Speaker 1: Hey, I'm Aaron Schwartz. I played Bonja, I'm gossip Girl
Speaker 1: and we are rewatching rufus getting there. Welcome back, listeners.
Speaker 1: Do you want an only source into all things gossip crul?
Speaker 1: You know you'll love it? X O x ol. Hey,
Speaker 1: what's up? Hey everybody? Hi? Aeron dude, I'm doing good.
Speaker 1: How you doing? I'm in here. Sammy's excited right now.
Speaker 1: I don't know what I'm talking to somebody? What's going on?
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, we're talking to Aaron Schwartz today and
Speaker 1: her beautiful dog Puppy's she's like, what are you doing?
Speaker 1: She is too, she just turned to like a couple
Speaker 1: of days ago. Yes, so handful. Yeah, but she's very
Speaker 1: puppy like right she's she's rambunctious. I hear. So. It's
Speaker 1: nice to see you both. Nice to see everybody here. Yes,
Speaker 1: the last time we saw each other, this is Aaron Schwartz,
Speaker 1: everyone who played the lovely I'm gonna let you say
Speaker 1: it with the accent. God knows, I might have lost
Speaker 1: half of the accent the last time you did it.
Speaker 1: I think that's how Yeah, Vanya, I forget your last
Speaker 1: name though, doesn't need one. I feel like it's just
Speaker 1: very It's like Madonna, like, yeah, you just got it. Um,
Speaker 1: but wait, let me ask about Sam. He's your dog's name, right, yes, yes,
Speaker 1: So when you travel for work or like when we
Speaker 1: were just in North or North Carolina? Is that where
Speaker 1: we were? South Carolina? South Carolina, South Carolina? And when
Speaker 1: I said no, I'm like, no, that's not okay. Yeah,
Speaker 1: when we were in Charleston, which I loved. By the way,
Speaker 1: what do you do with your dog? I put her,
Speaker 1: So it depends if I have friends. I moved to
Speaker 1: Texas not too long ago, so I don't have a
Speaker 1: ton of friends out here, but sometimes friends will watch her.
Speaker 1: But most of the time I keep her a place
Speaker 1: called K nine Cowboy. It's very cute, very perfect. It's
Speaker 1: a little house maybe like forty minutes. I do this
Speaker 1: forty minute drive just to put her there because it's
Speaker 1: kennel free and it's easy for her to like play
Speaker 1: in a house with a bunch of other dogs, and
Speaker 1: I just leave her there when well, yeah, because she's
Speaker 1: like it's not easy to travel with that sized dog.
Speaker 1: Like are my dogs eleven you know, like eleven or
Speaker 1: twelve pounds? So it's like very easy to bring her underneath,
Speaker 1: like just yeah, I wish she was sometimes, Yeah, that
Speaker 1: you have a place like that, because that's like very hard.
Speaker 1: I've had dogs where I couldn't travel, So to know
Speaker 1: that you have a place where they're you know, can
Speaker 1: run around and are taken care of, then you can
Speaker 1: kind of go and like work without being stressed about it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I do wish she could travel with me. I didn't
Speaker 1: really think about that extensively before I got her. We
Speaker 1: just have to get a tour bus, Aaron, you can
Speaker 1: just do the van, I know, but you know, but
Speaker 1: I've actually always been really inspired by Aaron for many
Speaker 1: reasons as an actor, as an easy, tremendous friend, generous hearted,
Speaker 1: lovely human. But he also is such an adventurous soul.
Speaker 1: So he's lived I think, you know, has this New
Speaker 1: York East Coast family, lived in l A, did the
Speaker 1: Hollywood thing, and then just picked up and went to Texas,
Speaker 1: lived in Israel for three years Israel, which I think
Speaker 1: is so cool. It's so cool, right like, and he'd
Speaker 1: like pass that. He he has that thing that we
Speaker 1: talked about with Joanna Garcia. He always has that smile
Speaker 1: to like you can see right now does not leave
Speaker 1: your face. It's so so like warm, like warm and
Speaker 1: beautiful and don't know, it's very true. But I'm like,
Speaker 1: what what Susanna I'll just said is like you have
Speaker 1: like a very interesting story, and you've been to a
Speaker 1: lot of places, and you've been an actor and worked
Speaker 1: I mean like you've been in films that when I
Speaker 1: was younger, if I would have own that we worked
Speaker 1: on the same show together, sat like my younger self
Speaker 1: would have flipped out like Mighty Ducks. Yeah, nobody knew
Speaker 1: except for um, Matthew Settled. Matthew Settle. The first scene
Speaker 1: last episode, I don't know, he came up to me
Speaker 1: and was like, by the way, I know who you are,
Speaker 1: and I was like, am I in trouble? Like what's
Speaker 1: going on? So that's the only person that ever knew.
Speaker 1: But also, you guys were pretty young. I was in
Speaker 1: my early thirties at the time, and everybody on the
Speaker 1: set was in their early twenties, So I don't think
Speaker 1: it was like a thing that people really watched. Well,
Speaker 1: speaking of young, you have this fascinating, um, you know,
Speaker 1: sort of origin story as an actor because you were
Speaker 1: on Mighty Ducks. When you were a kid. And then
Speaker 1: you also were on what's the other movie? Um with Keenan,
Speaker 1: Oh my god, Heavyweights, those movies that were kind of
Speaker 1: cult classics. So you basically had this like Hollywood child
Speaker 1: star thing. And I know that you've been working. I
Speaker 1: don't know, you want to do something. Oh yeah, I
Speaker 1: talk about later down the line. We've been working on
Speaker 1: a project documentary on child stars. Yeah, that's awesome. It's
Speaker 1: something that you're exploring and really invested in finding the
Speaker 1: sort of psychological and emotional consequences of that kind of
Speaker 1: like the stigma attached to child actors. You know. Going
Speaker 1: back into the business when I was I was a
Speaker 1: little kid, I left went to Israel for like three
Speaker 1: four years off and on. I got back into the
Speaker 1: business when I was i'd say twenty, but I didn't
Speaker 1: really like really start hustling and getting an agent again
Speaker 1: and really started from scratch. By the time I was
Speaker 1: about twenty five, I did at Guiding Light, and then
Speaker 1: like within not too long after that, I booked Manya
Speaker 1: on Gossip Girl, and so that whole foray back into
Speaker 1: the business was kind of like a little bit of
Speaker 1: a you know, it was a little bit of a
Speaker 1: shock to the system to get back into it in
Speaker 1: my you know, late twenties, but I think it did
Speaker 1: some thing where it allowed me to kind of stay
Speaker 1: a little more grounded that I didn't keep on growing
Speaker 1: through my late teens and early twenties in the limelight,
Speaker 1: and I think it helped me not you know, attached
Speaker 1: to that stigma of child actors, which also can be
Speaker 1: to like where it is kind of separate, you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, in the sense of because you you
Speaker 1: like getting to know yourself and yourself as an actor
Speaker 1: all the way through all of that, because sometimes I
Speaker 1: feel like you you you are a different actor in
Speaker 1: your twenties and you were when you were on Mighty
Speaker 1: Ducks than you are in your thirties. And sometimes if
Speaker 1: you stay in that the whole time, it's hard for
Speaker 1: people to disconnect and then reconnect in a new role
Speaker 1: or a new film or so. I think it's like
Speaker 1: quite awesome and neat and really amazing either. Something about
Speaker 1: fame too, When you when you in the limelight and
Speaker 1: you have fame, you kind of take on the persona
Speaker 1: that people give you. I mean, I've seen it with
Speaker 1: some of the younger castmates. They just got famous right
Speaker 1: when I got on set and Gossip Girl, and I
Speaker 1: can see some of the not in a negative way
Speaker 1: at all. I just can see that some of the
Speaker 1: stuff that even if it was tabloids, hopefully they didn't
Speaker 1: listen to the tabloids, but you know, even just outside
Speaker 1: fandom would kind of put on them. They kind of
Speaker 1: took it as their personality in the beginning, and if
Speaker 1: you're young and you don't really have a grounding on
Speaker 1: your own personality, it could kind of envelop you and
Speaker 1: you you're acting world, your personal life all kind of
Speaker 1: becomes that same narrative, and it could be dangerous for sure.
