because I think they
(21:11):
all wanted to either you know, be on the show
or have have their place on it. And when I
look back, that's pretty crazy. Like even like the Mets stairs,
that's pretty cool to be a part of, don't you think.
I think it's amazing. I don't know if you remember,
but there's there's Gossip Girl Day. Were you there that
day when Mike Bloomberg he was mayor, he came down
and he crowned that Gossip Girl Day? And I've got
(21:33):
I've got the declaration. It's like, oh my god, I
know that happened. I wasn't there though, Yeah, there's an
official Gossip Girl Day, So like, I mean, what you know,
it's like and you know there's like a tour of
like oh yeah, oh yeah, it's tours. There's all of that.
I mean, it's nuts. Were we were or I don't
(21:54):
know about part of New York sounds weird, but a
part of New York culture. You know. Um My mom's hilarious.
She's trying to get in on the podcast now. She's
like she's like shouting answer. She's like, legends, your legends
lay in the kitchen the dinner anyway. No, yeah, you're right,
(22:27):
look it was it was It was not some I
don't know when did you know when did you know
of what happened when you were like, oh, this is
a special show on this as a hit because I
was when I was allowed to drink underage in New
York City. No, m but I mean, look, you know
(22:48):
where we used to live in Chelsea, there was there
was that big billboard up. I mean that was early
on early. I remember that we were walking underneath it
and I remember being like, whoa it was? It was
it you and and Chase and Blake. I can't remember
who it was, but it was the biggest billboard I've
ever seen and it was right outside and like, whoa.
So it was that. There was the busses, but that
was really I don't know if that was necessarily when
(23:09):
I knew it was a hit. I think it was when, um,
I mean, there's a bunch of stuff. It was whatever
we started happening to have security guards or whether there
were crowds, it was. It was nuts, man, it was nuts.
It was nuts. I'll never forget. I think I might
have had a couple of episodes. Off went back to
l A. And I came back and a few of
us had found a little pub that we would go
(23:30):
and have drinks in our little area after work or
every once in a while whatever, and it was like
little Lacey sent me a picture of that, like a
couple of days ago, so did Ethan, Like last week.
I thought it was closed. It looked shut down, and
I was like, no, he was like he was like
he was like, he was like, dude, it's eleven am.
(23:55):
But I remember coming back. I'm walking in to meet
you guys, and there was like forty girls with like
short skirts and heels, and I was like, this is
like a little pub that no one knew about. And
I had remember hearing that there was these promoters that
would take all these girls to the meatpacking district to
go out to the clubs, and they found out that
(24:16):
the hot gossip girl guys, we're hanging out at this
little pub, so they would come in there. I mean,
the way the girls were with you guys was I mean,
sometimes we couldn't get through a scene because they were screaming.
They were showing up in short skirts in the middle
of winter at a pub just to be in the
same room as you guys, which is like wild, I
know it was. It was. It was you know what,
shout out to the west Side Taven. You know, we
(24:37):
love you, that's true, we love you so much. But
it was it was there wasn't really anything going on,
and then all of a sudden it was the most
popping bath to be out on, like a Friday, on
a Thursday, Friday side on a Tuesday. Well it depended.
It was depending on when we because our schedules were
all over. Some days I had Wednesday, Thursday, Friday off.
Do you know what I mean? So my weekend sometimes
(24:59):
started on a two his day? You know what I mean?
Are you trying to tell me, are you trying to
admit that you're at the west Side to having Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday ride? No, don't tell them, but that is like
things like that were happening. And then I remember we
would be at events and like Keith Richard's daughters wanted
to meet you guys, and Sylvester Stallone, Like I remember,
(25:22):
we'd be in rooms and I'd be like, why is
Sylvestor Stallone walking over? And he'd be like, my daughters
are fans. It was nuts. I mean I was just
actually at the Stones gig in l A a couple
of weeks back, and you know, I mean that's a
relationship that I've had since um after years, and all
of this stuff, all of these all of these crazy opportunities,
all these people have met, all of the mad stuff
(25:44):
that's all happened, you know, because I went to l
A and I auditioned to be on an American TV
show and I got the job, and no, I mean,
and then we only changed my life and people loved there,
you know what I mean. It's just it's just nuts,
you know, it's nuts. Yeah, And then why season did
you and Chase decide to be roommates. It was also
funny that we all lived within a couple of bucks
(26:06):
of each other. And then how weird is it that
your next door neighbor was Alex Paul with the chain
smokers and then went on to become a super I'll
never forget. He was like working at the art gallery
behind our building, remember that. Yeah, and Deejaying making like
real little money just to get by and keep doing
what he loved. And now he has residencies. Is one
of the biggest DJs, or they are. It's crazy, and
(26:28):
I still talk to me. He's like such a lovely person,
like hasn't changed one bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's not
Chase and I agreed to live together on the pilot.
He was like, do you want a room together. I'd
never lived outside my parents house, and I was like, yeah, sure, whatever,
And I went back to the UK and he went
and looked at some places and he sent me like
the strangest photos. It was like the corner of the
(26:49):
ceiling or like a bit of the floor. Sure now whatever.
They don't really know. I was going on, it's fine, whatever,
And and so we lived together the first two years.
I think, yeah, and that roof deck was. We loved
barbecues up there. I kind of want to go back
there next time. Oh my god, you know what you're
doing right now. You're just like we should rent a
(27:11):
place in the side. We should. Oh god, that would
be so sick. I um like, it's one of those things,
you know. I It was strange because when we finished
the show, I was so ready to kind of move
on and so ready for a change of scenery. But
like in the last couple of years, I've really been
reflecting on what that was and our time there and
(27:34):
this whole thing, and man, I just can't believe that
I did that with my life. You know, at such
a young age, like Joe, we had like the most
amazing and yeah, and then we got to travel the
world to promote the show, and you got you know,
you were living with someone you worked with who was
one of your dear friends and roommates, and you know,
(27:55):
whether it was a concert or an art show or
a play or shopping or what in Central Park, like
we were just like living it up and taking in
New York. And I really think everyone was very appreciative
of everything. I don't think anyone know, it was a
good group of people. I think we were all very lucky.
