It’s not every day that you hear about an actor declining an offer to be a series regular on a hit television show, yet that’s precisely what GOSSIP guy Connor Paolo did when he notably turned down the opportunity to become a GOSSIP GIRL series regular in season two. Explained Paolo in an interview with TVLine, “Watching Blake [Lively] and Penn [Badgely] and the things they have to deal with as [a full-time cast members]… because they are on the posters and they are< the face of the show, is not something I’m totally ready for right now.”
So just what was it that attracted Paolo to committing to a series — in this case ABC’s REVENGE which as the title suggests chronicles Emily VanCamp’s mission to exact revenge on the nefarious Hamptonites responsible for her father’s death — that could very well see him stuck playing the same character for seasons on end?
“I was younger then and it’s just about timing in my life.” explained Paolo in a recent one-on-one with the TV Addict during last week’s Television Critics Association Press Tour in Los Angeles. “I’m not dealing with high school anymore and I’m at a point where I feel like i can commit fully to a show. Eric [GOSSIP GIRL’s Eric van der Woodsen] didn’t necessarily feel like the part to do it for, where as this does.”
In other-words, despite what Paolo fondly refers to as the “one positive character in a slew of double-talkers,” the young actor won’t be shedding a tear for the role that put him on the map. “I don’t think i’m going to miss anything, it’s a new chapter now and I try never to look back,” said Paulo when asked what he’ll miss most about his time on GOSSIP GIRL. “I’m really in love with this character and I’m happy to be here.”
By “here” of course Paolo is referring to beautiful and sunny Los Angeles California. A location that won’t just give the twenty-one year old actor the opportunity to finally put that driver’s license to good use (Joked the actor, “I have had my license since i was a kid but in ever really had much use for it [in New York]”), but more importantly, his acting chops as well.
“I challenge you to find a similarity between the two kids because they couldn’t be more different,” said Paolo on the differences between his character on GOSSIP GIRL and REVENGE’s hard-working middle-class raised Declan Porter. “Eric was very much a child of privilege and while I think both of their hearts are in the right place, otherwise there’s nothing [similar]. I don’t think they’d get along in a bar, which you can’t ask for anything more fun as an actor than to have opposing characters.”
REVENGE premieres this Wednesday September 21st on ABC at 10PM (CityTV in Canada)