Speaker 1: And there's probably something in that where it's like, because
Speaker 1: if the world and people are appreciating it, like you're
Speaker 1: being praised for it, and it's all this like wonderful
Speaker 1: thing and it's the show that's hitting and everyone's liking
Speaker 1: this about that character, it almost subconsciously probably feels like, oh,
Speaker 1: if this feels right and it's working for all these
Speaker 1: people that love it all over the world, then maybe
Speaker 1: it's should bleed into all my other my life lanes
Speaker 1: in my life. Yeah, And so you can you can
Speaker 1: kind of see where that would happen and where it
Speaker 1: could get like slippery or you know, depending on the
Speaker 1: type of person you are, or how you can handle
Speaker 1: it more well more well in anybody that I know.
Speaker 1: It's like you know that you you know your character
Speaker 1: on Gossip Girl, you know, keep the fans don't separate
Speaker 1: Jessica from your character that you are, you know, and
Speaker 1: it's it becomes this thing where they talk to you
Speaker 1: like you're her, and it could easily get just like
Speaker 1: smeared into it. Yeah, it's a wild interesting world, right.
Speaker 1: It's so hard to be an actor for so many reasons,
Speaker 1: you know, And it's like we already have to do
Speaker 1: so much like emotional maintenance to keep ourselves, you know, positive,
Speaker 1: because there's so much rejection and it's such an unsteady
Speaker 1: career path. And then on top of it, if you
Speaker 1: do have some success that you have to you know,
Speaker 1: stay grounded. And I have to keep it going. I
Speaker 1: gotta stay relevant, I gotta stay It's like such an
Speaker 1: anxiety written place to approach it to a lot of
Speaker 1: people always ask did you love doing Gossip Grow Of
Speaker 1: course I'm like, yes, it was such a good time
Speaker 1: in our lives. It was such a good show that
Speaker 1: so many people enjoyed, whether it was you know, getting
Speaker 1: through you know, there's people that have come up to
Speaker 1: us in South Carolina, remember and into Charlotte. Yes, like
Speaker 1: now that was like my Charles, my mom was fighting
Speaker 1: cancer and we really that was where we bonded and
Speaker 1: got through that. Or you know, I had a really
Speaker 1: tough pregnancy and I could check out and you know,
Speaker 1: just be thankful. And so when you hear that and
Speaker 1: see those types of things with fans, You're like, this
Speaker 1: really is so beautiful that we get paid to do
Speaker 1: something we love and it can affect people on some
Speaker 1: sort of level in that way. And then there's times
Speaker 1: where people like, well did you really love it like
Speaker 1: with all you know, the fame that came with it,
Speaker 1: or the people that you know didn't like your character
Speaker 1: so much, And I'm like, you know, it's it's a
Speaker 1: it's a mine line to like even answer that question.
Speaker 1: I have to I have to like ride this like line,
Speaker 1: you know, like because yes, I was super blessed and
Speaker 1: great and and you know what if people were affected
Speaker 1: by how Vanessa was or came off in certain seasons
Speaker 1: or the way she did certain things, to Dan, you
Speaker 1: know that's part of the entertainment and the show that
Speaker 1: we were in. Yeah, that's part because like sometimes loved
Speaker 1: and then Hayden hearing Oh that girl, Yeah, I remember her,
Speaker 1: and I was like, I wish you could meet Jessica
Speaker 1: because you would not feel this way. But it's so
Speaker 1: crazy because it's also I'm like, no, in a million years,
Speaker 1: you know, you're as an actor, you were like, you
Speaker 1: put all this time and effort into hoping that a
Speaker 1: pilot that you do or show you a character you
Speaker 1: play is able to keep coming back and keep growing
Speaker 1: and the audience loves it. So I'm like, no, I
Speaker 1: wouldn't change any of it. Um. But again, yeah, Vanessa
Speaker 1: did certain things Jessica did not, so keep it separate.
Speaker 1: But it's like you said, they don't. So that's a
Speaker 1: really good way to put it. Stephanie and Josh really
Speaker 1: really stuck into you sometimes they did. Yeah. But speaking
Speaker 1: of that, let's talk about your with Josh and Stephanie
Speaker 1: or you're casting your story? What were you with Josh
Speaker 1: and Stephanie? Were you in New York? Tell us, I
Speaker 1: was in New York, so I'm born and raised in
Speaker 1: New York and I was, I was getting back into
Speaker 1: the business, and I I think it was a year
Speaker 1: prior I was. Actually my ex told me I have
Speaker 1: to be on the show. I remember my ex was like,
Speaker 1: you met Nikki Susan. She was fantastic and she was
Speaker 1: a big girl fan, right huge, like right when right
Speaker 1: when those billboards came up with like you know, like
Speaker 1: two people like in the middle of it, and then
Speaker 1: the ad was like, this is disgusting, don't let your
Speaker 1: children watch it. I thought it was, but the parents,
Speaker 1: it was the parent council that was, oh yeah, it
Speaker 1: was amazing. So she's like, you have to be honest,
Speaker 1: and I'm I'm like this, do you know what's honey
Speaker 1: about that? Sorry, I don't want to go off seeing
Speaker 1: those billboards, the all the parent groups that were writing
Speaker 1: those in that's what our marketing team did. They took
Speaker 1: those quotes and then put it on like steamy billboards
Speaker 1: with like Nate and Serena like naked in a pool
Speaker 1: and Blair. So they did such a brilliant job anyway,
Speaker 1: and it was brilliant, and I think that was what
Speaker 1: gave it that like momentum to like just shoot out
Speaker 1: there and it became a fan favorite immediately. I didn't
Speaker 1: know about it. She told me about it, and I
Speaker 1: was trying to get back into the business and I
Speaker 1: was doing things like I was hustling. I was like,
Speaker 1: I gotta like get seen, you know, I just got
Speaker 1: an agent and a manager, and I just decided to
Speaker 1: go to these There's these intensives that people will do
Speaker 1: to meet casting directors, and it's really to meet them,
Speaker 1: but it's supposed to be a class, and so it's
Speaker 1: like this fine line, is it a class or are
Speaker 1: you really trying to like network with casting directors. So
Speaker 1: I would just it was mel A Naggler's mal cap
Speaker 1: casting for the first and second season and then it
Speaker 1: switched to Bowling Misha, But for the second season, I
Speaker 1: would go to these intensives with Melli Nagler. I probably
Speaker 1: paid her rent or her mortgage to that year. I
Speaker 1: think I think I went like ten times, spending a thousand,
Speaker 1: and I was like, this is like going to spend
Speaker 1: money to make money, Aaron, right, And they would just
Speaker 1: like leave me alone. Almost she got to this point
Speaker 1: where she started bringing me in for everything. And then
Speaker 1: the Vanya one wasn't even supposed to be on the show.
Speaker 1: I think the Vanya one was supposed to be just
Speaker 1: for Chasing the Rhodo, which was like the we've talked
Speaker 1: about that before. Yeah, yeah, the spinoff the little web series.
Speaker 1: So they had introduced Vanya as the you know, as
Speaker 1: the boyfriend figure. So it was born of the idea
Speaker 1: of the spinoff. And then because Aaron was so fantastic,
Speaker 1: pH you know, just slotted right in and like he
Speaker 1: made the most of Vanya. Yeah, all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: he's you know, popping up as a major plot player
Speaker 1: in um, you know, g G proper. So it was
Speaker 1: like such a cool thing that that, yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: allowed for us to have a relationship. Yeah, we had
Speaker 1: a great relationship, and it was I thought it was
Speaker 1: just for the Verizon thing, and I don't know exactly
Speaker 1: what happened, but I did the show first before the
Speaker 1: Chasing the Road. I did the last episode of season
Speaker 1: two first, and I was, man, I was nerve racked
Speaker 1: because I was like, not expecting you get this to
Speaker 1: do the spinoff and then they call you and they're like, hey,
Speaker 1: we actually want you to come to to work on
Speaker 1: the c W show, to set on location. It wasn't
Speaker 1: even in the studio and was that that was the
Speaker 1: scene with paparazzi and it's the baseball that, Yeah, and
Speaker 1: they're trying to get in there, they're trying to get
Speaker 1: photos of Serena, and you're like pushing them out, pushing
Speaker 1: people off. And I'm still working on the accent because
Speaker 1: I just memorized the accent for the audition. And the
Speaker 1: audition was funny because the audition wasn't the audition wasn't
Speaker 1: supposed to be like he was kind of like I
Speaker 1: made him kind of nerdy, and I don't think they
Speaker 1: wrote it that way. I think they were like there
Speaker 1: were people in the audition that were like trying to
Speaker 1: look swab right, and I remember actually in the intensive,
Speaker 1: Mela was saying, like make your audition different, like make
Speaker 1: it different. So I was like, effort. I'm just gonna
Speaker 1: go in and I'm just gonna like whatever. I've been
Speaker 1: here a million times, I'm not gonna cast I'll just
Speaker 1: go with it. And I like got myself look at
Speaker 1: all nerdy and kind of did like a Don Nots
Speaker 1: version of of a Russian dorman. And I got out
Speaker 1: of there thinking, oh my god, I'm gonna get a
Speaker 1: call from my agents saying you're an idiot, what are
Speaker 1: you doing? And then somehow I banyas dorkiness made it
Speaker 1: into the show. Well, that's what's so lovely about Vanya
Speaker 1: is that this kind of earnestness and the fact that
Speaker 1: he's such a sweet human. And so because I think
Speaker 1: Dorota is a sweet, sweethearted person, the people like like
Speaker 1: the two of them together because you were like, you know,
Speaker 1: you believe that they were like, um, you know, good
Speaker 1: people who could you take care of each other and
Speaker 1: rot to crack the whip with Bonnia, but didn't such
Speaker 1: like such a like a wholesome way, you know. But
Speaker 1: and what's so like cool about the backstory and von
Speaker 1: Yan de Rota is that this it was all things
Speaker 1: that you never saw coming, which I know they do
Speaker 1: that a lot in the show, but it was like
Speaker 1: even in this episode, like at the end, I know,
Speaker 1: I'm jumping forward when you're at the bar with Georgina,
Speaker 1: I'm like, wait, they were planting things and doing stuff.
