The modern reboot of Gossip Girl left many fans of the original series unsatisfied. The first season misfired in several ways, but one of the reasons for the mediocre reception in some circles was the performance of Jordan Alexander as Julien Calloway, the erstwhile leader of the main cast.
But as certain revelations about the character were revealed as season one moved forward, Alexander’s acting was reappraised as a clever commentary on Julien’s state of mind.
Many critics and fans were initially put off by Alexander’s performance
Fans’ reviews of Alexander’s performance are far from kind. “Why is no one talking about how horrible of an actress Jordan Alexander is? I cringe in every scene. Yeah, the writing can be cheesy, but she is terrible … thoughts?” reads a Reddit post with over 140 upvotes at the time of writing. Another fan tried to give her some slack, saying, “… the dialogue is horrendous but other actors in the show make it work a lot better,”
If it makes her feel any better (it probably doesn’t), Alexander was not being scapegoated for her work. People hated many aspects of the new Gossip Girl. The first season received a 38% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with the low-quality writing being the main culprit for bad reviews.
“The characters don’t act or sound like teenagers (‘don’t straight-shame me’ is among the most asinine lines). The use of social media doesn’t feel particularly hip, and even the adult characters are stiff and nonsensical rather than fully formed humans,” wrote Kelly Lawler in a review for USA Today.
Lucy Mangan’s one-star review in The Guardian echoes the same sentiment, describing the scripts as “outlandish.”
Her portrayal made more sense to some viewers after Julien’s role was fully revealed
Despite all the negative responses to Alexander’s performance on Gossip Girl, some fans found a positive spin on Alexander’s acting choices after understanding that Julien is never truly herself while in public.
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“At first, it looked like bad acting, something was off, and it looked forced, but when you realize that she is playing an influencer, it made so much sense! So much of these influencers have this blend and fake personality, and Jordan [emulates] that so well! I love her more now!,” reads a Reddit post from last year.
There’s certainly something to that. Influencers have to commit to constantly selling a certain lifestyle to appease followers and potential sponsors desperate for the youthful cache. At the same time, the poster says they watched the Gossip Girl pilot five times before coming to this conclusion. Hopefully, the good parts of the show will be less difficult to find in season two.
Alexander nearly left the acting world before joining ‘Gossip Girl’
According to IMDb, Alexander made her acting debut in 2007 and appeared in a few projects throughout the 2010s. But she nearly gave up on the profession altogether before ending up on Gossip Girl. She moved to Toronto at the age of 18 to pursue acting professionally.
However, Alexander grew increasingly jaded about the audition process, specifically the countless number of times she showed up to a casting call to find a waiting room full of people with a similar look and vibe as her. “You need to have a sense of yourself because that’s what castings are—you walk into a room, and there are five other humans who essentially fit your bill, and that can be a bit much,” she told W Magazine.
To rediscover who she was and what she wanted to do with her life, Alexander shaved her head and focused more on songwriting as her main form of artistic expression. She opened for Kehlani at Toronto Pride in 2018 and collaborated with Carly Rae Jepson for a Pride remix of her song “Feels Right” in 2019. Those opportunities were nice but not enough to pay Alexander’s bills.
A not-so-subtle push from her sibling convinced her to give acting another shot. “I was working as a maid and waiting for the bus. My sister finally broke me down and was like, ‘if you do acting, you maybe don’t have to do this anymore,’” Alexander recalled.
Her sister sent her headshot to agencies across the city, and Alexander eventually landed a role on Sacred Lies, a Facebook Watch series (it is now available on Peacock) starring Juliette Lewis, where she met her future Gossip Girl co-star Emily Alyn Lind.
