Matt Barr, a former recurring actor on One Tree Hill, will star in the upcoming Gossip Girl spin-off. He will play Keith van der Woodsen, a wealthy and beautiful prince of Malibu. Barr previously portrayed Psycho Derek, Peyton's supposed half-brother, during One Tree Hill's fourth season.

The spin-off follows 1980s Los Angeles teenager Lily Rhodes. Rhodes will grow up to become Lily van der Woodsen, the divorcee mother of Gossip Girl protagonist Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively.) Virtually nothing has been specifically announced about Barr's role as Keith van der Woodsen except that he will play a love interest to Lily. The last names strongly suggest that Lily will go on to marry a member of the van der Woodsen family. However, since Serena's father has never been named or seen on the series the possibility certainly remains for a revelation that Keith is not Lily's future husband.

The casting move keeps Barr inside of The CW family, moving him from one of the network's popular series aimed at a younger female audience to another aimed at a similar group. Along with the original Gossip Girl and 90210 The CW network has strongly branded itself as a network aimed almost exclusively at viewers under 35 and specifically at women. While it's not clear whether Barr has a dedicated fan base of his own yet he has proven that he can cater to The CW's brand of stories.

One Tree Hill fans may remember that Matt Barr's character Derek was last seen in prison after being arrested for stalking and assaulting Peyton. After claiming to be her half-brother Derek acted suspiciously, smelling her hair and leaving her unpleasant phone messages. His behavior escalated when he dressed a prostitute up in Peyton's clothes in order to beat her up, leading to the discovery that he was not the real Derek.



-Henry Jenkins, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of CBS)