Speaker 1: So when I hear the story of that's what your
Speaker 1: audition you know process, and you know story was that
Speaker 1: you went in for the you know, the spinoff and
Speaker 1: then they asked you to come to set. Now you're
Speaker 1: Serena's doorman the Vanderwoods and how much. Yeah, and then
Speaker 1: you're sitting here and and this twist at the end
Speaker 1: that you throw with Georgina, Now I'm like, wait, that's
Speaker 1: gotta be through Blair and Derota, but like, we won't
Speaker 1: know now for a couple episodes. But it's really wild
Speaker 1: because it's so set up and go so smoothly, Like
Speaker 1: something had to go down with Georgina because no one
Speaker 1: on the Upper East Side is letting her get away
Speaker 1: with what she pulled during this whole episode, which was
Speaker 1: very vindictive and very wrong. And Georgina's she's not my
Speaker 1: damn nerves because she was just not character you played that.
Speaker 1: You played that episode. I haven't seen that episode in
Speaker 1: so long, and I was like, I know, she was
Speaker 1: just day and then doing that to Dan and literally, yeah,
Speaker 1: we should probably say this. The episode is actually called
Speaker 1: Rufus Getting Married Mary, the one that we're talking about
Speaker 1: here today, so we have a lot of marriage plotlines,
Speaker 1: and like you're saying, Georgina gets really nasty and like
Speaker 1: really does some bad stuff here, and we get to
Speaker 1: see this fantastic little moment of Vanya coming into totally
Speaker 1: to save the day and like get rid of Georgina.
Speaker 1: So shall we say where we left off? But before
Speaker 1: we do that, it's based on the movie title Rachel
Speaker 1: Getting Married, which a little fun fact, Sebastian Stan who
Speaker 1: is in this episode with all of us, is also
Speaker 1: in that movie, so that's us. Like, okay, so I've
Speaker 1: seen that. I don't remember that he was like on
Speaker 1: the gas pedal mack then like, oh yeah, okay, So
Speaker 1: we left off last time on Gossip Girls, Serena defused
Speaker 1: a potential meltdown from disgrace actress Ursula, which was um
Speaker 1: Tyra Banks at the cost of her job. She needed
Speaker 1: to fend off Lily's design to send her off to college.
Speaker 1: On the bright side, Dan comes to terms with Olivia's
Speaker 1: fame and identity, leaving hope for their future relationship, and
Speaker 1: then Jenny begins letting go of her quest to break
Speaker 1: school hierarchies and a lure for her own popularity. So
Speaker 1: that is where we left off, and it's like we
Speaker 1: kind of had that a little bit of a break
Speaker 1: almost from some of the plot lines in that episode,
Speaker 1: and that we're back with a vengeance today with this one.
Speaker 1: Um Lilian Riffus decided to move up their wedding day.
Speaker 1: Chuck discovers a secret that Carter has been keeping from Serena,
Speaker 1: which involves Brie and the Buckley's. Dan and Vanessa are
Speaker 1: pulled into one of Georgina's schemes when she learns Scott
Speaker 1: back to New York on a ruse. Also, Blair is
Speaker 1: suspicious of Brie and she shares her concerns Nate. So
Speaker 1: it's like, we're back to the brief stuff. We're back
Speaker 1: to I knew Brie was in something up to something
Speaker 1: from many well, see she's she plays it really well though,
Speaker 1: in the sense of this sweet dynamic where you're like, Okay,
Speaker 1: maybe she's just really going to fall for for Nate.
Speaker 1: And I'm thinking the whole time that it's because of
Speaker 1: their political families, like you know, like the Buckley's and
Speaker 1: the you know, Archibalds. Like so I'm like, okay, that's
Speaker 1: where this is going. And then of course, you know,
Speaker 1: then it has something to do with Carter and Serena
Speaker 1: now and now it's like it's like a domino effect
Speaker 1: every time, like it's always like boom boom, boom, boom
Speaker 1: boom and then still that last Domino that's standing blows
Speaker 1: your mind, like like you at the end of this episode, Erin,
Speaker 1: I'm like, what, yeah, where that was crazy? And I
Speaker 1: got to play swab at one point I have to say, like,
Speaker 1: like the whole Breeze storyline, Juanna plays it in such
Speaker 1: a way that I really didn't. I was never convinced
Speaker 1: that she was duplicitous or that she did have you know,
Speaker 1: alter your motives. So it's it's really nice because then
Speaker 1: you kind of at the end, it really is a
Speaker 1: little bit of a heartbreak when she's when Nate comes
Speaker 1: to her and says, were you're using me? And she
Speaker 1: was and for what She was so endearing at the
Speaker 1: end too, because she's also like, I'm really sorry to
Speaker 1: say like me and anything, like I really am. He's like, no,
Speaker 1: get out right, yes, okay. So it opens up with
Speaker 1: Serena and Carter are happily together, Nate and bree they're
Speaker 1: they get they're bouncing around. They keep cutting to each couple,
Speaker 1: Dan as I am in, Olivia, Chuck and Blair and
Speaker 1: bed together. Um. By the way, when they're doing this,
Speaker 1: I'm like, these couples are just all real cute like
Speaker 1: your guys are just cute, Like yeah, you know, even
Speaker 1: even Brill and Brian Nate. At this point, I'm like,
Speaker 1: I'm liking them. Dan and Olivia, I'm not quite sure
Speaker 1: really what obviously what's going on there. I think it's
Speaker 1: also like such a throwback to do the I am ng'
Speaker 1: using vanessas doc you DOCU Girl ninety one or something.
Speaker 1: Do you think Dan is okay Vanessa? So he's like
Speaker 1: he's using that, he uses that laptop like on the
Speaker 1: street chunky laptop or the flip pulls out. It's like,
Speaker 1: so I love seeing all the old technology. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: all of these things are going on. Who who Aaron
Speaker 1: is your favorite couple at this point. I mean, I
Speaker 1: know you're not rewatching it like we are, but like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I definitely in and a part of the show. So
Speaker 1: like you like watch this and I was like, let
Speaker 1: me dive in and really watch it. And I watched
Speaker 1: it from beginning to end. And I'll tell you right now.
Speaker 1: Lillian rufus Man when they when the kids get them
Speaker 1: back together in the diner or wherever they are in
Speaker 1: Brooklyn and they get them back together, Lily's reaction when
Speaker 1: she figures out like her a little smile. I thought
Speaker 1: it was really cute. Yeah, She's like, I hate this,
Speaker 1: but yeah, yeah, what about you? Years changes, right Ssanna?
Speaker 1: Who me? I think that, you know, a mind does change.
