Krysten Ritter joins 'Gossip Girl' spinoff

[Brian Damage]

Meet Lily's older sister.

In the first major casting on the CW's "Gossip Girl" spinoff, Krysten Ritter has been tapped to play Carol Rhodes.

The spinoff, a prequel to "Gossip," chronicles the wild teen years of Lily van der Woodsen (Kelly Rutherford) in Los Angeles in the 1980s.

Written by "Gossip" creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, the new project centers on young Lily Rhodes (her maiden name), who, after a falling-out with her parents, is forced to move in with her sister, Carol (Ritter), the black sheep of the Rhodes family.

Overnight, Lily has to transition from a life of luxury and education at a wealthy Montecito boarding school to living deep in the San Fernando Valley she once made fun of and going to public school.

The backdoor pilot for the spinoff, from WBTV, Alloy, College Hill and CBS Par, will air as a "Gossip" episode May 11.

Ritter is well known to the "Gossip Girl" young female demo from her roles on "Gilmore Girls," whose final season aired on the CW, and "Veronica Mars."

Ritter also co-stars on the upcoming second season of AMC's "Breaking Bad" and in the new feature comedy "Confessions of a Shopaholic."

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