I think we realized we were lucky, and we realized
(28:16):
how amazing this ride was. And I mean, god damn.
I mean it's just it's not it's it's that's why
it's so good to chat to you now, because I
don't often get to talk to any of the gang,
right because a lot of us, yeah, we're all like
doing our things, and but it's nice. It's nice to
reminisce man remin this with you, you know, because otherwise
(28:37):
you're like talking about other people in your life and
like they just don't know, they just don't get out,
you know, So many people went through things, and you know,
people dated each other, people lost each other, like the
people the dogs died, like life, we all lived it together.
It was like, yeah, Kelly had a baby, like there
was lots going on. How sweet is Kelly? I love
the girl? I love their girls so much. She's one
(28:59):
of fall Um. I'm gonna play a couple of quotes
and I want to see if you can tell me
which character said it. You know what's love when you
start talking like an assassin. I'm gonna go with Lane.
You know what's love when you start talking like an assassin? Oh?
Is that me to said it? No? It was yeah, okay.
A man is a good thing to come home for,
(29:21):
but an even better thing to come home with. Oh Um,
I feel like any character could say that, I'm gonna go,
I'm gonna go, creat I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go
to Lily vander Wilson. A man is a good thing
to come home for, but an even better thing to
come home with. It was Kristen. Yeah, okay. Um. Every
(29:44):
nerve ending in my body is electrified by hatred, um, chalk, brass.
Every nerve ending in my body is electrified by hatred.
Come on, come on, this guy so hard man. I
feel like any character can say, Okay, here's the last one.
(30:06):
People like me don't write books they're written about that's
Chuck Bass Baby. I remember that people like me don't
write books written about it. Yeah, have you watched the
(30:31):
new one at all? I haven't seen it. I haven't
seen it. I just wish those I think the most
important thing at least, what I can say is I
hope that those kids have a great time, and I
hope they're being looked after, you know, because it's absolutely nuts,
you know, the whole kind of like becoming famous overnight
at nineteen is a effing trip, absolutely and it really
(30:52):
did feel like people say things like that don't happen overnight.
I really, even if we were acting for years before that,
what happened with that show, it did feel like overnight.
It felt like one day it aired and the next
day we had I remember getting a call and they
were like, you guys need to get a publicist. And
I remember looking at the prices for a publicist and
I'm like, I'm not I'm not paying that much, like
you have to have one. Remember that, Yeah, because we
(31:14):
were doing the cover of New York Magazine, I think,
and you and I were the only two without publicists.
Everyone like had a whole team with them, and I'm like,
I still don't have a publicist. I ain't paying that money.
It's expensive, Yeah, but I know I get it. Yeah.
I spoke to Stephanie about it, and we were emailing
a little while ago. And as I've always said in
(31:35):
all of these interviews, when I asked about that, I
love Josh and Stephanie, which wished them all the best
and put the kids who are doing it, I have
fun Psye it was. I've seen pictures and I'm like, wow,
they really cast you know, how to cast a beautiful Yeah,
they're bad looking at us. They're all bad looking at
us beautiful. And then can we just talk about how
when you started a TikTok it basically exploded. It's you
(31:58):
as Chuck Bass, Yeah it is. I mean, look, I
was I was looking for a way to launch it
and that kind of was one of the trends that
was going on, and I did that, and yeah, it
blew up pretty quick. But how weird is this? When
we were doing the show, there wasn't TikTok Instagram. There
wasn't even cell phones with like cameras. Really, I mean
(32:19):
there was, but the quality wasn't great. And we basically
carried a show for so many years about a gossip
blog when like now, if you ask you could ask
a little girl, what do you want to be? She
could say, I want to be a blogger? What we
were doing the show that wasn't a thing yet, you
know what I'm saying. It was a little bit ahead
of its time, and I think that's why it's still relevant.
(32:40):
It was. It was very much ahead of its time.
We were kind of perhaps a caution retail as to
the way the world was going to go and has gone. Right,
if we'd had a choice to go back to where
it wasn't so many things, internet platforms, all the things,
even for like a month, would you take it or
(33:00):
do you like other stuff? A hundred million? Me too,
I said the other day I would go back that
way and have lived life if we could. And my
sister was like, you have to write down the directions
to get to someone's house. You have to call. I said, yeah,
you gotta remember numbers. You have to show up. You
can't be playing. I mean, people did that for years
now were like, yeah, funny those Well, you know, when
(33:22):
you're when you're kind of in your late teens or
your early twenties or whatever it is, you're like, you
don't really see the world changing that much. You don't
think it's going to change the things. Oh we've done it,
we've done it, or this is it. You also don't
feel like you're ever going to be one of those
people who come across sounding like an old person, do
you know what I mean? Like, yeah, my day it
was different, but it's so damn true. It's true. Literally,
(33:45):
I'm liked because I'm sure when when Bowie's older, there's
probably gonna be flying cars, like she's never gonna know.
I don't even know if they're going to teach her
how to like if we'll teach her how to write.
I mean I will, because I think that's something everyone
should know. But I'm areus because it's going to be
all computers and stuff. Yeah, I mean you know what
I mean, you really shouldn't admit to you know, to
(34:08):
tell till the wealth that you're just going to be
a negligent parent. And no, but I don't think in schools,
trust me. I will, but I don't think in schools
they'll do that. I think it's going to be teaching
kids how to type. You know, there's I don't even
know if people are gonna put like stamps and write
a letter in the mail, if they'll even have that,
(34:28):
I want them to. I think Bowie should always do that.
