Edinburgh actor Thomas Doherty set to star in HBO’s Gossip Girl reboot

Gossip Girl fans were given a sneak preview of the anticipated new HBO Max series as the first images were released of the cast on the iconic steps of New York City’s Met Museum on Thursday.

Edinburgh-born Thomas Doherty is set to star as part of the main cast in the new show

The reboot of the hit 2000s show began filming earlier this month following coronavirus delays, with Edinburgh actor Thomas Doherty as part of the main line up.

Doherty, 25, who once waited tables at George Street’s Tigerlily while auditioning for roles on his days off, is a former Royal High School pupil who went on to graduate in musical theatre from the MGA Academy of Performing Arts.

But this is not his first foray on screen, on his impressive CV he has already starred in two hit Disney films, Descendants 2 and Descendants 3, as Harry Hook, the son of infamous villain Captain Hook as well as Disney’s music drama and mystery show, The Lodge.

Building on his success, Doherty is now set to star in the new 10-part series which follows the lives and antics of a new generation of privileged Upper East Side teens in New York City and the role that social media plays in their lives, narrated by an anonymous Gossip Girl.

The original series, which starred the likes of Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Penn Badgely, Ed Westwick, Chase Crawford and Taylor Momsen, aired between 2007 and 2012 with six seasons following the Constance Billiard pupils as they navigated life under the watchful eye of Gossip Girl, an omniscient blogger who exposes their lives and secrets on social media.

However, eight years on from Gossip Girl’s finale, the landscape of social media has changed, with the reboot carrying on the story of a new set of privileged teens.

While Doherty’s character in the series has not yet been revealed the first images of him in the instantly recognisable Constance Billiard school uniform see him donning an untied tie and cream cable jumper with tartan lined round the collar.

(L-R) Actors Leighton Meester, Penn Badgley, Blake Lively, Chace Crawford, Taylor Momsen and Ed Westwick who starred in the original Gossip Girl series

He stars alongside Evan Mock, Zión Moreno, Jordan Alexander, Emily Alyn Lind, Savannah Lee Smith, and Eli Brown.

Fans of the teen drama can expect the new generation of Upper East Siders to have a more diverse cast and up-to-date street style fashion choices.

The Gossip Girl reboot is set to air on HBO Max in 2021.

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