Nina Dobrev is best known for her role as Elena on The Vampire Diaries, but only few knew that she auditioned to star in another CW drama, too — the OG Gossip Girl spinoff. Though never picked up, the potential spinoff was titled Valley Girls, and intended to cover the life and romantic ups-and-downs of Serena van der Woodsen's mother, Lily Rhodes Mueller Bass… Bass Humphrey van der Woodsen. (Whew. Did we get that right?)
As noted by Just Jared Jr., Gossip Girl's original casting director David Rapaport appeared on actor Jessica Szohr's new podcast, XOXO, and shared that Nina had read for the part of young Lily for the series that never was.
"You know who did the best read for that? I’ll tell you, because I think you’re friends with Nina Dobrev, that was one of the best auditions I had ever seen, and for that role specifically,” he shared with Jessica, who played the polarizing Vanessa on the original show.
According to Rapaport, Nina wasn't the right aesthetic fit for the role of Lily, but he was sold on her performance alone, urging the CW to hire her ASAP. He reportedly told the cable network, "She is a superstar but she does not look like Kelly Rutherford. She was supposed to be a young Kelly Rutherford, so I don’t know how we would cast her, but she needs to be on your radar and you guys need to find something for her.”
And they did — Nina went on to nab her star-making role in the CW's The Vampire Diaries the same year the backdoor pilot for Valley Girls aired. The rest is history.
Based on the strength of Nina's audition, Rapaport knew that there were big things in store for the actor. “I just remember thinking, ‘I am going to think about this girl in a couple of years and be like, ‘Oh god, I missed that opportunity,'" he said. "She was so incredible!"
The role of young Lily ultimately went to Pitch Perfect's Brittany Snow. But all's well that ends well — we couldn't imagine Elena played by anyone other than Nina.
Let us slide into your DMs. Sign up for the Teen Vogue daily email.
Want more from Teen Vogue? Check this out: Gossip Girl’s Jessica Szohr Says Vanessa Got “Short End of the Stick”
