Lily Collins Almost Got a Role on 'Gossip Girl'

The world of Constance Billard and its resident Lady Whistledown could have looked a little different if Lily Collins's dreams came true. In an interview with Glamour, she explained that she had auditioned for a role on Gossip Girl, but didn't end up nabbing a spot on the cast. Unlike Jennifer Lawrence, who actually turned down the chance to play Serena Van der Woodsen, Collins didn't make the cut and the show's producers eventually went with Taylor Momsen to play the role of Jenny Humphrey. Yes, in another world, viewers could have had Collins and her signature brows play Little J.

"I remember the screen test for Gossip Girl was on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank," Collins said. "I was about 17 or 18 years old at the time. I remember driving onto the lot and going, 'Oh my God. This is surreal.'"

She added that she still has some photos on her phone from the day of the audition, but assures fans that she doesn't harbor any ill will.

"I wanted it so badly," she added. "Everything happens for a reason."

Of course, Collins would go on to have plenty of roles that don't involve anonymous text messages and plaid school uniforms. A notable one, Emily in Paris, has put her in danger, however. During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, she said that she had to have regular visits to the podiatrist to make sure she wasn't hurting herself.

"But the one thing is like, I just want to go to streets where you can wear flats, because wearing heels … I mean, you wouldn't think how painful that could be in Paris," she said. "I actually literally went to a podiatrist every week to fix my feet because I was wearing heels all the time."

And the diagnosis? Since she couldn't stop wearing those heels — we suffer for fashion, after all — insoles were the next best thing.

"There's cobblestone everywhere," Fallon noted. Collins explained that there was nothing they could do about that, so they had to improvise, "Everywhere! And I had to have insoles made for every pair of shoes. I'm not kidding. I felt ancient."