You can always write me a letter. You can be
Bowie's penpal. Okay, yeah, I'll be uh yeah, that's not
it's not weird at all. She's it'll be like a handprint. Um,
we can wrap it up. But I just wanted one
thing because we didn't touch on it, is um fashion,
(34:49):
because you always had a really really sick style outside
of Chuck Bass, even though I think his whole thing
was so dope and so good, and that I know
has to do with you and a lot with Eric
d Amen. But how good did he he? What he
all did with each character. Don't you think he was
just so amazing? Eric crushed it, crushed he uh yeah,
(35:11):
he crushed it, he really did. I mean, I think,
you know it was funny when we had when I
saw I saw people kind of dressing up his Chuck
Bass for Halloween. How theweens kind of like a you know,
jokey thing, but it was still a sign that you
just saw guys on the street kind of doing it
or stuff coming out in the stores, like they were
little kind of trends or they were very Chuck Bass
(35:32):
Eric Eric is an amazing talent. And yeah, I mean
people still go to Gossip Girl for fashion tips, you know,
people still checking it out. I mean it is and
it does look the fashion looks quite timeless. Yeah, that's
one thing I'll say. I mean, if you get rid
of the flip phones, it could be it could be
right now, Yeah, you could absolutely, And it's just like
so funny little things like that Chuck scarf or Blair's
(35:55):
headband and stuff that ended up being staples, which I've
always I'm curious to know, like is that thought of
and in like on a board before the show, because
I know that there was inspiration, But there's certain staples
like I picture when I picture Chuck Bass, even though
I had to toe, he has like a phenomenal that
that scarf is like a staple. Yeah, yeah, I remember
(36:16):
it sold out. Told me it sold out for like
for the longest time. I'm not shocked at all. Yeah, Yeah, yeah,
it's yeah, Well, I'll let you get back. I know
it's later there, and you have a new dog. Mel
did mention about Wolves of War, a movie you have
coming out. Do you want to talk about that or
do you know when it's coming out yet? Or we
(36:38):
shot in the UK. I got that done at the
end of COVID. Well, when COVID was finishing, things were
opening up. World War two thriller, which is an era
that I I've always enjoyed, always been fascinated with. And
it's a second film we've done that's that's in that era.
I'm British in this. I one of the good guys
and it's yeah, it's I mean, I haven't seen it yet,
(37:02):
but it was it was, it was good. It was good,
fun to make. And yeah, you know, if you're a
guy or a girl or whatever you are, check it out. Yes,
I'm looking forward to it. And do you like filming?
Do you prefer to film there over the States? It
just depends on the project. I haven't worked in the
US in a while, so I'm looking forward to getting back.
(37:23):
I'm supposed to be in in New Orleans doing something
in January, so we'll figure it out. Yeah, well, we'll
talk soon. It was really lovely to see you and reminisce.
It brought back a lot of vibes and feelings and
you're awesome. It was lovely to hear your mom's voice.
And um, I hope Humphreys like feeling good and okay,
(37:45):
that's a big change for it on. He's doing really well.
He's doing really really well. I hope you hope you
get to get to meet him one day, and I
look forward to seeing seeing all of you guys. So hey,
thanks for having me all right. Oh my gosh, I
just can't with that guy. He cracks me up. And
(38:08):
thank you for giving us Chuck bass Man and for
joining me today on the podcast and to the rest
of you. Come back next week for an all new
episode of XO x OH with another original cast member.
She's the absolute best. She's an amazing person, a beautiful mom.
Her character really grounded the show in so many ways
with her on and off again relationship with Rufus and
(38:30):
commitment to her kids, even if she wasn't perfect as
you may be guessed, I'm bringing on Kelly Rutherford also
known as Lilly vander Woodson bass Humphrey who's to say. Regardless,
I can't wait. And that's it for this week, you guys,
Until next time. XO x O x O x O
(38:52):
is produced by Propagate Content and me Jessica's Or. Our
show is executive produced by Langley. Our producers are Diego Tapia,
Emily Are, and Hannah Harris. Original music by Moxie and Lune,
and the episode was mixed by seth O Lansky h
All right, I made Westwick. I played Chuck Bass on
Gossip Girl. Welcome back, listeners to your one and only
source and to all things gossip Crow. You know you'll
love it. X O x O. What is up, everybody?
(00:30):
I'm Jessica's door and welcome to another episode of x
O x O. Today's guest is a legend. As they
say in England. You may know him for his suits,
his confidence, or his relationship with the Queen Bee, but
I know him mostly as an amazing actor and an
even better friend. That's right, the wonderful Ed Westwick is
joining me on the podcast today. Gossip Girl wouldn't be
(00:50):
Gossip Girl without Chuck Bass or at Westwick. The tone
of his voice, his walk, his style. I mean, who
else could pull off those scarves? We're gonna hear ed
side of his crazy casting story, what it was like
rooming with Chase and the moment he realized the show
was going to be a big hit. And you know,
I wouldn't let Ed get away without those three words
(01:11):
Chuck and Blair. So here he is Ed Westwick. Hello, Hello, Hi,
how are you? I'm great? For second there, I thought
(01:34):
you weren't gonna yeah and then I thought I was
just gonna be talking to me myself, which happens quite
a lot. That's all right, how are you doing? So
you're in London, in London, and I nearly missed your
nearly missed this amazing because I was taking a laugh. Okay, wait,
so you have a little baby to now, Yeah, a
(01:57):
lot of work and you don't get some sleep a
lot of the nights. Well, he's, uh, he's absolutely fine.
But he just had to have a procedure. But so
he's just been recovering from that. But but no, he's
he's an absolute he's absolutely darling. He's wonderful. But French
bulldogs are my absolute favorite dog. And there what was
(02:19):
what coda? Yeah? The French bulldog. Yeah, they just like
have their own little personality. They do. I can hear
your mum's voice and you in my head right now
saying his name. No, they're they're they're really fantastic, they
really are. I mean, he's I don't know, it's one
of those things, you know, maybe it's like it's like
(02:40):
it's an interesting kind of maybe appropriate, kind of fantastic
amount of responsibility right now without doing you know, the
full thing, which is, which is what you've recently done.
Congratulations by the way, thank you too, you have congratulations again.
Um so so, so cool and exciting. It is. It's
a life changing, amazing thing that I can't you can't
(03:03):
even really put into words. But um, I do who
If I were to get another dog, it would be
a French bulldog. Um, but I think I'll take a
beat on that. Yeah, steady, yeah, but do you know
what else? With French they're like stubborn? Is your stubborn?
Oh my god, he's so stubborn. He's so stubborn. Um,
(03:24):
you know what he about. I think about seven months,
eight months, that stubbornness really started to show. And then, um,
I don't know, man, I don't whether I've adjusted to
it or yeah, it just happened. They're not really changing,
you know. I bring out the daddy voice, I'll bring
out the date bring other slightly deeper voice. Hey, I
(03:45):
don't know who I mean. I don't know if I'm boss,
but I'm certainly trying. Okay. And his name is Humphrey.