Speaker 1: But I think, like I agree with Aaron that like
Speaker 1: Lillian Rufus here, you know, they're obviously the heart of
Speaker 1: this episode. And what's so nice about it is the
Speaker 1: like Lily is usually such like a you know, kind
Speaker 1: of a badass, and like you see her get so
Speaker 1: um and a soft, a little you know soft in
Speaker 1: this episode, and that you see her her insecurity is
Speaker 1: a couple of times, and the fact that we sort
Speaker 1: of bring up in this funny, cheeky way, the fact
Speaker 1: that she's had all these husbands and how each wedding
Speaker 1: was so fast, you know, fabulous and over the top,
Speaker 1: and then she has to write these vows and she
Speaker 1: can't quite get there, and it's like he has to
Speaker 1: kind of break her down and be like, what are
Speaker 1: you scared of? You know, And it's kind of what
Speaker 1: all of these characters are usually dealing with, and then
Speaker 1: here we see it with her, which is that like
Speaker 1: in the end, it's that she based Alee says like
Speaker 1: I'm scared of having a real partner, you know, and
Speaker 1: like like that she's you know, not ready for that,
Speaker 1: or she doesn't think she is, and he has to
Speaker 1: kind of show her so and he has to like
Speaker 1: call her out. Oh yeah, she has to really take
Speaker 1: her to task. You you don't want to do this
Speaker 1: because you're scared of really falling in love and being
Speaker 1: with someone who really cares for you. And he's like,
Speaker 1: and I know that because you're breaking my heart right now.
Speaker 1: And I'm like, oh, oh, such a good scene. Yeah.
Speaker 1: The dynamic between between them is so amazing. Also because
Speaker 1: they're from two different worlds. I think that's like a
Speaker 1: big thing. Like everybody you see, all the other couples
Speaker 1: are basically from the same world, even uh Vonnie and
Speaker 1: de Roda they're from you know, they're they're the help,
Speaker 1: you know, and then everybody else is the Upper east Side.
Speaker 1: But they Yeah, but they're this good mix of like
Speaker 1: he's this rocker living in Brooklyn and she's from this
Speaker 1: big family and you see it work and I think
Speaker 1: it's a cool little dynamic. See that on the Upper
Speaker 1: east Side. It's lovely and of horse, their their union
Speaker 1: is strengthened or challenged both in this episode by the
Speaker 1: resurgence of Scott. So we have this character Scott, who
Speaker 1: we know is the love child that they think he's dead.
Speaker 1: He kind of came back around and basically copped to
Speaker 1: being from the family of the kid that they thought
Speaker 1: they had, but he wasn't quite truthful. And then because
Speaker 1: of Georgina's antics, he is outed here in this episode.
Speaker 1: And so the fact that the three of them face
Speaker 1: off and then have this beautiful moment where they come
Speaker 1: together and hug, and it's part of part of what
Speaker 1: breaks Lily in the end to see and the way
Speaker 1: she she played that too, you know, like having a
Speaker 1: very vulnerable breakup moment with Rufus two. Then the son's
Speaker 1: coming up to all the people walking and you know,
Speaker 1: their whole crew, all their kids, having like the circle
Speaker 1: around them because they're they're late to their wedding. So
Speaker 1: there's just and then there's so many things going on.
Speaker 1: She's basically like, I don't know if we can get married.
Speaker 1: Then she finds out that's her son that they thought
Speaker 1: was not alive. I mean, there's just the way she
Speaker 1: played all those things going on was like incredible to me.
Speaker 1: I'm like Oh my god, Kelly, Right, And it was
Speaker 1: I thought of you just because I was like, I
Speaker 1: feel like there's something about you know, Kelly had such
Speaker 1: a depth of emotion and in the way that she
Speaker 1: was playing Lily in those scenes, and I was like,
Speaker 1: there has to be something about she was, you know,
Speaker 1: a new mom, uh, you know, like she was just
Speaker 1: came back from maternity leave in these episodes. This was
Speaker 1: her first episode back from having the baby, right. So
Speaker 1: it's like, undoubtedly that strengthens a certain muscle in you.
Speaker 1: So I always think of you when I think of
Speaker 1: you know, young actor moms, and I'm like, you know,
Speaker 1: the idea that you have a new perspective, you know,
Speaker 1: and so you can like bring a different um you know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: how does that how when you're acting now, do you
Speaker 1: find that you are able to kind of dig deeper
Speaker 1: now that you're taking care of human life that's yours? Yeah,
Speaker 1: because I feel like you just you're looking and feeling
Speaker 1: things in a different lens, in a different way of
Speaker 1: what would you do if this would happen to your daughter?
Speaker 1: What would you do if you had to do something
Speaker 1: to protect them in this way? Or find out that
Speaker 1: I knew that there was a child along, but then
Speaker 1: found out they were no longer alive. And then he's
Speaker 1: standing in front of me and and you didn't expect that.
Speaker 1: That's like a shocking thing to your heart, to your
Speaker 1: everything that you probably tried to get through your whole
Speaker 1: life to be like it was the right decision. It
Speaker 1: was the right decision. Now they're here, you know, and
Speaker 1: on my wedding day with his father, like just the
Speaker 1: amount of things. But yes, you definitely can dig in
Speaker 1: deeper and definitely like it's just a different way. You
Speaker 1: just look at life different when you have a baby
Speaker 1: in my life, I'm showing us a little furry baby.
Speaker 1: He's like my dad talking to right now. I love it.
Speaker 1: So in this episode, we have this wedding that is
Speaker 1: the kind of pinnacle cluck climactic scene, the idea that
Speaker 1: they actually decided to go ahead and have the wedding,
Speaker 1: you know, tomorrow or whatever it is, and so which
Speaker 1: I Lorena, who is in a really good place with Carter,
Speaker 1: is sort of decided to you know, really jump on
Speaker 1: board and help Lily to organize his wedding. And she's
Speaker 1: kind of the kind of making up, you know, because
Speaker 1: Lily is still a little bit tentative about her not
Speaker 1: going to college, and so we have Serena on that mission,
Speaker 1: and at the same time you have uh, you know,
Speaker 1: Brie and Nate who are you know, in the throes
Speaker 1: of their relationship, and then Blair and Chuck and Blair
Speaker 1: is just like go into town being so mean to
Speaker 1: Bree Buckley. In this episode, she is like, I can't
Speaker 1: stand or something, and I'm like Blair the dim summum
Speaker 1: d double date, double day. She goes. Claire says, I know, uh,
Speaker 1: I know women, and none of them are that nice.
Speaker 1: I think she says that, and I'm so good. She
Speaker 1: really doesn't stick burns on Brie and that in that lunch,
Speaker 1: so it's like she knows that. She's like, it's like
Speaker 1: she has a sixth sense about Bree. But but Chuck
Speaker 1: basically tells her, your problem with Bree is that you
Speaker 1: don't like to see Nate move on even though you're
Speaker 1: in love with me. You don't want anyone else to
Speaker 1: be happy or whatever. That's kind of what he yeah,
Speaker 1: you know which, by the way, when Chuck says that,
Speaker 1: I'm like, that's like, still I feel like such a
Speaker 1: mature thing for someone their age, like Chuck, that's Nate's
Speaker 1: best friend and Blair's Chuck's girlfriend, So to be like,
Speaker 1: actually you just have a problem with Nate moving on,
Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, Chuck, are you like a grown ass man?
Speaker 1: Like that's like very also like giving giving him a
Speaker 1: little room because he saw the goons that were the
Speaker 1: brother in law's show up and he's like he comes
Speaker 1: to uh Serena. It's like, look like this was really
Speaker 1: big of him that he actually even showed up to
Speaker 1: the wedding. So you gotta respect that, Like he could
Speaker 1: have left, Like I gave him a ticket and he
Speaker 1: chose not to. Yeah. Yeah, Chuck is very been very mature,
Speaker 1: emotionally mature. That's so true. Give me two. Yeah, let's see.
Speaker 1: At the end of this one, it's like we're watching
Speaker 1: sort of this wedding kind of come together come you know,
Speaker 1: fall apart, come together, and we're kind of going down
Speaker 1: this one road and then this whole time there's this
Speaker 1: like black mail um danger brewing with Gma. So like
Speaker 1: I feel like Vanessa is really like this. I mean,
Speaker 1: this episode has been like some really good Vanessa fadder
Speaker 1: because Vanessa is the one person who knows the truth
Speaker 1: about Scott, and Georgina comes back and realizes that, Um,
Speaker 1: Dan is you know, into Olivia and he's kind of
Speaker 1: ghosting her or not, you know, not texting her back anymore,
Speaker 1: and she's jealous and she wants to break them up,
Speaker 1: so she wants to engage in Vanessa in that um
Speaker 1: it's basically like you have to break Dan and Olivia up,
Speaker 1: and vanessas like, well, I think hello, and then she's
Speaker 1: like gonna blackmailer because Vanessa asked, Dan, why are you
Speaker 1: Why are you using my? I am like I think.
