Gossip Girl Star Tavi Gevinson Answers Vogue’s 73 Questions

[Interviewer] Tavi, hey.

Hi.

[Interviewer] I'm here to ask 73 questions.

I know.

[Interviewer] All right, let's get into it.

Can you tell us where we are?

Just out of Gossip Girl, if you wanna come in.

[Interviewer] Let's do it.

What's the best thing about being back on set?

Being around people.

[Interviewer] What do you do in between takes?

Apologize for literally anything.

[Interviewer] What's the strangest way

you've seen yourself described in print?

Pint-sized.

[Interviewer] Do you know where you fall

on the chaotic-neutral chart?

Probably like cool and beautiful.

[Interviewer] What's the most surprised you've ever been?

[Interviewer] When I woke up during jaw surgery.

[Interviewer] What's the most important vintage piece

that you ever bought?

Ha-ha, this vintage Prada skirt on eBay.

[Interviewer] Very nice.

What's the strongest reaction you've had to a fashion show?

A lot of Rodarte shows have made me cry.

[Interviewer] What was your philosophy

on getting dressed when you were 11?

More is more.

[Interviewer] What's your philosophy

on getting dressed today?

Enough is more.

[Interviewer] Okay, that's good.

How do you start to put an outfit together?

[Tavi] Choose one thing that I'm excited about

and go from there.

[Interviewer] You were only 11 when you started your blog.

How did you come up with the name Style Rookie?

I read fashion blogs with names

like Style Bubble, Fashion Robot, Fashion Pirate.

So I just kind of copied that construction

and was like, I don't know anything, so rookie.

[Interviewer] You wrote about wearing bags as hats

and hangers as necklaces.

What's the most absurd object you used for an outfit?

Coat hanger as a necklace was a lot and dangerous,

but I wore like a lot of tights as belts.

[Interviewer] What was the moment that you knew

there was no turning back?

Birth.

[Interviewer] What was the most beautiful

piece of fan mail that you ever got?

I actually have it right here.

It's a jacket inspired by the book

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

and this woman Stephanie made it for me

because she knew I loved the book.

It's crazy, like, she made all of this

and her website is godsavethemisanthropes.com.

[Interviewer] It's really cool.

Now, you were 15 when you started

the online teen magazine Rookie.

What's your favorite article

that was ever posted on the site?

How to structure your days if you're depressed.

[Interviewer] And what was your favorite piece

that you wrote?

It was really sad, but my goodbye letter

I'm probably proudest of.

[Interviewer] What is the worst thing about the internet?

Rampant misinformation.

[Interviewer] What's the best?

My community of flat Earthers.

[Interviewer] What was the most surprising thing

about editing a magazine?

That I could do it.

[Interviewer] What does the world need to know

about teenage girls?

Leave them alone.

[Interviewer] What independent publications

would you recommend to former Rookie readers?

Polyester Zine, gal-dem, Another Gaze journal.

[Interviewer] Now Tavi, do you still write every day?

I try to.

[Interviewer] What is your go-to cure for writer's block?

Write it as an email to a friend.

[Woman In Mask] Oh, we need you on set in 49 questions.

[Tavi] Oh, sure, yeah.

[Interviewer] So do you keep your phone next to you

while you're working?

No, I lock it in a case safe.

[Interviewer] And what question keeps you up all night?

Have I been building a house of cards?

And I don't mean a hit Netflix show.

[Interviewer] And what was the first play

that you were ever in?

Oliver.

[Interviewer] I love Oliver.

And who did you play in Oliver?

An orphan/Fagin's boy. I was eight.

[Interviewer] Ah, buzzsaw.

What was your favorite musical as a kid?

Wicked.

[Interviewer] And what's your dream role in a play?

Saint Joan.

[Interviewer] Can you do one of the lines

for me right now?

Life is like a box of chocolates.

[Interviewer] Now, Broadway's been closed for a year.

What's the best thing people can do

to support the theater right now?

Donate to The Actors Fund.

[Interviewer] What's the biggest difference

between performing in a theater versus on camera?