His name is Humphrey. And too, I think this is
the perfect place to set the record straight. Not that
I have to explain myself or anything like that. But
it is completely unrelated to Gossip Girl. A lot of
people when they in the name of the dog, they think,
(04:06):
oh my god. And you know what, it's funny when
we named him. I didn't. I didn't think about that
at all. Didn't click. Well. I also feel like it's
been so long and we're all kind of removed from
the show and on to another chapter in our life.
So I do feel like I get that. You're just like, no,
it actually has nothing to do with that, but thanks.
But it's funny. I mean, yeah, yeah, it is. No,
(04:30):
he was named after Humphrey Bogo I was watching. That's
very appropriate for you. I feel like, wife is I'm
a skinny old man from the Bronx who smokes a
lot of cigarettes. No, because that's just you're like an artist,
and that's just very to me. I would say, that's
why you named your dog up. I was in a
taxi the other day with some people and maybe I'm sure,
(04:51):
I don't know if he's showing my age, but I
don't know showing my age. I mean, it's the classic
movie style. But it surprised me that the thing it
was about to say, the people in the car who
were in the mid twenties did not know who Humphrey
Bogart was, And I maybe that's common the people I
don't know always shocked when I know something and then
(05:12):
and then apparently people don't know it, and apparently it's
not common knowledge. It's not like I look down on people,
but it's always just the thing. I'm like, Wow, does
it always shock you when you think when you think
of a piece of information that you think like common
knowledge and then apparently it's not. I remember that song
with Rihanna, Kanye West and Paul McCartney came out and
it went all over the internet. People like who's the
(05:32):
old white dude with Kanye. I'm like, wait, sold yeah,
and then yeah, I kind of thought, I'm like, wait,
am I getting that old? But like people still know
who Paul McCartney is. But I mean, yeah, that's wild.
And then it kind of takes you down like a
whole avenue in your mind of like you know, the
state of humanity or like the state of people, and
you're like, I'm worried for the population of today if
(05:54):
they don't know who Humphrey Bogart is, or if they
don't know who Paul McCarty correct, correct or maybe it
doesn't matter, Maybe it don't. You should know what Paul
McCartney is. So that's good. That's I mean that we're
letting people know what Actually, speaking of legendary, amazing people,
I was like joining us. I wish I was going
(06:18):
through like just the list of people that you've worked with,
and it's so impressive. From Jude Law to Robin Wright,
Julianne Moore, you were cast by the legendary director Clint Eastwood,
worked with Leonardo DiCaprio, Damian Lewis, Paul Giamati, Minni Driver,
David Dukovney, and Jessica's Or. I mean, how is it
(06:40):
to work with people like that? Actors like that, artists
like that? Well, I mean, look, you've we've both been
in the game a long time now, and you know
you've worked with amazing people as well. I mean we've
both been very very lucky in our in our careers
and our lives. Um, it's uh. I think it's these
(07:04):
people are icons and legends are but a great people
as well, and I think that's the most important thing.
You know, I've been very fortunate to not kind of
come across a great amount of I don't know if
you to swear on this, but issues, yeah, I mean
we we we we know a couple we know we do,
(07:24):
but but no, it's been amazing. Look, and I've always
kind of that that set the tone for me. On
my first job, I was working with an Oscar winning
director Oscar on theinees. You know you mentioned some of them,
Altitude and Robin, and it's like, yeah, from the get
go when I was the first when I was my
first job and I was a kid, and I had
no clue what I was doing, and I didn't know
(07:44):
where I was and I was on this amazing film set.
It was breaking and entering and I was just like, okay.
But it's set a tone for me in terms of
professionalism and way to work and quality of work. And
it's a real awakening because you're not always going to
be working at that level, you know, right right for sure,
but what a way to start off. Yeah, and it's
something too spire too, and I feel blessed to have
(08:06):
had those experiences. Well, and I know you as an actor,
I know you always bring something special and amazing and
people even on that list, I've had conversations with some
people on that list about how amazing you are and
what you bring to set and bring to to your
roles and stuff. Thank you, thank you. Yeah. That the
people that I've had conversations with speak volumes of you two.
(08:26):
So that's awesome. Yeah, and that's actually speaking of I
have a clip from David Rappaport about you and how
the producers would not see any other tapes for Chuck
Bass when your visa wasn't coming through and they needed
someone for the role. Can we actually play that clip
from David Rappaport. So, Ed, coming from London, didn't have
(08:48):
a visa to work in the States, and his visa
did not come through until I think that either the
day before or the day of his first day of
filming on set, and so the studio said to us, understandably,
we need to look for a backup or recast this
role because if the visa does not come through in time,
you cannot shoot him. Yo. I that's like visa stuff
is a very serious thing, and I get that, but
(09:09):
let's be honest, no one else was going to play
Chuck Bass like Ed Westwick did. No, there was no
way and Josh and Stephanie would, to their credit, would
not even look at other tapes that I was sending them,
and I would say to them, you guys, like my
job was on the line. We have to recast this
role because if he's not on, like we are not
legally allowed to use him, and they would not watch
the tapes in the studio and network are checking in
with me saying like who do we have? Who are
(09:30):
we going to test? And I was like, I don't,
I don't have anyone, Like they won't respond to me.
And luckily they stuck it through and Ed's visa came
through and he was available, And I mean I could
not imagine anyone in that room. Besides, I don't think
anyone who liked the show watched the show as a
fan of the show. I think they'd all agree with us.
Can you tell me what was going through your mind?
Did you know that this was like going to be
(09:50):
a big show and you really wanted to go to
New York and do this? Like what was going through
your mind? I'll say he was going through my mind
right now? Is that? Thank you? Rappable? It needs to
be saw encouraging of some of the new tapes. I
sent him, and he needs to give me some more
jobs and know that the damn visa is ready to
roll right now. Let him I'll send him this clip.
(10:10):
So you sent this clip from read Westwick on visas
and right now. Look I love David, and look, I
mean super grateful and obviously super lucky that that situation
transpired in a way it did. So here's what happened.
