Chace Crawford Recalls Feeling Like He Was in ‘the Jail of the CW Pretty Boy’ After Gossip Girl Success

Chace Crawford offered rare insight into the personal and professional challenges he faced after achieving teen heartthrob status on Gossip Girl. 

Known for playing the charming Nate Archibald in the early-2000s TV drama, Crawford described how the success of the show became both a career-defining moment and a creative obstacle. 

Though he has since reinvented himself with darker, more comedic roles like The Deep in Amazon Prime’s The Boys, Crawford admitted that the shadow of his CW past followed him for years, limiting opportunities and public perception.

“I felt like I was in the wilderness for years after Gossip Girl,” Crawford, 39, confessed on a recent episode of the Good Guys podcast. “Because I felt, you know, as big of a show as it was, coming off of it as a young guy, it’s like, ‘Oh, that’s not cool anymore.’ ”

“And I’m in this box now. I’m in this jail of like the CW pretty boy, you know what I mean?” he adds, noting that people didn’t think he had any “range.”

While he managed to do well following such early success, Crawford said it was far from a seamless transition. “I think people think… actors make a ton more money and have way more agency than we actually do,” he said, pointing to the false sense of power actors are perceived to have. The truth, according to Crawford, was far more frustrating.

After Gossip Girl, he found himself pigeonholed. Despite his desire to explore grittier or more complex roles, Hollywood seemed unwilling to see him as anything but the polished, prep school poster boy. 

He admits the pressure was not just external. “I was probably harder on myself than I needed to be,” he reflected.

That changed with The Boys – Eric Kripke’s superhero satire, where Crawford plays The Deep, an insecure and self-absorbed aquatic anti-hero. The role marked a turning point. 

“I just remember that audition hitting my inbox, and reading the synopsis, I was like, that sounds wild,” he recalled. “And then reading this pilot, I was like, ‘Oh, this is f****ing great. This is so out there and original and weird.’ ”

Crawford said he instantly connected with the character. “In the specific role of The Deep… I know that guy. You know, I know a hundred of those guys, basically. So, I instantly felt confident and excited about my take on the character.”

The audition process, however, was no red carpet. “I went in and read for it. I got there, I was like last up, and there were literally like 50 names on the sheet,” he recalled, noting that he was disheartened, feeling like the casting directors had probably already made their pick.

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But the experience turned around when he discovered that the showrunner was present at every audition. Crawford did one “dark” scene and one that was more light-hearted, which “got some laughs out of Kripke” and left him feeling confident.

What began as just another read turned into a breakout opportunity that reshaped Crawford’s career. “It was just a normal audition read that I… really wanted, you know? Just based on like reading it. So it really wasn’t my choice at all.”

From there, he was asked to do another audition, and “it all worked out” from there.

“It was great. I was so happy to have another job that I was excited about and that the character was so different from anything that I had done before,” he added.

Now a fan-favorite on The Boys, Crawford’s transformation is more than a role – it’s a reclamation. Free from the “jail” of his CW past, he’s proven he’s far more than just a pretty face.