Adaptations from page to screen can be bumpy, but Gossip Girl author Cecily von Ziegesar says overall Josh Schwartz and his crew have been spot-on.

“I’m a very faithful watcher… Generally I’m entertained and I think it’s great,” she tells MTV.com. Von Ziegesar does have one bone to pick with the producers: their depiction of the TV version of Vanessa, played by Jessica Szohr.

“I think Vanessa is one character they ruined,” she says. “In the book, she’s kick-ass and has a shaved head and wears lots of black. I think a lot of the readers who don’t usually read teen fiction identify with Vanessa,” In the show, Vanessa has more of a bohemian hipster look.

The author clarifies that it has nothing to do with Szohr, adding: “I just wish Vanessa was like she is in the books a bit more.”

She may disapprove of Dan Humprey’s bff, but von Ziegesar gives the rest of the characters a thumbs up, admitting she loves bad boy Chuck Bass.

“Leighton Meester is totally perfect for Blair, and Blake [Lively] is perfect for Serena. I was more worried they would insert Barbie-doll-looking people, which they didn’t,” says von Ziegesar. “I think the actors do a brilliant job. Chuck is my favorite character, and the way he looks and acts is in keeping with how he is in the beginning of the series.”

Spoilers are ahead, so if you dare, follow the jump:

Leighton Meester tells E!: “I think Chuck is for Blair just like Blair is for Chuck.”

Leighton says Chuck and Blair will get a lot of “back and forth material” this season though nothing is ever easy between the two.

Chuck and Blair clones are on the way too, Kristen reports, with Chuck and Blair giving advice to each other on how to hook up with their clone selves. Okay, confusing!

Kristen also hears that Dan (Penn Badgley) will have a new love interest himself. While Serena begins dating artist Aaron Rose (John Patrick Amedori), Dan will date Aaron’s ex, Lexi.

Wallace Shawn (The Princess Bride, Clueless) has been cast as Cyrus Rose, father of Serena’s upcoming love interest Aaron Rose (John Patrick Amedori).

According to the Gossip Girl books, Cyrus is a wealthy real estate tycoon who will be a love interest for Blair’s mom Eleanor Waldorf. And if the show were to follow along with the books, Cyrus would eventually marry Eleanor.

Among his many parts in movies and television shows, Shawn also does work as a voice actor for animated films and TV series, including his role as “Rex the Dinosaur” for the Toy Story movies.

Wade Allain-Marcus (American Mall) will play Max, a hip photographer with ties to the New York fashion and art world who is attractive and manipulative. I wonder who he will be manipulating?

According to OK magazine, Stella Maeve will play Emma, the teen daughter of a Yale University alumni who Blair (Leighton Meester) gets to babysit. Only Emma has been reading up on the socialite and has plans on how Blair can entertain her.

Photos courtesy Newscom

IT’S bound to get tongues wagging!
Gossip Girl Blake Lively – who plays Serena van der Woodsen in the CW drama – was spotted locking lips with her character’s new love interest while filming the show in New York’s Times Square.

Gorgeous Blake got up close and personal with the scruffy-haired mystery man, played by actor John Patrick Amedori.

That’s not going to go down too well with Serena’s other man Dan, played by Penn Badgley.

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“I think he should be a brush stroke in the bigger picture of what Gossip Girl is,” Heusinger says. “I make a lot of interesting things happen, and I think I should let them go on.”

Maybe that sounds odd coming from an unknown. But then again, humility seems natural to the handsome 27-year-old.

“I literally booked this job on a fluke,” he says. “I definitely had not done any TV before. Casting directors would say, ‘You’re good but … ‘, and slowly, the auditions turned to to a role on Gossip Girl.”

Although he only appears on the first four episodes of GG’s sophomore season — the third episode aired Monday. — Heusinger is living his dream. Besides the TV gig, he just wrapped up two years in the touring production of Monty Python’s Spamalot.

“I wake up every day and I’m happy. I’m storytelling for a living,” he says by phone from Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

As Gossip hounds know by now, Heusinger portrays James, Blair’s new paramour and Chuck’s rival.

“In many ways, I think I’m everything Chuck is not,” Heusinger says of his character. “I’m very forthcoming. I’m honest. There’s a lot of manipulation with Chuck. My character doesn’t really play games.”

The native of Jacksonville, Fla., equates his TV experience to the one he had on Spamalot, “where it’s a nice group of people to be around.”

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Looks like Nate Archibald gets it on with Little J (Jenny Humphrey) in an upcoming episode of Gossip Girl. Who doesn’t hook up with Nate by the end of this season???

Chace Crawford and Taylor Momsen seem to be having a grand ol’ time filming this smooching session in New York City on Friday night.