Chuck Bass was supposed to be a recurring role. It
was only supposed to come in for a few episodes,
(10:31):
so that came. Yeah, that was actually I kind of
got around one of the testing aspects there because I
didn't have to test like a series regular. So I
did like two auditions and then I did a screen test,
but I never had to test the network, which is
you know, yeah, so I kind of very stressful and
(10:51):
nerve wracking and other things. Yeah, so I didn't have
to do it that so that was good. But so
the situation was, yes, didn't have a visa. Obviously you
have to have to work in the States, and then
I had to go to Canada to get my visa done.
An emergency like situation. I was with this lawyer in Canada.
I've never been to Toronto before I just met this
(11:13):
lawyer randomly. I was nineteen. I was like, what is
going on? Let this guy in a long coat in
the winter, and he said, come with me, walk me
to the front of this line at the embassy or
consulate in Toronto. But at this point, you're just trying
to get the visa to go or is the job
yours or they wanting you to get the visa so
you meet them. The job's mind as long as everything
(11:34):
goes right and I can get to work within a
few hours, which is like the next morning. And this
is for the pilot. O, this is for the pilot.
But I have to in order to get in order
to initiate the visa, you have to leave the country
and enter. So I had to go to Canada to
get it done and then fly back and then I
was starting work that next morning. Luckily, you know, it
(11:55):
all went through the people at the embassy or whatever,
because you know that government agencies can take their time
to like get paperwork done. But hey, this this lawyer
knew what he was doing. He said he was one
of those slick guys who knew everyone at the embassa.
It was like cruise to the front of the line,
and I didn't had no experience, and so I got
(12:15):
the I got the visa, and we started working and
that was it, you know, and so whatever happened with
at this point, you knew that Chuck was going to
have an American accent because I know there was a
conversation about maybe keeping your accent. No, that was never
really a thing for me. It was like, I, I know,
I auditioned because when I when I auditioned for Chase's
(12:37):
part as well, right, but I mean I was just
kind of yeah, but it was like super early on.
It was like I walked in and they said audition
for both, and then it was it was obviously like
to be more for the Chuck role, and it was
just it was a much more interesting role. You know,
I was having much more fun with it. I think
I had more of a character for it. That was
the part that resonated. So they were like, okay, just
(12:59):
stick with the shark thing. And then they just wanted
to hear it in an English accent. And you can't
just this is the thing that people don't get is
you can't just make a character. You can't just switch
their accent and a lot of people have had this
before where people will say, oh my god, do it
in an English accent, and it's like part of me
just does this, right of course, And if the characters
(13:23):
written to be American, and if there's if there's comedy,
comedy is a big thing. Everything sounds so different as
soon as it's done in an English accent. The timing,
the intonation and everything like that, the whole performance changed,
the whole character changes. And there was an argument that,
you know, you could have pulled it off as an
English accent, but this character didn't need They didn't need that,
you know, he didn't need the added thing. This character
he had to say there anywhere. Yeah, and he was,
(13:47):
you know, he was the arrogant New York, New York
type guy. So yeah, do you remember how many times
we would all be like out and about or doing
something in New York and people like these trust fund kids,
whether they were older than us or around Chuck's age
at the time, and they would be like, you know,
Chuck's written about me, and I'd be like, that's not true.
Though I still get it. I still get it. I
(14:10):
mean it happened often, it happens now. I mean, I've
got people who are like either way, either they're an
artists based on me or people just were like, hey,
I based my whole life on on that character. It's like,
well you need some different heroes seriously. But had a
big heart though. I mean it was it was a
hell of a character, you know. And I think one
of the things that we got out of doing so
(14:32):
many episodes with such an amount of um storyline is
you really get to go to different places with the
character and really see an evolution in the character. And
I think, you know you you really got that with
Chuck Bass And for me it was just like this
it was it was wasn't like just an education, but
it really wasn't for for an actor, you know. I
(14:54):
mean I got to do everything this character, go to
all different emotions, try all different things, and so it
was really this epic um It was epico exactly. Obviously,
(15:20):
you worked with Layton so much Blair and I always
say that Chuck and Blair were kind of like our
Ross and Rachel, Like you wanted them, you fought for them,
you rooted for them. And I was just rewatching some
of the episodes and I didn't even realize where the
moment was where you guys kind of like hooked up
and started. I thought it was later on, but it's
been so many years. Can you guys play clip three please?
(15:42):
There's a big ass moment in the show. Thanks to Lime,
you were amazing, but this moment, oh, oh my god.
(16:05):
I never really remembered where this spark started and happened.
And this is super super major right now. I mean,
they're like our Rachel and Ross, you know what I mean.
I already loved this and I don't even remember what happened.
So it was episode seven in the first season, which
(16:27):
I thought for some reason it was later Yeah, isn't
that crazy? It was that early on? It was it
was that early on. But here's the things. You guys
are in the back of the limo. You guys hook up.
She loses her virginity to you, not Nate, which is
like another thing I didn't even realize. Yeah, and that
was like, isn't that wild? And so yeah, I was like, well,
(16:51):
this is kind of where little things were dropped for
us to be like start taking this ride with you guys,
But can you explain how you felt about that relationship?
Blair and Chuck and just how working with Layton was
because she was always fun and great to work with
and spontaneous and awesome. And you guys really had a
chemistry for those characters from Jump, because I also asked
(17:15):
David about it, and they didn't from the pilot. Serena
and Dan were the original kind of relationship that started
from from Jump. So I kind of think that when
you guys had the chemistry you did, I think that
kind of woke a lot of people up to be like, Oh,
we're going to explore this, but all of a sudden
that happened, and then you guys really throughout the whole
series were on a roller coaster and we just wanted
(17:37):
to be with you guys sitting next to you the
whole time. M M. I think I heard that as well.
You know, like the writers kind of watched stuff and
kind of got feedback from what was going on on
set as well in terms of what chemistry was there,
and they elaborated and they sold. You know, I've never
really seen a lot of a lot of the episodes,
(17:57):
you know, I've seen a little bits of pieces, so
I I'm one day maybe i'll watch them all. I'd
like to probably at some point I think it was funny. Yeah.