Cameras steal your soul.

[Interviewer] What's the craziest

stage door experience you've had?

I did the play This Is Our Youth,

which has literally three people in it,

and I was signing Playbills at the stage door

and I reached for one woman's and she was like, Um, no.

[Interviewer] What's one movie

that every teenage girl should watch?

Teenage by Matt Wolf. And now we're at the high school.

[Interviewer] And what would the one-act play

about your life thus far be called?

Fleabag, and it is all plagiarized.

[Interviewer] What would you be

if you had a different career?

A stage mom.

[Interviewer] A lot about the show is under wraps,

but are you Gossip Girl?

[Tavi] Mm.

[Interviewer] What can you tell me about your character?

She's ambitious and looks like me.

[Interviewer] So if she's not Gossip Girl, who is?

There's a chance any of them are Gossip Girl.

[Interviewer] Would you rather have

Blair or Serena's closet?

Blair.

[Interviewer] What can you say

will be different about this Gossip Girl?

The children have Instagram.

[Interviewer] How has your life changed

since the show started?

I can no longer sign emails xoxo.

[Interviewer] Who would you say

is the real-life Gossip Girl?

Mark Zuckerberg.

[Interviewer] And what's your favorite quote?

[Tavi] Get informed, inspired, in touch, and involved.

[Interviewer] Music or podcasts when you're on a walk?

Primal screaming.

[Interviewer] What's the best thing

about living in New York?

Theater.

[Interviewer] Okay, now what New Yorker,

real or fictional, would you most like

to spend the day with?

Fran Lebowitz.

[Interviewer] And what would you do?

Try to get her to like me.

[Interviewer] What's the biggest misconception

about New York?

That the people are mean.

[Interviewer] How would you describe a true new Yorker?

Would not dare. They would hate that.

[Interviewer] Has acting made you a better writer?

Yeah.

[Interviewer] Has writing made you a better actor?

No.

[Interviewer] How do you stay focused

between all your creative projects?

Guilt.

[Interviewer] And what would you say to someone

struggling to get inspired?

Take the pressure off yourself. Go take a nap.

[Interviewer] What's the last great novel you read?

It's right here, in fact.

No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood.

[Interviewer] What's the last great memoir you read?

The Ugly Cry by Danielle Henderson.

[Interviewer] Last great romance novel?

Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric Kimmel.

[Interviewer] Who's a writer who's pieces you always read?

Sally Wen Mao.

[Interviewer] Okay, Tavi.

What is your pitch for Shark Tank?

Okay, it's a undertaking business

only for actors called Last Looks.

It's not a lot of utility, but it's a pun.

[Interviewer] I saw that you deleted Instagram

off of your phone.

What app would you say that you use the most instead?

Venmo? Just judging people.

[Interviewer] What does a healthy relationship

with social media look like?

[Tavi] Throwing your phone in the ocean.

[Interviewer] What's the most

overused phrase on the internet?

I.

[Interviewer] What's the nicest compliment

you've ever received?

That my dog and I look alike.

And what have we here? What a coincidence, wow.

[Interviewer] What's going on here?

This is a candle of my face by the artist Janie Korn.

[Interviewer] Wow, it does kind of resemble you.

Coffee or tea?

Coffee. Saturday or Sunday?

Sunday. Favorite word?

Laxative.

[Interviewer] Favorite Olivia Rodrigo song?

deja vu.

[Interviewer] What's the best place to bring a friend

visiting New York for the first time ever?

The Roosevelt Island Tramway has the cheapest view.

[Interviewer] What's your go-to karaoke song?

Light My Candle from Rent, both parts.

[Interviewer] So after Gossip Girl, what's next for you?

Let's see. Let's find out.

[Interviewer] Okay.

What card are we gonna get here?

[gasps] And...

There's no way around that one, huh?

[Interviewer] Oh, the death card.

And where are you happiest?

Constance Billard.

[Interviewer] Tavi, we did it.

That was question number 73. We're done.

Ah!

[Interviewer] Blow out that candle. Yep.

Ah, you got it. Thanks, Tavi.