Chace Crawford right here.
The “Reunion” star, 39, is getting candid on the aftermath of taking part in Nate Archibald on “Gossip Girl” for six seasons from 2007 to 2012.
The early-2000s drama, set within the backdrop of New York Metropolis, adopted the lives of elite excessive schoolers and shortly grew to become a cult basic. However Crawford felt being elevated to the last word crush had its downfalls.
“I felt like I was in the wilderness for years after ‘Gossip Girl,’” he shared on Thursday’s episode of the “Good Guys” podcast. “Because I felt, you know, as big of a show as it was, coming off of it as a young guy, it’s like, ‘Oh, that’s not cool anymore.’”
“And I’m in this box now,” Crawford continued. “I’m in this jail of like the CW pretty boy, you know what I mean?”
“Gossip Girl” ran on the CW and in addition starred Blake Energetic, Leighton Meester, Ed Westwick, Penn Badgley, Taylor Momsen and Michelle Trachtenberg.
Crawford defined that folks didn’t suppose he had “range” as an actor.
After “Gossip Girl” ended, Crawford went on to star in a collection of flicks, together with the 2018 horror “Cry of Fear.” In 2015, the Hollywood vet landed the a part of main man on the one season ABC drama “Blood & Oil” in 2015.
For Crawford, the transition wasn’t a easy one and he felt pigeonholed.
“I think people think… actors make a ton more money and have way more agency than we actually do,” he admitted on the podcast including in regards to the stress he placed on himself: “I was probably harder on myself than I needed to be.”
Then got here the 2019 Prime Video satirical superhero drama by Eric Kripke: “The Boys.” Crawford performs The Deep, who’s a self-obsessed, aquatic superhero with questionable morals.
It was a job that modified the performer’s life.
“I just remember that audition hitting my inbox, and reading the synopsis, I was like, that sounds wild,” Crawford recounted. “And then reading this pilot, I was like, ‘Oh, this is f–king great. This is so out there and original and weird.’”
The CW alum instantly felt a pull to his on-screen character.
“In the specific role of The Deep… I know that guy,” he expressed. “You know, I know a hundred of those guys, basically. So, I instantly felt confident and excited about my take on the character.”
Crawford’s addition, in the meantime, was no stroll within the park.
“I went in and read for it,” he recalled. “I got there, I was like last up, and there were literally like 50 names on the sheet.”
Crawford carried out one “dark” scene and one lighter second which “got some laughs out of Kripke.”
“It was just a normal audition read that I… really wanted, you know? Just based on like reading it. So it really wasn’t my choice at all.”
Kripke, 51, and the casting administrators made the selection that Crawford was the right match.
“It was great,” he gushed. “I was so happy to have another job that I was excited about and that the character was so different from anything that I had done before.”
“The Boys” is at present filming its fifth and last season and in addition stars Antony Starr, Karl City, Jack Quaid, Laz Alonso and Erin Moriarty.
The collection’ spinoff “Gen V” aired its first season in 2023 and follows college students who’re in a faculty for sups. Season 2 is about to premiere this fall.
In 2024, Crawford mirrored on the huge success of “The Boys” and his character specifically.
“That’s the name of the game with the character and with the show in general, is that vulnerability,” he stated throughout a dialog with fellow actor Billy Magnussen for Interview Journal. “You have to really go to those places. I found things I didn’t really know I had or was capable of, being able and given permission to do on a show like this. It was great to really be able to grow and stretch.”
As for the place that permission comes from, Crawford credited Kripke.
“It was the creator, Eric Kripke, the writing, it starts there,” he expressed. “Eric directed the first couple [episodes], and he kind of let us have the freedom of doing exactly what we wanted to do and finding it in rehearsal. I never really had that.”
“‘Gossip Girl’ was very much hit the mark, and it was great. It’s its own formula. It was working very fast, and this was slowed down,” continued Crawford. “And actors like Antony Starr, who plays Homelander, he’s super intense and amazing to work with. Actors like that were totally bringing their A-game. I’m like, ‘Okay, this is the way we’re going to be doing this show.’”