I actually think a lot of us haven't because a
lot of people that have already come on and done
their episodes are like, I don't know this, I don't
remember that, And I'm like, I know, we all got
together for a couple of months maybe and watched at
Stephanie's in the very beginning early, but I feel like
(18:18):
after a couple of months with then we started filming
again so people would be on set it was too hectic. Yeah,
and then you're in the middle of it, you know what,
We're going to run home on Monday at seven o'clock
at night, and you know it was I mean that
that would just be very weird, wouldn't just trying to
trying to get home so you can watch yourself. Yeah. Look,
I think I had an amazing time working with Lighton
(18:41):
and people. People really really well taken with that relationship.
It means so much to people, which is so cute
and funny, and especially as you say, because I'm slightly disconnected,
not because because I never saw it. I'm like, I'm
part of something that's so important to someone, but not
really part of it. You know. It's like even though
(19:02):
you are it even apparently, but she's She's an incredible talent,
Missa Dearly, and we we just had this great chemistry
and we used to make each other laugh and I
felt protective over her at times, and yeah, she probably
made me. She probably made me better, just the way
you guys played off each other, and then both of
(19:23):
your styles as Blair and Chuck were so epic. And
then yeah, right before action and getting into character, you
guys did have a cool vibe and that I think
that's what bleeds into when you watched the show. It
just wasn't You guys are both incredible actors that that
we know, but it was all of it. I think
you guys both respected each other very very much, and
(19:46):
that bled into playing off of each other for so
many years. And I just think it's really cool. When
I went back and watched Adam being honest, because I
didn't really see a lot of the show either, there
was times I teared up. There's times I was like,
oh my god, you guys, really it was special. It
was really really cute. It was it felt special, and
it felt I didn't have to fake that too much.
You know, I'm not saying I was in love with
(20:06):
Laton or whatever. But like it wasn't it didn't feel
like forced. You didn't do it, man. I mean, look,
she's a beautiful girl. She was incredible actress. She found
the vulnerability with that character that made it very easy
to work with and motivde it very easy for for me,
my character to fall in love with. So you had
(20:27):
a lot of them working with her. Give me one
give me one second, Mom, can you please take Humphrey away? Mom,
I can't believe he was that good, sitting in there
the whole time though. No, no, no, he just came
running out. Yeah, we'll give your mom a big hug.
Mom just sends a big hug to you. She sends
(20:48):
one back. Um, can we talk about just some of
the places that we filmed, Empire State Building, You guys
go to Paris all over New York City, Like we
were talking about this on another episode. Everyone was such
a fan and wanted to be such a part of
the show in the city that like it didn't matter
what concert, what restaurant, what venue. They were just like
you guys, come whenever you want. Because I think they
(21:11):
all wanted to either you know, be on the show
or have have their place on it. And when I
look back, that's pretty crazy. Like even like the Mets stairs,
that's pretty cool to be a part of, don't you think.
I think it's amazing. I don't know if you remember,
but there's there's Gossip Girl Day. Were you there that
day when Mike Bloomberg he was mayor, he came down
and he crowned that Gossip Girl Day? And I've got
(21:33):
I've got the declaration. It's like, oh my god, I
know that happened. I wasn't there though, Yeah, there's an
official Gossip Girl Day, So like, I mean, what you know,
it's like and you know there's like a tour of
like oh yeah, oh yeah, it's tours. There's all of that.
I mean, it's nuts. Were we were or I don't
(21:54):
know about part of New York sounds weird, but a
part of New York culture. You know. Um My mom's hilarious.
She's trying to get in on the podcast now. She's
like she's like shouting answer. She's like, legends, your legends
lay in the kitchen the dinner anyway. No, yeah, you're right,
(22:27):
look it was it was It was not some I
don't know when did you know when did you know
of what happened when you were like, oh, this is
a special show on this as a hit because I
was when I was allowed to drink underage in New
York City. No, m but I mean, look, you know
(22:48):
where we used to live in Chelsea, there was there
was that big billboard up. I mean that was early
on early. I remember that we were walking underneath it
and I remember being like, whoa it was? It was
it you and and Chase and Blake. I can't remember
who it was, but it was the biggest billboard I've
ever seen and it was right outside and like, whoa.
So it was that. There was the busses, but that
was really I don't know if that was necessarily when
(23:09):
I knew it was a hit. I think it was when, um,
I mean, there's a bunch of stuff. It was whatever
we started happening to have security guards or whether there
were crowds, it was. It was nuts, man, it was nuts.
It was nuts. I'll never forget. I think I might
have had a couple of episodes. Off went back to
l A. And I came back and a few of
us had found a little pub that we would go
(23:30):
and have drinks in our little area after work or
every once in a while whatever, and it was like
little Lacey sent me a picture of that, like a
couple of days ago, so did Ethan, Like last week.
I thought it was closed. It looked shut down, and
I was like, no, he was like he was like
he was like, he was like, dude, it's eleven am.
(23:55):
But I remember coming back. I'm walking in to meet
you guys, and there was like forty girls with like
short skirts and heels, and I was like, this is
like a little pub that no one knew about. And
I had remember hearing that there was these promoters that
would take all these girls to the meatpacking district to
go out to the clubs, and they found out that
(24:16):
the hot gossip girl guys, we're hanging out at this
little pub, so they would come in there. I mean,
the way the girls were with you guys was I mean,
sometimes we couldn't get through a scene because they were screaming.
They were showing up in short skirts in the middle
of winter at a pub just to be in the
same room as you guys, which is like wild, I
know it was. It was. It was you know what,
shout out to the west Side Taven. You know, we
(24:37):
love you, that's true, we love you so much. But
it was it was there wasn't really anything going on,
and then all of a sudden it was the most
popping bath to be out on, like a Friday, on
a Thursday, Friday side on a Tuesday. Well it depended.
It was depending on when we because our schedules were
all over. Some days I had Wednesday, Thursday, Friday off.
Do you know what I mean? So my weekend sometimes
(24:59):
started on a two his day? You know what I mean?
