Katie Cassidy Could’ve Been Serena van der Woodsen: “It Was Between Blake And I”

Katie Cassidy's acting resume has become wide and varied over the last 20 years, spanning multiple genres across film and television (and even some music videos in the mix). While she is known more recently for her role as Laurel Lance in superhero drama Arrow, she's also firmly embedded in pop culture with roles in iconic titles like Taken (Liam Neeson), Supernatural (Jensen Ackles) Click (Adam Sandler), Monte Carlo (Selena Gomez, Leighton Meester) and, of course, Gossip Girl.

When Refinery29 Australia spoke to Katie ahead of her Oz Comic-Con appearances in Brisbane and Sydney this September, she told us that being cast as Amanda in Taken (2008) was a real "game-changer" earlier in her career, leading to so many more opportunities in acting. Interestingly, Katie's manager at the time wasn't 100% supportive of her taking the role. "It was one of my first roles I landed," Katie explains. "I was actually up to play Liam Neeson's daughter, which Maggie Grace ended up getting."

When the role of the Kim Mills' best friend, Amanda — AKA "the first to get taken" — was offered by Fox instead, Katie was all for it. She loved the script, was excited to contribute to the story and was (and still is) a fan of Liam Neeson. But her management wasn't sold on the idea, seemingly because she was once in line to play a leading role. "Did my representation at the time necessarily think I should [take the best friend role]? No. But it's like, listen, I'm fresh out of high school. I want to do this. I love this creatively. I love the story. I just think it's like, a very interesting, relevant topic, and I would love to be a part of this project." Of course, Taken went on to become a huge success, grossing $226.8 million worldwide.

Soon after would come her rollercoaster role as Juliet Sharp on Gossip Girl. The character quickly became one of the show's biggest villains, working alongside Vanessa Abrams (Jessica Szohr) and Jenny Humphrey (Taylor Momsen) for a calculated takedown of Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively), yet she somewhat managed to redeem herself by the end of her tenure in the Upper East Side. When Refinery29 Australia spoke to Katie, we learned that the actress had actually been considered for another role on the hit CW show — the one and only Serena van der Woodsen herself.

"I don't know if I've ever spoken about this, but it was down to Blake Lively and myself to play Serena as the lead," Katie tells Refinery29 Australia. "It was between Blake and I, but you know, when things are meant to be, they're meant to be, and clearly that was meant for her, and she did a wonderful job." Lively played the role of Serena van der Woodsen from 2007 to 2012, over the course of six seasons.

Gossip Girl's casting director David Rapaport previously told Buzzfeed that Ashley Olsen and Rumer Willis were initially pitched by the network as options for Serena and Blair. "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 books," he said during the 2015 interview.

Following the decision to cast Blake as Serena, Katie went on to star in Monte Carlo alongside Selena Gomez and Leighton Meester, before ultimately joining Gossip Girl in Season Four as Juliet Sharp. For Katie, this meant being back on set with Monte Carlo costar Leighton, who played the role of van der Woodsen's best friend, Blair Waldorf, throughout Gossip Girl's six seasons. Of coming to New York to work on Gossip Girl, she says it was fun to be working with Leighton again after they "really connected" while filming Monte Carlo.

"I love [executive producer] Josh Schwartz, and was very excited to be considered for the [Juliet Sharp] role. I don't know if Leighton [Meester] had any influence over that [opportunity]." Because Katie was born and raised in Los Angeles, she notes that having Leighton there for the "big change" of coming to New York was really important to her. "Leighton is still a very, very good friend of mine," Cassidy shares. "It was nice to have a companion, someone I knew," she shares.

"I love women who support other women, and she's very much one of those people. I kind of felt taken care of, and I also felt like I was taking care of her in a way."

While the Serena van der Woodsen role was undoubtedly a big one, Katie doesn't let it get in the way of her own successes. "I try not to take anything personally. I always sort of like congratulate myself for getting as far as I have and Blake's a great actress, and I am very supportive of women, so I was happy that she got it." She added, "It's just cool to like, see where everybody is — everyone's life sort of evolves — and where they've ended up. I'm grateful to have been a part of that."

The conversation was a reminder to take opportunities, even if they're not the ones you initially came for. You never know what they might lead to.