Speaker 1: She's like, why are you using mine? And he's like
Speaker 1: because every time I use mine. Georgina comes and says
Speaker 1: something and she's like not getting it, Like I broke
Speaker 1: up with her? How much more can I say? So
Speaker 1: she's like, Okay, I get it. Then when Vanessa and
Speaker 1: and Georgina sit down in the coffee shop, she's like,
Speaker 1: I just don't know why Dan's not responding to me,
Speaker 1: and she goes Vanessa goes, hey, because he broke up
Speaker 1: with you, be he's seeing someone else. And see, even
Speaker 1: though I try to defend you, you're a full on
Speaker 1: crazy person. And she's like, wait, can we go back
Speaker 1: to be She's like, he's seeing someone, and then she
Speaker 1: basically is like, you have to break them up. And
Speaker 1: Vanessa because of this big secret that she has and
Speaker 1: this is not like, hey, you know, Dan made out
Speaker 1: with someone. This is like someone's child, this is someone's brother,
Speaker 1: this is someone like there's just so many things that
Speaker 1: go around Scott. I know, I say that a lot.
Speaker 1: I say it every episode because I still and it's
Speaker 1: probably because I'm a parent now. I cannot believe this storyline.
Speaker 1: I just can't believe it. It's crazy. And Gina getting
Speaker 1: out of bus to Boston little girl is all these
Speaker 1: people's lives. Yeah, yeah, between a rock and a hard place.
Speaker 1: She's like, I can't be the one on the wedding
Speaker 1: day to blast everyone out or do it to Scott.
Speaker 1: Vanessa had an intimate relationship with Scott, so it's also
Speaker 1: not just the secret she was dating him, which is
Speaker 1: when you say that out loud, it's wild. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: really loaded. How crazy is that? So many twisted Josh
Speaker 1: pulling out all the stuffs with this ever got how
Speaker 1: intertwined all of these stories were. It's crazy, yeah, right,
Speaker 1: And the blackmail is so nuts because it's like this um.
Speaker 1: In order for Vanessa to to do it, she has
Speaker 1: to kind of convince Dan that Olivia is not right
Speaker 1: for him. So what I love is this funny thing
Speaker 1: that proceeds in which it seems like she's trying to
Speaker 1: get Dan to date her. So it's like everything she
Speaker 1: is saying, like you should look at your you know,
Speaker 1: friends you already have for people who are in your history. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's like her too, because then he comes He's like, listen,
Speaker 1: I know what you're doing. You're like, no, I'm not
Speaker 1: doing that, idiot. He's like, I know, I'm not into Moron.
Speaker 1: The next time, like look in the Nest episode, it's
Speaker 1: so funny, but Dan takes one for the team, which
Speaker 1: is I should say, because it's also part of his
Speaker 1: whole world. And he goes and pretends to Georgina that
Speaker 1: he has missed her and that he should be with
Speaker 1: someone that he has a passed with. So Georgina is
Speaker 1: all like, Okay, I can come to the wedding with
Speaker 1: you tonight, and he said, you know, it's a private event.
Speaker 1: Should have grabbed that right. Maybe he's not such a
Speaker 1: good actor after all. How great is that? Like background
Speaker 1: actor who she He like turns to that guy. I
Speaker 1: don't know if he's like some old guy in the
Speaker 1: park or hot dog vendor something, and he's like, you know,
Speaker 1: she's she turns to him, and it's like, you know,
Speaker 1: what does it mean when the guy doesn't grab your
Speaker 1: ass anymore? And then when she walks away, the way
Speaker 1: that that man looks her up and down and looks
Speaker 1: at her ass is like so amazing. And I was
Speaker 1: like that guy, yeah, it's like he was like a
Speaker 1: you know, I had to play the small role or
Speaker 1: he was a background actor, and he really committed. He
Speaker 1: did a whole like really really gross, like old man
Speaker 1: look that reminds me. At the end of the episode,
Speaker 1: they I was gonna do like a Vanya twist to
Speaker 1: it where I was like scared at the end, like
Speaker 1: I'm like being suave and then I'm like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: this is happening, and they were like, don't do it.
Speaker 1: We don't want to give the audience any more information.
Speaker 1: Just walk away and just be cool. So my way
Speaker 1: of being cool was looking Michelle up and down like
Speaker 1: checking her out and used it. And I was like
Speaker 1: that bunny looks like a perv, Like what I didn't
Speaker 1: really notice that. I just feel like I didn't feel
Speaker 1: that I noticed it. Yeah, I didn't feel that way
Speaker 1: at all. But it's also because and years maybe why.
Speaker 1: But I also feel like the fans that really watched
Speaker 1: the show and the viewers they like really don't miss
Speaker 1: a thing. Maybe they didn't want to because you outside
Speaker 1: of the you know, your your wardrobe. For them, it
Speaker 1: would be very hot. You're in a suit. You didn't
Speaker 1: see your hair really because you had a hat on,
Speaker 1: didn't you In the with the doorman. Yeah, so I'm
Speaker 1: saying it would be very hard to be like, that's
Speaker 1: the guy that was you know what I mean? Maybe
Speaker 1: that's why it was just Yeah, it was also just
Speaker 1: introduced like only two episodes. We'd only see them in
Speaker 1: that one time with the paparazzi right right like one
Speaker 1: other one. I think it was just like me coming
Speaker 1: to the door to Lillian Um and how about speaking
Speaker 1: of different wardrobe, we got to rode out with like
Speaker 1: hats and and oh my gosh, the best I remember
Speaker 1: when people asked me about the wardrobe and all that
Speaker 1: stuff on Gossip Girl. I always think of this episode
Speaker 1: because it was, like I think the first time they
Speaker 1: gave me any outfit to wear besides my uniform, and
Speaker 1: it was like that Laurel dressing a big old hat
Speaker 1: and I had my hair done in my makeup like
Speaker 1: I look still cute my old makeup I had, I
Speaker 1: should put lashes on me and stuff, you know, because
Speaker 1: so so it was was so fun. And I love
Speaker 1: the fact that de Rhoda's job at the wedding is
Speaker 1: to attempt to get uh what's the band called that?
Speaker 1: She's um, oh, she's try then yeah, she calls them
Speaker 1: sonic youths. So that's amazing. I love that's responsibility. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And then they end up doing a cameo and they
Speaker 1: sing a song and which is pretty married. The lead
Speaker 1: singer married love that. Yeah, it was pretty awesome. And
Speaker 1: it was like, I think the audience, the audience was
Speaker 1: really young. So the fact that they got Sonic youth
Speaker 1: and they were talking about like when they were talking
Speaker 1: about their like stint in this hotel and they were
Speaker 1: like bringing up all these things from the eighties and nineties,
Speaker 1: I was like, I don't know if the audiences it's
Speaker 1: just for the adults watching this stuff. I well, but
Speaker 1: there were a lot of adults too. I feel like
Speaker 1: that's one of the things they did well as if
Speaker 1: they had they had a sense that there was a
Speaker 1: cross generational like audience demographics, so they had they gave
Speaker 1: enough of those, like those kind of little jams special
Speaker 1: treats for the older audience too. Write definite. I was
Speaker 1: gonna ask, as have either of you ever officiated a wedding?
Speaker 1: Nobody nobody, as I have, I've done, I've done. I
Speaker 1: think I haven't. I just got asked to do another one,
Speaker 1: so I might. I'll be on Wedding numb say in March. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so I've So when I saw that scene and I
Speaker 1: was like, you know, I know, I know that feeling
Speaker 1: because she had that line about um, you know, by
Speaker 1: the power vested in me by the sketchy Internet. I
Speaker 1: was like, that's I've said that some version of that
Speaker 1: line many times because I've done so many weddings. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So you do you have to take some sort of course,
Speaker 1: like not course, but you don't have to do anything.
Speaker 1: Just do it right. You basically don't go on a website.
Speaker 1: You fill it out. No, the website, you fill it out,
Speaker 1: you pay a little money. It's like, I mean, but
Speaker 1: you know, it's like a Bucks or something, so of course,
Speaker 1: but I thought there was no questionnaire and you get
Speaker 1: like a certificate. Yeah, they send you a certificate and
Speaker 1: and it's like good for life too. So some states
Speaker 1: have different requirements. But yeah, but you have UM. But yeah,
Speaker 1: the website is very quick and easy, and you know
Speaker 1: it's a little bit of you know, well, I still
Speaker 1: I don't have a date yet, so who knows? You
Speaker 1: might be a number. I have a good track record.
