After being spotted on the steps of The Met for the highly anticipated Gossip Girl reboot, Whitney Peak hasn’t been able to catch her breath. marie claire caught up with the talented emerging talent ahead of the second season’s release (watch it on BINGE here), where she delved into how far the show has come in representing the culture of 2022, the most challenging scene she’s ever filmed, and, her thoughts on black trauma represented in mainstream film and television.
MC: From Sabrina to Gossip Girl to Hocus Pocus, you are the queen of reinventing the classics in a way that acknowledges, but also learns from the past. What do you think makes a reboot successful?
WP: Not trying too hard to make it the same. In its essence it should carry the same energy that the original may have had, but also remain true to the time by representing the culture and the different versatility of people.
MC: I read that one of the things you liked about the new Gossip Girl series is that it ‘shows Black people just existing, without their blackness being their whole identity.’ Tell me about that.
What really cemented me in the role of Zoya, was when Josh Safran, the showrunner of Gossip Girl, told me he wanted to allow characters to be messy, without the stigma.
Teenagers should be allowed to walk around with their hair in buns and a baggy sweatshirt and not always look put together, but in the past, especially in the black community, it’s always been looked at as unprofessional.
It was something that I resonated with, especially when I used to go to high school. I always felt like I needed to straighten my hair for it to look presentable because my curls were messy.
MC: You also said that you’re terrible at watching black trauma. Was that a reflection of the times or the way that black trauma is unpacked and handled in mainstream film and television.
WP: I try to stay away from entertainment that kind of highlights or is centred around black trauma. I find more comfort in television that highlights black joy, rather than the pain and exhaustion that the community has faced in the past and still today. I appreciate when stories are being shared, but I think we should also be able to find a contrasting form of relief which shows that yes, there was bad, but there’s good as well.
MC: You grew up in Kampala, Uganda, where you would often spend the summer holidays, helping your mum and aunties finish braiding hair on customers at their salon. What did you learn from the women in your life during these moments together?
WP: I have vignettes of memories during those summers, where I would braid hair and hang out with my family at the salon. It was a big part of my childhood. There was such a strong sense of community, whenever you entered that space, it was just love all the time.
MC: Your audition for Disney when you were younger turned out to be a scam. Why was this setback a motivator as opposed to a deterrent to continue to pursue a career in acting?
WP: If I didn’t land a role in the sci-fi series, Minority Report, I feel like my life would have gone in a completely different direction. That was the flick of the dominoes and everything kind of just happened from there.
MC: What scene throughout your career has been the most challenging to film?
WP: Funnily enough, I was searching my head for the most emotionally draining scenes that I’ve filmed, but to this day, the hardest scene that I’ve had to film was in Molly’s Game. There was a scene where Jessica Chastain’s character makes a joke and I’m supposed to laugh. But I could not for the life of me get a laugh out. It was terrible!
MC: You’ve starred in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and now Hocus Pocus 2. What’s a magical power you would love to have?
WP: I would love to be able to teleport.
MC: I always toss up between shapeshifting or invisibility.
WP: Ok, thinking out of the box here! Invisibility would be cool. But are your clothes invisible too or would you literally have to strip down every time that you want to use your power? Or do you have to find a corner and just take all your clothes off?
Quick Fire Questions
MC: What’s your favourite Gossip Girl scene/episode and why?
WP: The pool party in the first season would have been really fun to film or when they play that game running around the city. I think it was called bandits.
MC: Who is a character you’d love to make a comeback?
WP: I would love for Dan to come back.
MC: What couple were you rooting for?
WP: For this season, Audrey, Max and Aki. I just need that to be forever.
MC: What has been your favourite fashion moment on Gossip Girl?
WP: I loved Blair’s red gown in the Paris episode where she meets Chuck at the train station. This season it has to be Todd Almond’s outfit for the finale episode.
Hocus Pocus 2 is streaming now on Disney +
