Something to 'Gossip' About: CW Stars Try to Transition Into Movies

2/08/2011 Posted by Admin

Something to 'Gossip' About: CW Stars Try to Transition Into Movies

Commentary

By our guest blogger, Joel Crabtree


Oh, the things I love about the CW's “Gossip Girl” are so numerous that you would need pages of blog posts to truly capture them all.

But my favorite thing (other than Chuck Bass's made-for-radio voice) is that, despite having relatively low ratings and a demographic that most networks find unenviable, “Gossip Girl has created an illusion. It's like a teen-dream David Copperfield, somehow tricking the media into thinking that it's far more relevant and popular than it actually is.

I suppose that comes from the mostly young(ish) cast, all of whom are full of potential talent. In that sense, “Gossip Girl” is sort of like a long-term investment. For whom, exactly, will the investment pay off? Certainly not for the CW – they haven't capitalized on anything popular since the first season of “Smallville.”

I suppose, if anybody's going to benefit from “Gossip Girl,” it's going to be the actors themselves. Some have already started to increase their presence in the film world, others have tried and failed, and still, others haven't even bothered.

This past weekend, Leighton Meester (Blair Waldorf, the show's unsung antihero) took her first real stab at a starring role on the big screen with “The Roommate,” which, as expected, received a lot of poor reviews.

Certainly, the verdict for Ms. Meister's career is still out. But it's clear – as it is with many of the CW's stars – there is a lot of potential there. With two more movies slated for 2011--“The Oranges” and “Monte Carlo"--by the end of the year, we'll be able to better gauge where Ms. Meester's career is headed.

On top of acting, Leighton has found a niche in the music world and, if the rumor's true, she makes the good girls go bad.

But enough about Leighton Meester, what about the rest of the cast? Well, here's a rundown of how the “Gossip Girl” cast is fairing so far in the film world:

Those who have found early success:

Blake Lively: You could almost consider this cheating, considering that before she hit it big on “Gossip Girl,” Lively already had a film career with “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.” More recently, however, Lively has raced to the head of the class by landing roles in Ben Affleck's critically acclaimed Boston crime-drama “The Town” and this summer's potential blockbuster “Green Lantern.”

Penn Badgley: Everyone's favorite Dan Humphrey (OK, maybe not everyone's favorite, but certainly one of mine) got off on the wrong foot taking the lead in 2009's “The Stepfather.” Sure, it sucked, but it put Badgley on the map outside of the Cwverse. He followed that up with a strong supporting performance in “Easy A,” and, in doing so, has established himself as a young actor to watch.

The Ones Who Have Tried and Failed … So Far

Chace Crawford: It would be more appropriate to label this section “The One Who Has Tried and Failed,” but I didn't have the heart to throw Chace Crawford under the bus alone.

So far we've really only seen Crawford in “The Haunting of Molly Hartley” (one of the worst of 2008) and Joel Schumacher's disaster “Twelve.” Nice effort on the latter, though.

With his dashing leading-man good looks, it's really only a matter of time before Crawford lands something huge. But for now, it seems as though his name only comes up in rumors (such as Captain America or Spider-man) that are, in fact, false. Someday, though, Crawford's going to land the big one – someday.

Those Who Haven't Even Tried … Yet

Ed Westwick: Westwick is one of those guys who has established his character, Chuck Bass, so well on “Gossip Girl” that I'm not certain I'll be able to buy him as anything else. But, at one point I probably would have said the same thing about Will Smith on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” or Drake on “DeGrassi.” But, then again, I would have said the same thing about Mark-Paul Gosselaar or Mario Lopez on “Saved by the Bell,” and I would have been right.

Taylor Momsen: Her name's Taylor, and because she's a young star, that means she has to be huge (Lautner, Swift, Hicks...anyone?) Although she has no movies on the horizon, we can only hope this 17-year-old actress does something with vampires. Because, certainly, I haven't had enough of that yet.

Who do you think will be the biggest star to emerge from “Gossip Girl”?

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