Chace Crawford Struggled After ‘Gossip Girl’: ‘I’m In This CW Pretty Boy Jail’
Spotted: One very handsome former Upper East Sider finally opening up about life after Blair, brunch, and way too many scandals. Chace Crawford, the man who made Nate Archibald look like he’d…
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 26: Chace Crawford attends the IMDboat at San Diego Comic-Con 2024 at The IMDb Yacht on July 26, 2024 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images for IMDb)
Spotted: One very handsome former Upper East Sider finally opening up about life after Blair, brunch, and way too many scandals. Chace Crawford, the man who made Nate Archibald look like he’d just stepped out of an Abercrombie ad, recently revealed that starring in Gossip Girl came with a golden cage. Or as he calls it, “CW Pretty Boy Jail.”
In a refreshingly candid interview, Crawford admitted that post-Gossip Girl life was anything but easy, as he was stereotyped. Hollywood basically told him, “Thanks for the cheekbones, now go stand in that corner and just look pretty.”
Chace Crawford: “I’m In This CW Pretty Boy Jail”
Crawford revealed the downside of being in Gossip Girl for six seasons from 2007 to 2012. The high school drama set in New York follows the lives of the uber-rich as they live their lives being rich and pretty. However, as Crawford experienced, “mo pretty, mo problems.”
In an appearance on the Good Guys podcast (via the New York Post), The Covenant actor admitted, “I felt like I was in the wilderness for years after Gossip Girl. 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.’” He added, “And I’m in this box now. I’m in this jail of like the CW pretty boy, you know what I mean?”
Crawford on Being Stereotyped
Crawford said he felt that people “didn’t think he had range as an actor” and the transition from Gossip Girl was not easy. He starred in several films and TV shows after that, but it was Prime Video’s The Boys that made a difference. “I just remember that audition hitting my inbox, and reading the synopsis, I was like, that sounds wild. And then reading this pilot, I was like, ‘Oh, this is f–king great. This is so out there and original and weird.”
He said of his character, The Deep, a member of The Seven, and is considered the group’s token aquatic hero: “In the specific role of The Deep… I know that guy. You know, I know a hundred of those guys, basically. So, I instantly felt confident and excited about my take on the character.”
The Boys is currently filming its fifth and final season and is scheduled for a 2026 release. Aside from Crawford, the show also stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Jensen Ackles, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, among others.