Speaker 1: I only well, I have one divorce. One divorce. Clearly
Speaker 1: you do. You keep being asked and but that's that
Speaker 1: on you. No, that's what I mean. I did my
Speaker 1: best to marry them and send them off. But yeah,
Speaker 1: but I do like how the wedding in this episode
Speaker 1: is um it goes from being supposed to be really
Speaker 1: big to impromptu and at the Botanical Bark Garden and
Speaker 1: then and the end it ends up just being just
Speaker 1: the kids in the loft um and sonic youth and
Speaker 1: sonic cute, you know what. Really crazy and until you
Speaker 1: so I was watching it, I'm like, something happened in
Speaker 1: this episode. So in real life, we were in Brooklyn
Speaker 1: filming in those and my brother at the time was
Speaker 1: in ic you for like weeks. He had a virus
Speaker 1: that attacked the brain called encephalitis, and I don't know,
Speaker 1: my god, guys wouldn't have remembered because I didn't. That's
Speaker 1: why all of a sudden, Vanessa is not in the
Speaker 1: rest of the episode, like she's not at the wedding.
Speaker 1: She's not. And I was kind of I was watching
Speaker 1: and I'm like, why is she not? Even if I
Speaker 1: didn't have like big more you know, more things to
Speaker 1: say at the wedding, she still would have been around.
Speaker 1: You know, we know that those were those long days
Speaker 1: where even if those big parties had sometimes so I'm like,
Speaker 1: this is wild that you don't see her little pop
Speaker 1: of yellow around And then I'm like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: that's right. The doctor had called my family and was like, listen,
Speaker 1: everyone needs to come home. And I'm not trying to
Speaker 1: be dramatic. My brother is absolutely fine. He's thirty two
Speaker 1: years old. He's my best friend, and he's in great
Speaker 1: health now. But he was twenty one, had to learn
Speaker 1: how to walk again while he was down to like
Speaker 1: a hundred pounds. He's six three. Like it was crazy,
Speaker 1: and remember it was all when we walked up and
Speaker 1: Scott was there and we were like telling Rufus and
Speaker 1: Lily what was going on. And then I got the
Speaker 1: call and I remember looking at it and like he's like,
Speaker 1: you need to go now and I'll finish and then
Speaker 1: I'll meet you in Wisconsin and I like, look up
Speaker 1: Blake and she's like just I said, I don't know
Speaker 1: what to do you guys, And here's the thing. This
Speaker 1: was like at the moment, a life or dath situation.
Speaker 1: So I was like, but it was so My point
Speaker 1: of this is that it was so lovely how all
Speaker 1: of our cast was and everyone was like, listen, we'll
Speaker 1: just have a standing in for your So they did
Speaker 1: my coverage quick. As I was waiting for the car
Speaker 1: to come. I went to I went to the airport
Speaker 1: in wardrobe and I was Vanessa like. People at the
Speaker 1: airport were literally like the past and I'm like, yep,
Speaker 1: this is actually her hair, makeup and here because it
Speaker 1: was just and then you got your coverage done. And
Speaker 1: then Russia because I was waiting for the car and
Speaker 1: they literally were like, if you can you hold it
Speaker 1: together and I was like yeah, but then I got
Speaker 1: like and then literally the car came and and or Transpo.
Speaker 1: I think Transport made a like even take. Yeah. So
Speaker 1: when I was watching this, not to be dramatic and what,
Speaker 1: I remember your coverage and you're life, but I remember
Speaker 1: where did she go? And they don't say anything, but
Speaker 1: I just and everyone was so lovely, like Sentim Flowers
Speaker 1: and was like checking all the time. But it was
Speaker 1: just very sweet. Remember Blake's like go girl Like. It
Speaker 1: was just very sweet how everyone was. It's really nice
Speaker 1: to have a cast that's supportive and great no this show,
Speaker 1: but I remember, because I've done quite a bit after
Speaker 1: that once I got back into the business. This show.
Speaker 1: I remember all the producers, all the cats, everybody being
Speaker 1: so sweet and just kind. They were like a family.
Speaker 1: I was really and it was like a family there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you know what, and through all these things, especially
Speaker 1: when a show that goes out long, it was like,
Speaker 1: you know, Kelly having her baby, this happening with my brother,
Speaker 1: people getting married, people breaking up, like you do go
Speaker 1: through a lot with people, especially when you're doing twenty
Speaker 1: two episodes for five years. You know, people moving, people
Speaker 1: coming back, people you know, booking their first huge movie.
Speaker 1: In between, like when Blake got the green lantern, like
Speaker 1: that was a big deal for one of them, one
Speaker 1: of us, you know, and a lot of you guys
Speaker 1: were dating, dating going on. I would see you like
Speaker 1: a breakup, and I'd show up the next day and
Speaker 1: I'd be like to see how they reacted. But everyone
Speaker 1: was professional. Would people are like, when you say professional,
Speaker 1: I'm like, no, really, I don't even know a lot
Speaker 1: of those stories because I was around, but I just
Speaker 1: never knew anything because I was just oblivious. So like,
Speaker 1: it's funny because yeah, it was hard sometimes too to
Speaker 1: guess what was going on because everybody was kind of
Speaker 1: just doing their job. But well, and you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: and then you know, the press always said things that
Speaker 1: weren't right. So would be like some days they would
Speaker 1: be like, did you guys break up? I'm like, no,
Speaker 1: we were literally he got picked up at his place
Speaker 1: from transport today, like we're not from up so it
Speaker 1: was a trip. Would have security guards with umbrella's covering
Speaker 1: everybody so they couldn't see the wardrobe. It was nice.
Speaker 1: It was so wild, you know, I had during the show.
Speaker 1: I had my mom passed away in twelve and that
Speaker 1: was during the show, and a very similar experience what
Speaker 1: you had is that I remember, like, you know, having
Speaker 1: to go home obviously, and you know, they just being
Speaker 1: so supported by everyone and then that warm feeling when
Speaker 1: you come back. And then also I broke my foot
Speaker 1: during Gossip Girl and I had like a boot for like,
Speaker 1: you know, so long, and so I you know, and
Speaker 1: then they always worked around that stuff too. So it's
Speaker 1: like you go through I mean, if you think about
Speaker 1: all the stuff that happens in your life in six years,
Speaker 1: especially formative years. Um, you know, it's a lot so everybody,
Speaker 1: you know, Weather's a lot um on set and you
Speaker 1: spend so much time there together and then you can
Speaker 1: also miss huge swaths of things like who's dating who
Speaker 1: and what's going on. You know, but it is but
Speaker 1: it's exciting, um to know that, Like it's such a
Speaker 1: patchwork of people's lives and they all come together for this,
Speaker 1: you know, a little character. And I'm so grateful to
Speaker 1: even say I was a part of it. It was
Speaker 1: such an awesome, awesome show and everybody there was so awesome,
Speaker 1: so cool. Yeah, and we were so happy to have you,
Speaker 1: Like we always talked about this. There was nothing or
Speaker 1: anyone or any part of it of guest stars that
Speaker 1: came out or reoccurring that weren't such a huge part
Speaker 1: of the whole puzzle, Like you added two things that
Speaker 1: you know, made serena storyline better, or de Roda's or
Speaker 1: vice versa. Do you know what I mean? Like we
Speaker 1: couldn't have done certain scenes or had certain things go
Speaker 1: down without you know, Vonya or without drawing. Felt that
Speaker 1: way until there was a wedding. It was our wedding's
Speaker 1: wedding up the sea, and I had his speech and
Speaker 1: and Layton started crying in the scene, and then afterwards
Speaker 1: she was still crying, and I was like, why are
Speaker 1: you Why are you crying? And Layton is such a sweetheart,
Speaker 1: but she would never Oh she's not the type of
Speaker 1: person would be like, god, it really touched me. She wouldn't,
Speaker 1: you know, she wouldn't say that to me. And she
Speaker 1: said to me, she was like she's like something about
Speaker 1: like just the whole thing that just happened really touched me.
Speaker 1: That was like I didn't write it, but thank you so,
Speaker 1: but I remember that and that and then at that
Speaker 1: moment I was like, Okay, Bonnie is kind of a
Speaker 1: part of it now. Yeah, but that's what I mean
Speaker 1: they're not having a wedding for of you two. If
Speaker 1: it's not that people care so much, they would they
Speaker 1: that's it's and that speaks to what YouTube brought to
Speaker 1: the table and to the characters, because it could have
Speaker 1: easily been where you were, you know, just in the
Speaker 1: you know, in Blair's home and um the housekeeper there
Speaker 1: and you're the dormant, and that could be really it.
Speaker 1: There's certain shows where that's all you see. You never
Speaker 1: get more with you guys, you become such a part.
