Chace Crawford - The Former Gossip Girl Star Is Back In New York And The Public Eye

“I feel that men are late bloomers. I definitely know myself better after turning 30. After Gossip Girl ended, it took a while to process what happened.”

- Cezar Greif

Chace Crawford was the man in 2017. Emerging fresh from the pop culture hit Gossip Girl, Crawford had it all ︲ fame, good looks and a seemingly bright future. But the promised rewards never came. Instead, he trudged through an endless desert.

Then The Boys came about. A satirical superhero series on Amazon Prime, the show was well-received by audiences and critics alike. Crawford plays The Deep, a superhero who engages in sexual assault – quite the modern anti-hero. With his career revived, Crawford himself is now recognised as an actor with a lot more range. It was fitting, then, that we met him in New York City, where it all started for him.

I imagine many don’t realise you’re from Texas.

They don’t. It was good being in Texas. My mom is a teacher and my dad became a dermatologist after medical school, so we moved to Dallas. I became a big Cowboys fan. While it was a great journey, I wanted to get out of Texas for college.

So you studied journalism in college and suddenly the acting bug hit you?

I was doing broadcast journalism and I loved all the classes. But once I got into college, like every 18-year-old kid, I had an existential crisis. “What am I going to do with my life?” [laughs] It spurred me to take a year off from school. That’s when I started taking acting classes. I had a buddy who was taking some, so I went along. That’s when I fell in love with acting.

You’re back in New York City for this shoot. Do you have a special connection with the city because of Gossip Girl?