Are you trying to tell me, are you trying to
admit that you're at the west Side to having Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday ride? No, don't tell them, but that is like
things like that were happening. And then I remember we
would be at events and like Keith Richard's daughters wanted
to meet you guys, and Sylvester Stallone, Like I remember,
(25:22):
we'd be in rooms and I'd be like, why is
Sylvestor Stallone walking over? And he'd be like, my daughters
are fans. It was nuts. I mean I was just
actually at the Stones gig in l A a couple
of weeks back, and you know, I mean that's a
relationship that I've had since um after years, and all
of this stuff, all of these all of these crazy opportunities,
all these people have met, all of the mad stuff
(25:44):
that's all happened, you know, because I went to l
A and I auditioned to be on an American TV
show and I got the job, and no, I mean,
and then we only changed my life and people loved there,
you know what I mean. It's just it's just nuts,
you know, it's nuts. Yeah, And then why season did
you and Chase decide to be roommates. It was also
funny that we all lived within a couple of bucks
(26:06):
of each other. And then how weird is it that
your next door neighbor was Alex Paul with the chain
smokers and then went on to become a super I'll
never forget. He was like working at the art gallery
behind our building, remember that. Yeah, and Deejaying making like
real little money just to get by and keep doing
what he loved. And now he has residencies. Is one
of the biggest DJs, or they are. It's crazy, and
(26:28):
I still talk to me. He's like such a lovely person,
like hasn't changed one bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's not
Chase and I agreed to live together on the pilot.
He was like, do you want a room together. I'd
never lived outside my parents house, and I was like, yeah, sure, whatever,
And I went back to the UK and he went
and looked at some places and he sent me like
the strangest photos. It was like the corner of the
(26:49):
ceiling or like a bit of the floor. Sure now whatever.
They don't really know. I was going on, it's fine, whatever,
And and so we lived together the first two years.
I think, yeah, and that roof deck was. We loved
barbecues up there. I kind of want to go back
there next time. Oh my god, you know what you're
doing right now. You're just like we should rent a
(27:11):
place in the side. We should. Oh god, that would
be so sick. I um like, it's one of those things,
you know. I It was strange because when we finished
the show, I was so ready to kind of move
on and so ready for a change of scenery. But
like in the last couple of years, I've really been
reflecting on what that was and our time there and
(27:34):
this whole thing, and man, I just can't believe that
I did that with my life. You know, at such
a young age, like Joe, we had like the most
amazing and yeah, and then we got to travel the
world to promote the show, and you got you know,
you were living with someone you worked with who was
one of your dear friends and roommates, and you know,
(27:55):
whether it was a concert or an art show or
a play or shopping or what in Central Park, like
we were just like living it up and taking in
New York. And I really think everyone was very appreciative
of everything. I don't think anyone know, it was a
good group of people. I think we were all very lucky.
I think we realized we were lucky, and we realized
(28:16):
how amazing this ride was. And I mean, god damn.
I mean it's just it's not it's it's that's why
it's so good to chat to you now, because I
don't often get to talk to any of the gang,
right because a lot of us, yeah, we're all like
doing our things, and but it's nice. It's nice to
reminisce man remin this with you, you know, because otherwise
(28:37):
you're like talking about other people in your life and
like they just don't know, they just don't get out,
you know, So many people went through things, and you know,
people dated each other, people lost each other, like the
people the dogs died, like life, we all lived it together.
It was like, yeah, Kelly had a baby, like there
was lots going on. How sweet is Kelly? I love
the girl? I love their girls so much. She's one
(28:59):
of fall Um. I'm gonna play a couple of quotes
and I want to see if you can tell me
which character said it. You know what's love when you
start talking like an assassin. I'm gonna go with Lane.
You know what's love when you start talking like an assassin? Oh?
Is that me to said it? No? It was yeah, okay.
A man is a good thing to come home for,
(29:21):
but an even better thing to come home with. Oh Um,
I feel like any character could say that, I'm gonna go,
I'm gonna go, creat I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go
to Lily vander Wilson. A man is a good thing
to come home for, but an even better thing to
come home with. It was Kristen. Yeah, okay. Um. Every
(29:44):
nerve ending in my body is electrified by hatred, um, chalk, brass.
Every nerve ending in my body is electrified by hatred.
Come on, come on, this guy so hard man. I
feel like any character can say, Okay, here's the last one.
(30:06):
People like me don't write books they're written about that's
Chuck Bass Baby. I remember that people like me don't
write books written about it. Yeah, have you watched the
(30:31):
new one at all? I haven't seen it. I haven't
seen it. I just wish those I think the most
important thing at least, what I can say is I
hope that those kids have a great time, and I
hope they're being looked after, you know, because it's absolutely nuts,
you know, the whole kind of like becoming famous overnight
at nineteen is a effing trip, absolutely and it really
(30:52):
did feel like people say things like that don't happen overnight.
I really, even if we were acting for years before that,
what happened with that show, it did feel like overnight.
It felt like one day it aired and the next
day we had I remember getting a call and they
were like, you guys need to get a publicist. And
I remember looking at the prices for a publicist and
I'm like, I'm not I'm not paying that much, like
you have to have one. Remember that, Yeah, because we
(31:14):
were doing the cover of New York Magazine, I think,
and you and I were the only two without publicists.
Everyone like had a whole team with them, and I'm like,
I still don't have a publicist. I ain't paying that money.
It's expensive, Yeah, but I know I get it. Yeah.
I spoke to Stephanie about it, and we were emailing
a little while ago. And as I've always said in
(31:35):
all of these interviews, when I asked about that, I
love Josh and Stephanie, which wished them all the best
and put the kids who are doing it, I have
fun Psye it was. I've seen pictures and I'm like, wow,
they really cast you know, how to cast a beautiful Yeah,
they're bad looking at us. They're all bad looking at
us beautiful. And then can we just talk about how
when you started a TikTok it basically exploded. It's you
(31:58):
as Chuck Bass, Yeah it is. I mean, look, I
was I was looking for a way to launch it
and that kind of was one of the trends that
was going on, and I did that, and yeah, it
blew up pretty quick. But how weird is this? When
we were doing the show, there wasn't TikTok Instagram. There
wasn't even cell phones with like cameras. Really, I mean
(32:19):
there was, but the quality wasn't great. And we basically
carried a show for so many years about a gossip
blog when like now, if you ask you could ask
a little girl, what do you want to be? She
could say, I want to be a blogger? What we
were doing the show that wasn't a thing yet, you
know what I'm saying. It was a little bit ahead
of its time, and I think that's why it's still relevant.