Speaker 1: You have, you get you have a wedding, you have
Speaker 1: babies that you have a proposed like you are fully
Speaker 1: a part of this whole world. And a lot of
Speaker 1: fan favorites of you two people, you two are a
Speaker 1: lot of fan favorites. We get people writing in all
Speaker 1: the time about your relationship and what you guys have done.
Speaker 1: So that just also speaks to how well and amazing
Speaker 1: so you guys were with with what was written for you.
Speaker 1: You know, coming on the show as a get as
Speaker 1: when you and a lot of actors know when you're
Speaker 1: a guest on a show or people are characters throughout
Speaker 1: the show and you come in mid second third season,
Speaker 1: you don't feel like you're part of it. You kind
Speaker 1: of feel like there's almost like everybody's eyes on you.
Speaker 1: In the beginning, they're like, all right, what does he got?
Speaker 1: What does he got? That's what they always like. Do
Speaker 1: that You're just like, don't mess up, don't mess up. Yeah,
Speaker 1: well there was one scene I felt that, but that's
Speaker 1: because I had this big monologue in front of everybody
Speaker 1: with you, like the wedding with the accident, huge monologue.
Speaker 1: I remember the director put down like little like cards,
Speaker 1: who's going to be standing where? And it's the whole cast,
Speaker 1: and I was like, god, yeah, oh my god, let
Speaker 1: me get back into my room and remember the blind
Speaker 1: because this is that was Besides that, I always felt
Speaker 1: like nobody everybody wanted everybody to do well everybody. It
Speaker 1: was a big family. Everyone was really really yeah. And
Speaker 1: our wedding really felt like that because it was like
Speaker 1: for Deroda and Vanya. The fact that that world that
Speaker 1: the Waldorf's and the vander Woodson's and everybody um came
Speaker 1: together to celebrate them and like hold them up, that
Speaker 1: was like a big deal. And it spoke to how
Speaker 1: cute they were and how um you know, how how
Speaker 1: much they cared for those famils that they worked for,
Speaker 1: and so it was a very sweet thing. And then
Speaker 1: for Aaron and I it felt the same ways. That
Speaker 1: was like really double because I Dorota felt it, so
Speaker 1: did Susanna. Because for us, I think it felt like,
Speaker 1: you know, because we were guests, you know, guest stars
Speaker 1: that were in the house that were um, you know,
Speaker 1: dynamical as it had the same vibe which I felt
Speaker 1: like this bigger family had absorbed us and was celebrating
Speaker 1: us and it made us feel special, you know, for
Speaker 1: having So it was like I really felt that storyline
Speaker 1: personally because it was like kind of meta, you know,
Speaker 1: because it was so nice that, you know that Layton
Speaker 1: and everyone were so happy for us as actors that
Speaker 1: we got to have that are you know, So it
Speaker 1: was cool. I love that. Yeah, I love that. It
Speaker 1: was really good. Speaking of weddings, how about yeah, Lily's
Speaker 1: like getting cold feet. Did you did you feel that
Speaker 1: was going to happen? I felt like it happened maybe
Speaker 1: one too many times almost, But then in the end
Speaker 1: I saw why. I saw why, you know, because there
Speaker 1: was a moment where I was like, come on, now,
Speaker 1: just do the valves already. But I do think that
Speaker 1: they had to get to that moment with Scott, you know,
Speaker 1: for it to really all kind of come together. So
Speaker 1: I feel like the it was kind of organic, and
Speaker 1: the fact that the wedding, the you know, the botanical
Speaker 1: garden wedding fell apart and I ended up in the loft,
Speaker 1: it all made more sense in the end. So I
Speaker 1: found this slightly frustrating when watching, but then I was like, yeah,
Speaker 1: they're just such a cute couple, those two, right, um,
Speaker 1: And and the whole part with when Carter, which by
Speaker 1: the way, Sebastian too, when he plays this and he's
Speaker 1: got tears in his eyes and you're like feeling for
Speaker 1: because he really does a great job with that too.
Speaker 1: Where he were do you believe that he's actually this
Speaker 1: changed guy or is he really going to be the
Speaker 1: guy that's going to pull some ship again? And because
Speaker 1: he really loves Serena or so when he explains to
Speaker 1: Serena that he was somewhere and he needed money and
Speaker 1: he you know, did this proposal and met the family
Speaker 1: and then we as he's telling Serena this, Serena has
Speaker 1: no idea that it was Bree. She's just like, okay,
Speaker 1: but you did that to someone. And meanwhile, I'm like,
Speaker 1: are you going to leave out that it was Nate's girlfriend?
Speaker 1: But was it Bree or was it another Buckley? Oh?
Speaker 1: I thought it was Brie. Missed that, Yeah, maybe it's not. Okay,
Speaker 1: that's what I picked up from it. Oh yeah, because
Speaker 1: I think Serena the one, so it was a Buckley
Speaker 1: but maybe you know, Wow, that makes it even so
Speaker 1: much worse. Exactly, Holy god? Yeah whoa, yeah, okay, and
Speaker 1: then Rufus and Lily with Scott. I know we talked
Speaker 1: about this earlier, but when this all comes up and
Speaker 1: everyone runs over and then we have to explain, and
Speaker 1: they're like, you know, everyone's kind of dropping things like
Speaker 1: they do in the show, which I always love how
Speaker 1: every time they do this, you're still like getting so
Speaker 1: much information and liking it and somewhere glamorous like a
Speaker 1: wedding or a you know what was the other one,
Speaker 1: the auction or the the you know, the fashion show
Speaker 1: they always like have really good moments and that everyone's
Speaker 1: like super decked out, and the opera fashion week, fashion week,
Speaker 1: So they go through all of this, then they're like
Speaker 1: they gotta run and find him, and then we get
Speaker 1: back to the wedding and does Chuck say something to Blare,
Speaker 1: like how do we then look over and we pan
Speaker 1: to Georgina and then we pan over and it's it's Vania,
Speaker 1: who who like tells us it's at the end of
Speaker 1: the wedding and he said something like, uh, so what
Speaker 1: about like so what about Georgina. I think it was
Speaker 1: some sort of like so what are we going to
Speaker 1: do about Georgina? Right right? And I feel like blairs
Speaker 1: like not so fast or hold on or something. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think so. Yeah. I watched it actually twice because
Speaker 1: I wanted to see how cute I looked in the
Speaker 1: last scene. So I forgot. I forgot what I forgot?
Speaker 1: What throws it over there? But yeah, essentially they're like,
Speaker 1: oh no, somebody says, I'm I'm just mad that Georgina
Speaker 1: is getting away scott free, and they're like, not so fast.
Speaker 1: And then we go to the bar and then we're
Speaker 1: in this dark bar and Georgina is drinking her cocktail
Speaker 1: and Vanya, in It's by you know, secret character mode
Speaker 1: comes over and says he's a Russian prince and this
Speaker 1: is not my first time working with Michelle. Did you
Speaker 1: all know that. No, really, I did a show on
Speaker 1: Nickelodeon called Pete and Pete. I remember that. I was
Speaker 1: this character called Clemlinel Little Mutton Shops. He would grow
Speaker 1: you were like a really huge child stars like but
Speaker 1: I but she was one of the one of Pete's
Speaker 1: friends and Pete actually the kid who plays Pete, Danny Tamparelli,
Speaker 1: was in the ducks with me, and so it's all
Speaker 1: this like encompassing things. So when I saw Michelle and
Speaker 1: the makeup trailer, I was like, hey, Michelle, and she's like,
Speaker 1: who's this guy's agreement at me? And I was like,
Speaker 1: it's Aaron. I played in Pete Pete. She was like,
Speaker 1: get out of here. And it was this big reunion
Speaker 1: where we got to act again. It was very cute. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's so cute, and it was such a cute scene.
