Nowadays, you probably know Kristen Bell as Eleanor Shellstrop from The Good Place, Anna from Frozen, or perhaps Joanne from her new hit rom-com series on Netflix, Nobody Wants This. But it would be remiss to completely forget about her CW roots. The Forgetting Sarah Marshall actress had a nearly decade-long stint on the popular teen drama network in the 2000s, all because she was able to use the cancellation of Veronica Mars to land Gossip Girl.
The CW in the 2000s and 2010s was primetime viewing for anyone ages 12-18, with some of the most rewatchable shows to come from that era, including One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries, Gilmore Girls, and Veronica Mars. Veronica Mars was Bell’s big break in 2004, where she played the titular teenage private eye for three seasons before the show was canceled due to ratings. Thankfully, the Queenpins actress is a quick thinker like Veronica, telling Vanity Fair how she turned the Veronica Mars cancellation into her next opportunity:
Veronica Mars had just gotten canceled. Gossip Girl had just gotten greenlit. And I realized that I was probably 5 or 10 years too old to audition for one of these parts. So I called the head of the CW at the time, and I said, ‘Hey, remember yesterday when you canceled my show? Could I be the narrator on this other show?’ And thankfully, there was enough goodwill there that she gave me a chance and pitched it to the creators, Josh and Stephanie, and they said yes.
I can’t even imagine someone other than Bell being the voice of Gossip Girl, so it’s crazy to learn she got this role on a whim. Had she never reached out to the powers that be at the CW, we would have never gotten to hear the iconic, sassy “xoxo, gossip girl.”
Bell revealed that Veronica Mars had taught her to harness her snarkier side in her acting, something she asked to try out in the recording booth while narrating Gossip Girl. According to the Bad Moms actress, Gossip Girl’s creators had no notes, and she continued to address Upper Eastsiders the same way for all six seasons of the original show.
Bell even returned to narrate HBO’s Gossip Girl reboot for two seasons before it was swiftly canceled. It just wasn’t the same without S, B and the original cast, even with Bell narrating. However, fans did get to witness a crazy Veronica Mars/Gossip Girl crossover, with Leighton Meester guest-starring in Nobody Wants This Season 2. Although real marshmallows know this is a true Veronica Mars reunion through and through, as Meester played Carrie Bishop in the original VMars series, long before she made her debut as Blair.
As much as I would like these two to return to either Neptune, California or Manhattan's Upper East Side, the chances of another Veronica Mars or Gossip Girl reboot are slim. Bell has previously said she would play her #1 character, Veronica Mars, until the day she dies, but after Hulu’s revival killed off a fan-favorite, even the show’s cult following has sadly lost interest. I’ll never say never, though, cause clearly Kristen Bell makes her own destiny.
Nobody Wants This, on the other hand, has already been renewed for Season 3, and after fans freaked out over seeing Blair Waldorf and Seth Cohen from The O.C. onscreen together, we can hope that Leighton Meester will reprise her role as Joanne’s childhood nemesis. You can see both Gossip Girl alums in Nobody Wants This Season 2, now streaming with a Netflix subscription, and keep an eye out for Season 3 on the 2026 TV schedule.
