Jordan Alexander Had an Incredible Interaction With Blake Lively Years Before ‘Gossip Girl’

That’s so interesting that you met Blake Lively. Do you remember what she said to you at all, or did you get a chance to talk to her?

We actually met at this church that both of our families were at at the time because she was filming Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and her family was so kind to us. They invited us on set, and we were so excited. It was me, my two sisters, and my mom and dad, and we got to experience a movie set. Blake let me and my sisters pick what earrings she was going to wear. She had options for earrings for this day, and so she let us pick, which was so sweet.

The first Gossip Girl turned the cast into household names. Have you thought about that happening to your cast at all? 

That’s definitely been on my mind pretty much since I got cast, just because even at that point, the show was fairly high-profile, especially because it’s going to be on HBO Max. That'’s a very high-profile streaming network and network in general. So I’ve been contemplating all of that for a while. Every lifestyle has its challenges and has its beautiful side. 

What about Julien did you most identify with?

I really identified with her desire to be herself. She’s trying to be herself, but because she’s got things at such a young age, she doesn’t quite know who that is. So it gets a little muddled because she definitely puts out this polished veneer instead of her authentic self. But at the end of the day, that is her goal, I think. And my goal, for sure, especially with having more attention and being in the public eye, is to really just allow—if people are going to see something of me from me, it’s going to be the truth. It’s going to be authentic. It’s not going to be edited or polished or whatever. It will just be real.

How did you prepare for the role?

With the role I had before on Sacred Lies, I was playing a young foster kid. And so I did a lot of research online to get real-life stories about people who had experienced that system and who were living that life. I did the same thing on Gossip Girl to understand what that influencer lifestyle was and to understand what being extremely wealthy was like. Also, I watched the entirety of Gossip Girl to get a tone and a theme for my performance and my character, because it’s a really iconic series. I definitely wanted to infuse as much of that in Julien as possible to give that nostalgic feeling.

I love that you watched the show. With some actors, if they’re shooting a remake or reimagining of something iconic, their relationship to that material varies. Sometimes they don’t want to watch it at all, but you’re saying you found it helpful?

I found it super helpful because the Upper East Side and that glamorous lifestyle, I don’t have any experience with it at all. It was really fun to see how they portrayed it, and the hyper drama of it all. I felt like it helped me get a beat on what I wanted to do. But there are different approaches, right? I feel like either way, we achieved what we wanted to.