Speaker 1: And also she's looking at you so like that. You
Speaker 1: guys have some good chemistry in that scene. Actually excuse
Speaker 1: like it was yeah, okay, Russian prince or Belarussian, right,
Speaker 1: So you easily convinced her to go with you, and
Speaker 1: then you reveal that it's de Roda behind the menu, right,
Speaker 1: revealing it that's the last that Deroda is like um
Speaker 1: pulling the strings here or or yeah, is there to
Speaker 1: make sure everything went down correctly when I love that
Speaker 1: little um sneak over the menu peak that she has
Speaker 1: her little head scarf on, and so it's a really
Speaker 1: high glam episode for Groda. She's really just out in
Speaker 1: the world. So I us, how about how about two
Speaker 1: when you go up to Blair and Saerna You're like, uh,
Speaker 1: what do you say the bands they're they're stuck in
Speaker 1: traffic and she's like, well, Chuck does have a helicopter,
Speaker 1: Like yeah, yeah, she calls Mr Chuck, which is great, Yeah,
Speaker 1: Mr Chuck has a helicopter. But it's when when when
Speaker 1: there's like one liners like that and like that is
Speaker 1: like wild that that's like a true statement for I mean,
Speaker 1: I know it's a television show. Can I give a
Speaker 1: shout out to Ron who directed it, because this guy
Speaker 1: was actually a DP on the show for a really
Speaker 1: long time, right Dave. That was his first episode directing,
Speaker 1: and you could see, I mean, the the videography and
Speaker 1: all of the filming and the angles were always good
Speaker 1: in the show, but that this episode particularly was really beautiful.
Speaker 1: Do you know it was it's so funny you say that.
Speaker 1: And I did know that it was run and should
Speaker 1: be giving him a shout out because I love it
Speaker 1: was excellent all the time. But at one point I'm like, okay,
Speaker 1: is this maybe did we have a little break and
Speaker 1: people had like went on vacation. It was that one
Speaker 1: time when Norman did the roof deck. Remember it was
Speaker 1: like the lighting. There was like a moment where I'm
Speaker 1: just like pen looks like a little bit more chiseled
Speaker 1: and something. Serena. Everyone else's great, like we get that,
Speaker 1: but there was definitely sometimes specially Yeah, I think Ron
Speaker 1: was whoever the DP was for this one. Ron was
Speaker 1: doing a little like a little extra hints extra Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know they always say, I remember one of my
Speaker 1: first jobs, my friend goes always get to know the
Speaker 1: casting directors in town and when you're on set, become
Speaker 1: very close with the dps. I'm like, wine, They're like,
Speaker 1: because they can make you look good or real bad.
Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, yeah, they know how that lighting was.
Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, so anyways, good shout out. That was great.
Speaker 1: Ron did a good job for Groda's self esteem. Um,
Speaker 1: I feel like we could talk to you for a
Speaker 1: million years are and so we'll have to have more conversations,
Speaker 1: you know, especially well you have to come back to
Speaker 1: the wedding. Big wedding is coming up. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I love it. Um. It's been so fun though to
Speaker 1: have you here, and you've been such an important part
Speaker 1: of my life since we got to uh work together.
Speaker 1: I'm so grateful to Gossip Girl that such a tremendous
Speaker 1: actor with so much charisma and also such a turned
Speaker 1: into such a good friend for me. So I'm grateful
Speaker 1: to you know. I'm always grateful to the show for
Speaker 1: all of the sort of friendships and relationships that I have.
Speaker 1: But I also feel like Groda wouldn't have been Deroda
Speaker 1: without Vanya and vice versa. So I think we had
Speaker 1: like a good thing going. So I always love to
Speaker 1: see your face. It brings me joy, and I'm grateful
Speaker 1: for that signing I got to hang out yes together.
Speaker 1: I know, I was like the three of us in
Speaker 1: Chase and and and it was just like a really sweet,
Speaker 1: wonderful thing. Um. But that being said, when you just
Speaker 1: said like Zuzana and Aaron, like the Groda and an
Speaker 1: you of it all, it just reminded me of like
Speaker 1: the heart, like the best friend little like you two together,
Speaker 1: like they're so cute together on the show, like a
Speaker 1: little right, Um, can I just ask one more thing
Speaker 1: before we go? Did you did you guys see that
Speaker 1: this is where it was going to go with them
Speaker 1: at all? Like ever with Vonia and Dorota, Like when when?
Speaker 1: Or was it just bits and pieces? And then finally
Speaker 1: it was like whoa okay for me? I think after
Speaker 1: that wedding episode, I kind of got that it was
Speaker 1: kind of going in that direction. Before the wedding, I
Speaker 1: didn't see I thought it was just going to be
Speaker 1: a little like here's the normal couple in the middle
Speaker 1: of this craziness and then we disappear, right yeah, Because
Speaker 1: it's like, rather than just being on the sideline kind
Speaker 1: of judging or reacting to the drama, it's like occasionally
Speaker 1: they'd give us a little drama of our not drama,
Speaker 1: but a little romance of our own. I guess. So yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: so I think that, Um it makes sense because like
Speaker 1: Doroda deserves a nice boyfriend to Rota. I'm grateful I
Speaker 1: got to be to Rota's boyfriend slash husband. No, it's
Speaker 1: amazing and you guys, and then you both took these
Speaker 1: parts and roles and went and did it in the reboat,
Speaker 1: which is awesome. Yeah, that was interesting. You enjoy that reunion.
Speaker 1: So it was almost like we never left, right felt Yeah,
Speaker 1: it felt Yeah, it was pretty cool. I mean a
Speaker 1: lot of the crew was the same too, So yeah,
Speaker 1: we just had to we had to um get the
Speaker 1: dust off of our old You were fine. There were
Speaker 1: moments I watched that and I was like, I really
Speaker 1: like I remember like doing a take and being like,
Speaker 1: please don't use that take because I think I want
Speaker 1: a little amazing. Is there anything that you want to
Speaker 1: tell us to look out for charities that you like
Speaker 1: or anything you want to let us know. Sometimes people
Speaker 1: can't talk about projects, sometimes they want to. The project
Speaker 1: that I'm in the middle of doing is I'm still
Speaker 1: of filming. I probably have a couple of months and
Speaker 1: then post is going to be hopefully within the next
Speaker 1: year and a half. Uh. Is my documentary A Stigma
Speaker 1: Raised in Hollywood? Yeah, And it's about the stigma attached
Speaker 1: child actors. And I talked to a bunch of fellow
Speaker 1: child stars, people who are A listers all the way
Speaker 1: down to people who are now lawyers, are doing something
Speaker 1: else with their lives and kind of find the connective
Speaker 1: tissue of it all and see what's behind the curtain,
Speaker 1: so to speak. So that's amazing. And when do we
Speaker 1: know when it's coming out or have specific day yet?
Speaker 1: Literally in mid production? Yeah, yeah, but I'm hoping within
Speaker 1: a year and a half or so. I saw some clips.
Speaker 1: It looks really promising. I'm excited. Yeah. Yeah, and he does.
Speaker 1: He gets people to be really vulnerable. Yeah, and then
Speaker 1: I get put into armed Bars by Jonathan lip Nikki,
Speaker 1: which is but it's also it's like it's a world
Speaker 1: two in which where people can are going to be
Speaker 1: interested in it because it's either movies or shows they watch,
Speaker 1: so you kind of nostalgic for the audience to be like,
Speaker 1: oh I remember this person or that or wow, that
Speaker 1: person started there and they're here, or there's an a
Speaker 1: list or now that was a child actor that talks about,
Speaker 1: you know, all the stuffing through and like the stuff
Speaker 1: people don't really know about. And that's what I mean
Speaker 1: from the perspective of a former child actor. I think
Speaker 1: it's going to be a little different avenue to go to.
Speaker 1: So I love that I well break a leg with
Speaker 1: that project and thank you you're looking for it. Do
Speaker 1: you want to do the gossip grol closing quote? Do
Speaker 1: you want to do it? Or you want to do
Speaker 1: it Susan, don't you know what? I can do it? Sammy, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'll read it and I'll read it. We'll pretend, Sammy, Okay,
Speaker 1: here it goes, here it goes. We're pretending it's coming
Speaker 1: from say. There are songs that make us want to dance,
Speaker 1: songs that make us want to sing along, But the
Speaker 1: best songs are the ones that bring you back to
Speaker 1: the moment you first heard them and once again break
Speaker 1: your heart. X O x O. Oh my god, that's
Speaker 1: so good. They're they're really good. We go back and
Speaker 1: we're like, wait, they're witty and wise and true and
Speaker 1: so writing. The writing on that show really was phenomenal.
Speaker 1: It was really good. Well, we're bringing you back when
Speaker 1: we do the wedding episode or another episode. For sure.
Speaker 1: This was lovely. I'm so excited we all got to
Speaker 1: do this. Thanks for having me, Thank you, Thanks Sammy.
Speaker 1: XO XO is produced by Propagate Content and Met Jessica's Our.
Speaker 1: Our show is executive produced by Linkley. Our senior producer
Speaker 1: is Diego Tapia. Our producers are Hannah Harris, Emily Carr
Speaker 1: and Kristin Vermlia, and our intern is Sammy Cats. Original
Speaker 1: music by Maxie and Luke m