There are few actresses more obviously suited to omnipresence than Kristen Bell—currently hanging out at the Frozen 2 premiere, even as her alter-ego Eleanor Shellstrop wrestles with the infinite over on The Good Place. Now we can add omniscience back into Bell’s list of powers, too, with TV Line confirming that the actress will be back to fulfill narrator duties on HBO Max’s upcoming Gossip Girl reboot.
Bell “appeared” in all six seasons of the CW series, giving voice to the all-knowing blogger who gave the show its name, as well as a healthy dose of connective tissue, and welcome snark. It had previously sounded like the show’s new, more modern take on social media—including our blithe willingness to film ourselves at all time, a major boon to the contemporary snoop—might have eliminated the need for a single all-powerful blogger to reign over the masses. But as original series producers Stephanie Savage and Joshua Safran, as well as creator Josh Schwartz, re-iterated in a statement this week, “Kristen Bell has always been and will always be the voice of Gossip Girl.”
Bell is also the only member of the show’s old cast to be returning, at least to date; the show’s producers have made it clear that Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, and all their former fake New York socialites are welcome to be a part of the new streaming series, but the show will focus primarily on a new crop of lovelorn, status-obsessed social climbers.