Q&A: Evan Mock, Emily Lind & Thomas Doherty on the 'Gossip Girl' reboot.

Q&A: Evan Mock, Emily Lind & Thomas Doherty on the 'Gossip Girl' reboot.

The stars of HBO Max's new hit show 'Gossip Girl', Evan Mock, Emily Lind, and Thomas Doherty got together over Zoom for a Q&A to discuss all things their new show - from the pressures of starring in a reboot, to being able to sleep just about anywhere (yes, even a concrete floor). 

'Gossip Girl' is now available to watch in New Zealand on Neon

Q: What are some of the most fun or funniest moments from filming 'Gossip Girl'?

EMILY LIND: I have an entire camera roll album that I'll pull up later, that I'm collecting, of the weirdest positions and places that Evan, Thomas and Whitney fall asleep. Once I brought a pillow to set too because it was like a 4am call. I was gonna go get it and I'm like, "Oh, there's Evan sleeping on the pillow."

EVAN MOCK: I stole your pillow.

EMILY: Do you remember that? 

EVAN: Yes, I do.

EMILY: I thought that was cute! And then once, I mean a lot of the time, Thomas, who I didn't even know meditates, will just be like, 'Mmmmm.' He also falls asleep with his eyes open a lot of time and I have lots of videos of that. 

THOMAS DOHERTY: Me and Evan can just fall asleep like that on a concrete floor. It's amazing.

EVAN: On a concrete floor, really, really lovely!

EMILY: It's so fun that it's really hard to get through scenes as groups. And it gets kind of stressful because we cannot stop laughing.

EVAN: There has just been so many times where we'd look around at each other and just wonder, 'What are we doing?'

EMILY: 'What are we doing here?'

EVAN: Just so many different occasions. I feel like it almost happens every time we show up on set. 

EMILY: So weird. 

THOMAS: Yeah! 

EVAN: Throw a bunch of wild cats into a cage and this is what you'll get, a lot of weird times. But it's been insane. 

THOMAS: It was really fun for me. I think one of the first days we filmed, was when we filmed on The Met steps. I really thought that was really amazing, it was really special.

EMILY: That was the moment!

THOMAS: Because it's so iconic. 

EVAN: That was the first time we all filmed together.

THOMAS: Yeah and it was the moment that it kind of really like sunk in. 

Q: Do you guys feel any pressure to have the reboot as big and as iconic as the original 'Gossip Girl'?

THOMAS: I don't really have any pressure with it being as iconic as the first one because for me, it definitely is. I just like love being on set, I love my life and living in New York, I had a great time. So whatever will be, will be, and even the final product, like I hope that it's amazing. I hope that people can relate and will enjoy it, essentially. But for me, like it's about the doing of it that's the most important thing and I want to make that experience as fun as possible.

Q: Evan, this is your first role, what were some of the experiences for you that were the most fun to film? And was it easy to adapt?

EVAN: I think for me, some of my favourite times are just figuring things out about my character and feeling like you can relate to that character in your life. Being able to film in New York is such a special thing. Going to all these iconic places and hearing what other, either TV shows or iconic movies, have been filmed here as well. You kind of put yourself in their shoes so it's cool to be able to be on such a large scale and really try to make it the best you can. It's been an amazing time working with these two especially, I feel like I've learned so much and I learn so much every single day so it's been actually an amazing experience. I wouldn't say it's been easy to adapt, I just think if it's the schedule, you've got to do it, you signed up for it, and try to make it the best you can. So I'm just trying to keep that attitude and hopefully, we don't let them down.

Q: What is it like to work with Eric Damon and wear so many cool clothes on set?

EMILY: It's great! Before I got into this show, I was very much not a designer person. I'm not into brand name labels but I found a new love for it when I met Eric. I feel like whenever I want, I'm a part of something like fashion is 100% an art-form. Whatever I am doing constantly, I like to know about it. I'm kind of a geek in that way, I did a lot of research, read a lot of books about the history, especially the brands that I really like. I feel like there's so much to touch on and there is such an expression. It can say so much about a character and even when we're in our school uniforms. The cool thing about Eric is that he is somehow able to have each character, even if you're just gonna wear blue and white -- every single character somehow like seeps through. You can tell their character, you can tell their personality, through the simplest things, really little touches. The cool thing about it also is that I've heard, and I'm sure that people will know later, but there's some easter eggs in every episode. And one of them I think is in Episode 1 and that really touches on the fashion as well. So fans of the previous ['Gossip Girl'] will be able to pick that up, which is really cool. 

Q: Max reminds fans of Chuck from the original 'Gossip Girl', did you base anything on Chuck at all or is it completely new and all you?

THOMAS: A lot of fans do compare Max and Chuck and I think that's because of the dynamic in the groups, they play a similar role. But I mean, the times have definitely changed greatly and my character is a lot more sexually fluid - he's pansexual. I think that definitely changes a lot, in terms of all the characters. I have two dads. There are these major elements to Max that definitely don't correlate with Chuck. And I do definitely feel that, but you're obviously conscious. Like I say, the dynamic, the role within the dynamic of the group is similar. And his is the most similar to mine but I definitely feel like Chuck was a bit darker and I feel like Max is very open to experience and he definitely kind of lives for the experience of things but does it in a lighter way.

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