Rumer Willis Was Pitched for 'Gossip Girl' Before Blake Lively

Could you reimagine Rumer Willis or Katie Cassidy as Serena van der Woodsen? Neither can we.

Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images for Gabriela Cadena; Amanda Edwards/WireImage

Gossip Girl would’ve looked a lot different without Blake Lively.

Upper East Siders may be surprised to learn that Lively, 28, was not the first choice for the role of Serena van der Woodsen. The CW’s casting director David Rapaport revealed that the network actually recommended Rumer Willis to play the socialite at first.

“I think the network initially pitched us Rumer Willis for Serena,” Rapaport told Buzzfeed.

“I love Rumer, she’s grown into quite an amazing actress and person,” he said before adding, “but that, to me, was based on protecting the investment of a television show where creatively, these lesser-known girls really captured the essence of the show and carried it for six years.”

And where would Serena be without best frenemy Blair Waldorf? Before Leighton Meester nabbed the part, Rapaport shared that Ashley Olsen was initially considered.

“I read so many people. I think at the end of the day, we tested Blake, Katie Cassidy, who is now on Arrow, and this girl who was (Serena) on the Gossip Girl book.” (Watch Lively’s GG here.)

But Rapaport did cast Willis in a different CW teen drama.

The daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis played Gia Mannetti, the lesbian girlfriend of Adrianna Tate-Duncan (Jessica Lowndes) in the fourth season of 90210.

Willis went on to be season 20 champion of Dancing With The Stars and headline on Broadway as Roxie Hart in Chicago.

Lively didn’t too shabby either. She starred in the 2011 superhero flick The Green Lantern with now-husband Ryan Reynolds and launched lifestyle brand Preserve, which is taking a temporary hiatus. The mother of one is currently shooting two films: All I See Is You and an untitled Woody Allen project.