Ed Westwick hopes part in BBC comedy White Gold 'smashes' his Gossip Girl role

Gossip Girl star Ed Westwick has said he hopes his new role will “smash out of the way” the part on the teen drama that made him famous.

The British actor played privileged bad boy Chuck Bass in the Manhattan-set drama, which ran from 2007 to 2012.

The series was an instant hit and turned Ed and his castmates – including Blake Lively and Leighton Meester – into stars overnight.

He will next be seen in a very different role in BBC2 comedy White Gold, in which he plays Vincent Swan, a brash, Thatcher-era double-glazing salesman and hopes it will show off an unseen side to him.

He told the Press Association: “I did Gossip Girl and people really associate me with that so I thought it was important to make a strong statement, to do something very different.

“One of the things that I thought would be funny was we put Vincent in suits and Chuck was always in suits and I wanted that. I was so happy because I wanted to have these two looking almost identical, give or take a few years, and try and smash one out of the way.

“Though they are two very dominant characters, they are very different men and I wanted to put another one out there.”

Ed said for years, he was only offered parts that were very similar to the spoiled, rich Bass, which held no interest to him.

He said: “I had been offered things where I could play (suave millionaires) and I said no to every single one of them.

“You have to keep being consistent and persistent I guess and then you get given gifts like Vincent Swan.”

While other beloved shows, such as Will and Grace, Roseanne and Twin Peaks, are all returning to our screens, Ed said he has no intention of joining a Gossip Girl reboot.

He said: “I would never be part of that, ever. It’s just been done and that was that.

“The other people might feel differently, but I had such a great time with that character and got to do so much that it has been done.

“It’s had its life, it’s done. That’s that. But I loved it, it was great, I’m very grateful for it.”

He also insists that he does not mind that he is still so closely associated with the show, saying: “There is no point in me minding it because it’s not going to achieve anything.

“I don’t mind it because I’m doing things, other things that I’m excited about. I’m not stuck or forced to work in a way I don’t want to, and even if I was, it’s a pretty bloody good job.

“Even if had to play billionaires for the rest of my life, I still get to act. It’s not horrible or difficult.

After years on clean-cut American television, where there was strictly no swearing allowed, Ed said he has particularly relished the foul language of his new part.

He said: “I remember on Gossip Girl I would only swear in between takes and now we are being greenlit for it.

“I think we swear very well, us British.”

White Gold will begin on BBC2 on May 24 and the full series will be available on BBC iPlayer.