(32:40):
It was. It was very much ahead of its time.
We were kind of perhaps a caution retail as to
the way the world was going to go and has gone. Right,
if we'd had a choice to go back to where
it wasn't so many things, internet platforms, all the things,
even for like a month, would you take it or
(33:00):
do you like other stuff? A hundred million? Me too,
I said the other day I would go back that
way and have lived life if we could. And my
sister was like, you have to write down the directions
to get to someone's house. You have to call. I said, yeah,
you gotta remember numbers. You have to show up. You
can't be playing. I mean, people did that for years
now were like, yeah, funny those Well, you know, when
(33:22):
you're when you're kind of in your late teens or
your early twenties or whatever it is, you're like, you
don't really see the world changing that much. You don't
think it's going to change the things. Oh we've done it,
we've done it, or this is it. You also don't
feel like you're ever going to be one of those
people who come across sounding like an old person, do
you know what I mean? Like, yeah, my day it
was different, but it's so damn true. It's true. Literally,
(33:45):
I'm liked because I'm sure when when Bowie's older, there's
probably gonna be flying cars, like she's never gonna know.
I don't even know if they're going to teach her
how to like if we'll teach her how to write.
I mean I will, because I think that's something everyone
should know. But I'm areus because it's going to be
all computers and stuff. Yeah, I mean you know what
I mean, you really shouldn't admit to you know, to
(34:08):
tell till the wealth that you're just going to be
a negligent parent. And no, but I don't think in schools,
trust me. I will, but I don't think in schools
they'll do that. I think it's going to be teaching
kids how to type. You know, there's I don't even
know if people are gonna put like stamps and write
a letter in the mail, if they'll even have that,
(34:28):
I want them to. I think Bowie should always do that.
You can always write me a letter. You can be
Bowie's penpal. Okay, yeah, I'll be uh yeah, that's not
it's not weird at all. She's it'll be like a handprint. Um,
we can wrap it up. But I just wanted one
thing because we didn't touch on it, is um fashion,
(34:49):
because you always had a really really sick style outside
of Chuck Bass, even though I think his whole thing
was so dope and so good, and that I know
has to do with you and a lot with Eric
d Amen. But how good did he he? What he
all did with each character. Don't you think he was
just so amazing? Eric crushed it, crushed he uh yeah,
(35:11):
he crushed it, he really did. I mean, I think,
you know it was funny when we had when I
saw I saw people kind of dressing up his Chuck
Bass for Halloween. How theweens kind of like a you know,
jokey thing, but it was still a sign that you
just saw guys on the street kind of doing it
or stuff coming out in the stores, like they were
little kind of trends or they were very Chuck Bass
(35:32):
Eric Eric is an amazing talent. And yeah, I mean
people still go to Gossip Girl for fashion tips, you know,
people still checking it out. I mean it is and
it does look the fashion looks quite timeless. Yeah, that's
one thing I'll say. I mean, if you get rid
of the flip phones, it could be it could be
right now, Yeah, you could absolutely, And it's just like
so funny little things like that Chuck scarf or Blair's
(35:55):
headband and stuff that ended up being staples, which I've
always I'm curious to know, like is that thought of
and in like on a board before the show, because
I know that there was inspiration, But there's certain staples
like I picture when I picture Chuck Bass, even though
I had to toe, he has like a phenomenal that
that scarf is like a staple. Yeah, yeah, I remember
(36:16):
it sold out. Told me it sold out for like
for the longest time. I'm not shocked at all. Yeah, Yeah, yeah,
it's yeah, Well, I'll let you get back. I know
it's later there, and you have a new dog. Mel
did mention about Wolves of War, a movie you have
coming out. Do you want to talk about that or
do you know when it's coming out yet? Or we
(36:38):
shot in the UK. I got that done at the
end of COVID. Well, when COVID was finishing, things were
opening up. World War two thriller, which is an era
that I I've always enjoyed, always been fascinated with. And
it's a second film we've done that's that's in that era.
I'm British in this. I one of the good guys
and it's yeah, it's I mean, I haven't seen it yet,
(37:02):
but it was it was, it was good. It was good,
fun to make. And yeah, you know, if you're a
guy or a girl or whatever you are, check it out. Yes,
I'm looking forward to it. And do you like filming?
Do you prefer to film there over the States? It
just depends on the project. I haven't worked in the
US in a while, so I'm looking forward to getting back.
(37:23):
I'm supposed to be in in New Orleans doing something
in January, so we'll figure it out. Yeah, well, we'll
talk soon. It was really lovely to see you and reminisce.
It brought back a lot of vibes and feelings and
you're awesome. It was lovely to hear your mom's voice.
And um, I hope Humphreys like feeling good and okay,
(37:45):
that's a big change for it on. He's doing really well.
He's doing really really well. I hope you hope you
get to get to meet him one day, and I
look forward to seeing seeing all of you guys. So hey,
thanks for having me all right. Oh my gosh, I
just can't with that guy. He cracks me up. And
(38:08):
thank you for giving us Chuck bass Man and for
joining me today on the podcast and to the rest
of you. Come back next week for an all new
episode of XO x OH with another original cast member.
She's the absolute best. She's an amazing person, a beautiful mom.
Her character really grounded the show in so many ways
with her on and off again relationship with Rufus and
(38:30):
commitment to her kids, even if she wasn't perfect as
you may be guessed, I'm bringing on Kelly Rutherford also
known as Lilly vander Woodson bass Humphrey who's to say. Regardless,
I can't wait. And that's it for this week, you guys,
Until next time. XO x O x O x O
(38:52):
is produced by Propagate Content and me Jessica's Or. Our
show is executive produced by Langley. Our producers are Diego Tapia,
Emily Are, and Hannah Harris. Original music by Moxie and Lune,
and the episode was mixed by seth O Lansky h
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