Gossip Girl Is Back, and the New Cast of Upper East Siders Are Taking Scandal to a New Level

Constance Billard's "it" girl, Julien (Jordan Alexander) rules over the school with an influence befitting her thousands of Instagram followers. As a teacher puts it, if Julien wears it, fast-fashion will be manufacturing it by lunch (a cache not unlike her spiritual predecessor, Serena van der Woodsen). When she's not creating beauty content for her social media, you can find her holding court and drinking martinis at DUMBO House, the member's-only club her and her friends frequent on evenings.

Zoya (Whitney Peak) is the new girl at Constance Billard and Julien's half sister. When we meet her in the first episode, she's recently moved to the city from Buffalo with her single dad to attend school on an arts scholarship — aka the lone middle-class student in a sea of uber wealth. Despite her outsider (not to mention, freshman) status, Julien immediately tries to adopt Zoya into her friend group, ruffling the feathers of her long-standing besties.

Obie (Eli Brown) is Julien's boyfriend and the richest of all the teens in the friend group, but you'd never know it from his personality. Despite his wealth, there's a definite altruistic, Dan Humphrey vibe going on here (he attends labor strikes, for one). He's also — shocker — not on Instagram, despite constantly being cast to appear in Julien's stories.

Max (Thomas Doherty) is the rightful heir to the Chuck Bass throne, all sharp outfits, smooth lines, and overconfidence. While Chuck flirted with it, Max is out as bisexual and nondiscriminatory (really, downright brazen) with his sexual encounters.

If you were to compare Audrey (Emily Alyn Lind) to a previous GG character, it would be Blair Waldorf, thanks to her prim looks and strained relationship with her mother (Laura Benanti) who, like Eleanor, is recently divorced and has her own fashion line (though because it's 2021, it's athleisure, not dresses). Audrey is struggling with feeling that her mother is absent from her life since the divorce, and despite dating Aki, is romantically tempted by another friend in the group.

The peacemaker of the group, Aki (Evan Mock) is quiet and kindhearted and more likely than some of his cutthroat peers to give others the benefit of the doubt. He offers support and advice to Audrey in dealing with her mom troubles and is another character that exhibits sexual fluidity.

Luna (Zion Moreno) is Julien's de-facto stylist and one half of the team programming her beauty influencer Instagram account. Her fashion rules are extensive and demanding — when giving a fellow student a makeover, she recommends Botox for sweating and contacts to blur your vision "so it looks like you're always smizing." Luna is a self-proclaimed feminist, but also not afraid to burn another girl if it helps her get ahead.

Known as the school bully, Monet (Savannah Smith) isn't afraid to get a teacher fired for a bad grade or take matters into her own hands when her bestie Julien's status is threatened by an outsider. The other half of Julien's Instagram dream team, Monet is always close by to snap a selfie for #MotivationMonday or otherwise protect her brand just like a publicist.

Ms. Keller (Tavi Gevinson, an early influencer herself in her high school days) is a teacher at Constance Billard and fed up with the staff getting walked all over by the school's uber-privileged students (not to mention getting her outfits insulted). After a French teacher gets fired for refusing to change a grade after a parent complained, she rallies the other teachers to devise a plan to take back power from their students.