Josh Schwartz Talks ‘Gossip Girl’ Spin-Off/‘OC’ Crossover

The “Gossip Girl” spin-off hasn’t even been given a green light yet, but already executive producer Josh Schwartz is eyeing the idea of having the series’ main character, Lily Rhodes, cross paths with some locals from a previous Schwartz-produced series — “The OC.”

“The ‘Gossip Girl’ spin-off, should it go to series… takes place when Lily, Serena’s mom, is in high school in the ‘80s,” Josh told AccessHollywood.com over the weekend at the “Rockville, CA” showcase at Austin’s SXSW music festival. “What we know is [‘OC’ characters] Kirsten Cohen, or Kirsten Nichols as she was born, and Jimmy Cooper lived in Newport Beach in the ‘80s… So there’s a total possibility that in one episode, Lily could have been friends with Kirsten or Jimmy Cooper when they were young. I would love to do that.”

While plans for a crossover meeting need the as-yet-untitled spin-off to get picked up first, the 20 minutes of already-filmed flashbacks to Lily van der Woodsen’s youth, will air during “Gossip Girl’s” May 11 episode on The CW.

“It’s like flashbacks that tease it up and Brittany Snow plays Lily and she’s great. Ryan Hanson, who’s on ‘Rockville,’ is also in the show and Krysten Ritter, Shiloh Fernandez, Andrew McCarthy [and] Cynthia Watros,” Josh said.

Ryan, one of the stars of “Rockville, CA” and now the “Gossip Girl” spin-off, said that though they’ve only filmed 20 minutes of the potential new show, it’s been nothing but a flashback blast.

“I’m so excited to be a part of it,” he told Access. “I play a character named Shep and he’s kind of a rocker in the ‘80s which is so fun. He’s more of like, new wave, but there’s a ton of punk stuff in there which is totally cool.”

Ryan said his character is interested in Lily’s sister, Carol (played by Krysten Ritter), and during one of their club excursions, No Doubt joins in the merriment.

“No Doubt played in the pilot and they play an ‘80s band which is so fun,” Ryan said. “[They wore] really funny outfits.”

While photos have already surfaced of the “Gossip Girl” spin-off cast on set, Ryan said the paparazzi didn’t manage to track them down on all their filming locations.

“I think when they were in Malibu shooting there were [paparazzi],” he said. “But when we were in downtown in the grungy basements of the American Apparel warehouses, there was no paparazzi there. When we shot in Chatsworth at this mansion where Frank Sinatra used to live — no paparazzi there.”

And though he was barely old enough to remember the ‘80s, 27-year-old Ryan said the set up of the “Gossip Girl” spin-off felt very real.

“The style is so fun and so cool,” he said. “The wardrobe is pretty amazing and it looks pretty authentic.”