Who Is Gossip Girl Star Tavi Gevinson?
It's officially 2021, which means the Gossip Girl reboot is coming out this year. And the next set of Upper East Siders has been seen filming — where else — on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. For fans who are wondering just who will be starring in the next iteration of the iconic teen series, we have you covered.
Fans will recognize the names of some of the Gossip Girl reboot stars, like Thomas Doherty, who starred in Disney's Descendants series, and Eli Brown, who starred in Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. Other Gossip Girl reboot stars, like Zión Moreno and Evan Mock, are relatively unknown before the show. But among the series' new crop of younger stars, Tavi Gevinson is the most recognizable name of the bunch. The writer-actor will play Kate Keller, who's apparently full of ambition.
Gevinson rose to fame for her fashion blog, Style Rookie, and she first attended New York Fashion Week when she was just 13 years old. She went on to act in Broadway and off-Broadway plays, as well as to found the now-defunct Rookie magazine for teen girls. Gevinson is only 24, but she's already had a prolific writing and acting career, and she's also becoming a prominent voice for social justice.
Here's what to know about the Gossip Girl star.
Tavi Gevinson made her Broadway debut opposite Michael Cera
Not every fan who tunes into the Gossip Girl reboot will know who Tavi Gevinson is, but she's becoming a seasoned actor. The writer and actor made her stage debut in Broadway's This Is Our Youth in 2014, where she acted alongside Michael Cera and Kieran Culkin. Gevinson went on to star in Broadway productions of The Crucible and The Cherry Orchard, as well as off-Broadway productions of shows like Days of Rage and Assassins.
And in addition to her stage work, Gevinson has appeared in various movies and TV shows over the years. Scream Queens viewers will recognize her as Feather McCarthy, the college student with whom Dean Munsch's husband had an affair. Gevinson also voiced Helena St. Tessero in Netflix's animated series Neo Yokio, and she acted alongside Cera again in the 2017 movie Person to Person. Between her interests in fashion and her acting ability, Gevinson is a woman of many talents!
Tavi Gevinson is outspoken about politics
Tavi Gevinson can count plenty of Democrats among her fans, thanks to her outspokenness on Twitter and Instagram. In an Instagram Story post, Gevinson called out model Karlie Kloss by name for not doing more to speak out about political issues. Kloss is a Democrat, but her brother-in-law is Jared Kushner, who has worked as an adviser to President Donald Trump (and also happens to be Ivanka Trump's husband).
Kloss tweeted about the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, writing, "Accepting the results of a legitimate democratic election is patriotic. Refusing to do so and inciting violence is anti-American." But considering the fact that the Trumps are her family, many people, including Gevinson, thought the model's message wasn't enough.
"What @karliekloss means to say is: 'I have no real interest in using my political power so much as retaining a watery 'feminist' liberal brand while protecting my ties to the Trumps and Kushners and vaguely claiming I've 'tried' to change their minds,'" Gevinson wrote in an Instagram Story. The Gossip Girl star wasn't messing around — and it wasn't the first time she called out the model. Gevinson also criticized Kloss for her lackluster Instagram post about racial injustice in June 2020, writing in a comment, "Karlie, give it a rest."
Aside from calling the model out and speaking out against President Trump, Gevinson also appeared in a PSA supporting former President Obama's 2012 campaign.
Tavi Gevinson is not afraid to disagree with other stars
In December 2020, Tavi Gevinson was one of the few celebrities to defend journalist Rachel Handler when her reporting on Nancy Meyers movies (specifically, Meyers' daughter Hallie Meyers-Shyer's Home Again) was criticized by many other stars. As part of Vulture's Nancy Meyers Week, Handler ranked the iconic writer and director's movies, and the post didn't sit well with Meyers' daughter. Celebrities like Chloe Fineman and Reese Witherspoon came to Meyers-Shyer's defense, but Gevinson took a different approach.
"I read that article and thought it was a total love letter. I don't think it's sexist or reductive to taxonomize tropes in someone's movies," Gevinson wrote in an Instagram comment. It could be that Gevinson's writing background lent her a more sympathetic perspective; her response was refreshing and lauded by other writers.
Fans of genre fiction know playing with tropes is half the fun. And as Handler's reporting explained, Meyers' movies are iconic in part because she's created her own tropes that flow through movies like The Holiday and Something's Gotta Give. (How many jokes have you heard about white women in sweaters and huge kitchens in Meyers' movies?) Sexism is rampant in the entertainment industry, but calling things sexist when they aren't isn't helping anyone. And Gevinson outlined that distinction in her lengthy comment.
Gevinson is as respected for her online persona as she is for her work, and fans are excited to see what she'll bring to the Gossip Girl reboot.