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One thing many people seem to forget about Gossip Girl is that it started life out as a series of books by Cecily Von Ziegesar. On the whole, these books shared a premise and some characters. Most of the central characters share a name and some personality traits, while a few storylines overlap. Beyond that, there is a lot of difference.
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We’ve taken some of the main characters from the show and compared how they look on-screen, to how they were first described in the book series.
12 Serena
In the book, Serena Van Der Woodsen is described as tall, blonde, slim and attractive. She uses her looks to secure what she wants and needs, but is shown to be rather kind and caring, without putting a whole lot of effort into her wardrobe.
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Obviously, as we know from the show, Blake Lively nails the tall, blonde, slim and attractive side of Serena. Her portrayal in the show might not paint her in such a kind and caring way, however, and as we all know, half of the appeal of Gossip Girl too many was its fashion, so Serena definitely had that aspect covered.
11 Dan
As we know, Penn Badgely’s portrayal of Dan is iconic. He starts the show with short black hair that is easy to forget about by the end, where it has evolved to become curly and quite long.
The book describes him as tall, pale, neurotic and intense. His intensity isn’t revealed directly in the show until we find out that he was Gossip Girl the whole time, but the neuroticism is certainly front and center. As for tall and pale? Not particularly.
10 Chuck
The character of Chuck in the Gossip Girl novels is pretty much completely different from the version we see in the show. Firstly, he is at the front and center of most of the show’s storylines, and second, he is straight. The book version of Chuck is a relatively minor character who is pretty much gay throughout.
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In terms of looks, we’re all familiar with the smoldering good looks of the square-faced Upper East Sider. The book describes his enjoyment of scarves (tick) and gravelly low voice (tick), so they’re actually quite in line in that sense.
9 Blair
Blair Waldorf in the books is a brunette who likes to model her appearance after famous actresses of the 1900s.
This is almost spot on, with Leighton Meester capturing pretty much what we expect from the character, right down to the obsession with fashion and imitation of her icons.
8 Nate
The show made Nate into the nice guy, who is overshadowed by the presence of Chuck and as such, reduced to the least important of the central five characters.
The description of his look isn’t examined in much detail in the book but is mostly centered on the fact that he is attractive enough to have Serena and Blair fighting over him throughout the series. This sort of happens in the show, and he is definitely attractive enough for it to, so this is quite a faithful recreation as well.
7 Vanessa
One of the most dramatic changes in appearance between the books and TV series of Gossip Girl can be seen through Vanessa.
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In terms of the storyline, she and Dan end up together in the end, which is completely different to the ostracization of her from New York as in the show. In terms of look, the novel describes her as completely bald. Obviously, Jessica Szohr has black hair in the show.
6 Jenny
Another of the particularly dramatic changes between the book and the show comes through Jenny Humphrey. Considering Dan’s sister is just fourteen when the book starts, it seems a little weird to have a major part of her storyline revolve around her huge breasts, but that’s exactly what it does.
Thankfully, this is cut entirely from the show and Jenny is a tall, fashion-conscious, blonde teenager played by Taylor Momsen, who would go on to front the band The Pretty Reckless.
5 Eric
The TV show version of Eric is younger than Serena and starts off the show with a suicide attempt that draws Serena back from boarding school. He is young, gay and blonde-haired, before evolving into the tall, darker-haired guy who returns for a cameo in the finale of the show.
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The books make him a much less important character, who is older than Serena, straight and tall, making very infrequent appearances.
4 Lily
Lily Van Der Woodsen is the mother of Serena and Eric (and later Chuck, through adoption, and Scott Rosson). She is played by Kelly Rutherford and is a very attractive, short lady with a keen sense of style akin to most people in the show.
In the book, she is much less relevant to the story, and very little about her is revealed aside from the fact that she is Serena and Eric’s mother.
3 Rufus
Considering the fact that the Rufus of the TV series was a Rockstar in a past life, the book version has a rather less exciting failed-poet lifestyle.
The books describe him as having unkempt hair and old clothes that don’t particularly fall into a style. This might be the most accurate translation of look between the two versions, with Matthew Settle’s appearance being pretty much exactly that.
2 Georgina
In both the show and books, Georgina is a lover of chaos and drama.
Her pale and skinny description is partially consistent between the two versions but her presence in rehab doesn’t translate from the book to the show, while her motherhood doesn’t exist in the book.
1 Ivy Dickens
This is an easy one. Ivy Dickens, played by Kaylee DeFer, didn’t exist in the book series in any form. In the show, she is attractive and blonde and spends half of her time pretending to be Charlie Rhodes before becoming a main character in season five and six.
As there is no book character to base this casting on, then it seems they were absolutely right?
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