Jessica Szohr: Life after 'Gossip Girl' is not complicated

Jessica Szohr is a long way from the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The starlet was certainly outspoken as Dan Humphrey’s best galpal on Gossip Girl, but now, the 30-year-old is kicking it up several notches on USA’s Complications as Gretchen – a nurse whose confidence, determination and sassiness may get her in or out of trouble. “Gretchen doesn’t really have a filter,” Jessica tells HELLO! about her character. “She thinks in the moment and doesn’t really think things through.”

The Wisconsin native is definitely convincing in the role as the ‘badass’ nurse to her boss, Dr. John Ellison, played by Jason O’Mara, but don’t expect her to follow suit in real life. “I think there are similarities to her and me, but I definitely don’t have the balls that she does,” she continues. “I think things through a little more, almost too much. There are similarities where she goes after what she wants; she’s a caretaker – I’m the oldest of five kids.”

Jessica’s siblings range in age from 12 to 30 and being around aches and pains growing up definitely prepped her to play a nurse. “I feel like I was always like that checking fevers and checking coughs and making sure my siblings were always good,” she explains. “I feel like I always had that big sister-motherly thing going on with people.”

And thanks to the 18-year difference from her to her youngest sister, she is definitely enjoying all the perks Jess has to offer. “I always get calls like, ‘Can I get One Direction tickets?’”Jessica says of her 12-year-old sister, who also helped her with her audition.

She can also look forward to tons of chats about the fate of Dan and Serena as her pre-teen sister and her friends are now just getting into Gossip Girl. “I’m not shocked, it’s just funny because that chapter is closed,” she says of her time on the hit CW show that aired for six years starting in 2007. “I’m not amazed because it was this pop culture, New York City, cool kids on TV kind of show.”

While the fan base is still growing and those existing fans would love nothing more than a reunion, don’t hold your breath. “To be honest with you, I have no idea, and I feel like everyone’s on new projects and moving all over and having kids and starting families, starting businesses and all these amazing things,” the Club Life star continues. “Chace [Crawford] and Ed [Westwick] both have new shows. I’m excited for both of them, and I think the irony of all of us doing pilots the same year and all getting picked up is pretty cool too.”

While Complications brought Jess away from her home base in New York City, she adapted quite nicely in Atlanta thanks to the close-knit cast. “I’m 30, everyone has kids and is married. It was just a totally different experience than Gossip Girl and in a great way,” she says. “We did a lot of cast dinners, we went and saw plays and rode bikes. We had a good time.”

Along with her new friends, there were plenty of familiar faces in the city for Jess to see. “Nina [Dobrev] and I lived literally one minute from each other. She is one of my best friends for years. She really showed me around," she adds. "It was really nice to see her and Alanna [Masterson], who was working on Walking Dead.”

The feedback for the new hit show has been positive which means Jess may find herself living in the southern city a bit longer. Looks like A-T-L is so the new N-Y-C!

Complications airs on USA Thursdays at 9/8 C.