'Gossip Girl' Reunion: Why Penn Badgley, Chace Crawford Don't Like Rewatching The Series

“Gossip Girl” alums Penn Badgley and Chace Crawford recently revealed why they don't like rewatching the CW series during a mini-reunion via video chat.

Harking back to their time on the 2007 hit drama “Gossip Girl,” Badgley, 33, and Crawford, 34, compared their previous roles on the CW show to their more mature onscreen characters later on.

Badgley, who currently stars in the Netflix hit series “You,” initially played “Gossip Girl’s” literati member Dan Humphrey, while Crawford, who now plays a haughty superhero on Amazon’s “The Boys,” acted as Dan’s friend Nate Archibald.

Although it has been years since the actors have been under the “Gossip Girl” umbrella, Badgley said in their video chat for Variety’s “Actors on Actors” that his serial killer role, Joe Goldberg, in “You” may actually be a reprise of Dan.

“The funny thing is I didn’t get excited to be like, ‘Oh, this is such a different and interesting take on a similar vibe,’” the 33-year-old actor said, recalling the time he signed on for the Netflix original series. “I was, if anything, too self-conscious about that, and I was inclined to be like, ‘I know it seems quite different, but in a way, it’s almost like Dan, just with bloody hands.’”

Unearthing more memories from the 2007 series—such as Badgley’s co-star Blake Lively gifting him his first iPhone when they were still dating at the time—the “You” actor asked Crawford if he had ever rewatched the show.

“Buddy, you have to strap me to a gurney and pop my eyes open like ‘Clockwork Orange’,” the 34-year-old said about rewatching their series, though he also admitted to finding interest in seeing the first couple of episodes.

“I don’t like really watching myself that much in general,” Crawford said. “So to go back and open that time capsule, I think there would be some nostalgic value.”

Badgley shared the same opinion, saying that he remembered watching an episode before he and his wife, Domino Kirke, got married.

“I remember even then, it has nothing to do with the show, but it was very hard to watch,” he revealed. “These snapshots of yourself when you’re 20, 21, 22 years old. Who can enjoy that? Sometimes it’s just uncomfortable.”

Meanwhile, CW’s “Gossip Girl” is getting a reboot on HBO Max that is slated to premiere in 2021. Filming was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although no further details were divulged about the upcoming series, Badgley said that he is “interested to see what it’s like.”