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After one year of waiting, the second season of Gossip Girl has landed on HBO Max. As expected, the drama is even bigger and better, with Gossip Girl hard at work to ensure that the students of Constance Billard St. Jude's School get away with nothing.
There are also a few fresh characters in the second season, including a new addition to the teaching staff at the school, Mike Shubin, played by Pico Alexander.
At the end of episode three, there was a big cliffhanger that revealed Mike is on a mission to uncover Gossip Girl's identity, and he (quite rightly) thinks Kate Keller (Tavi Gevinson) is the woman behind the keyboard.
But who is Pico Alexander? Newsweek has everything you need to know about the actor.
Who Is Pico Alexander?
Pico Alexander is best known for his role as Harry in the Reese Witherspoon-starring romantic comedy, Home Again.
In the movie, he also acted alongside Nat Wolff, Jon Rudnitsky, Michael Sheen, and Candice Bergen.
Alexander has also acted in the George Clooney-led TV series Catch-22 as Clevinger, and starred opposite Logan Lerman in the movie Indignation.
Alexander also portrayed Trey Wandella in Netflix's War Machine, alongside Brad Pitt, Anthony Michael Hall, Tilda Swinton, Sir Ben Kingsley and Will Poulter.
Alexander most recently appeared as Henry 'Ship' Shipley in Dickinson, opposite Hailee Steinfeld, Ella Hunt, and his Gossip Girl co-star, Amanda Warren.
Alexander has also starred in the 2014 movie A Most Violent Year as Elias Morales, alongside Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain.
Alexander, 31, will next appear in the romantic comedy, The Honeymoon, as Adam, starring alongside Maria Bakalova, Asim Chaudhry, and Lucas Bravo.
Gossip Girl audiences may also recognize Alexander from roles in The Carrie Diaries, The Following, Blue Bloods, and Orange Is the New Black.
Alexander, the full name Alexander Lukasz Jogalla, was born in New York City and grew up in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
His father, Lukasz Jogalla, is a well-known cinematographer, who has worked on 21 Jump Street, Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos, and Sex and the City.
His grandfather was Polish actor Jerzy Jogalla, and his great-grandfather was journalist Jerzy Turowicz, known for his work during World War II.
In the second season of Gossip Girl on HBO Max, Alexander portrays Mike Shubin, a Russian literature teacher at Constance Billard St Jude's School.
After a sabbatical, he's back at his former school, kicking Kate Keller out of her classroom in the process.
The pair teamed up to expose Monet de Haan's mother, Camille (Amanda Warren), for paying the school to ensure that her daughter got good grades and the best opportunities. However, Mike turned his back on Kate after he realized she was the one to send the tip about Camille to Gossip Girl.
However, in episode 3, it appeared Mike had a change of heart and that the pair were set to go from enemies to lovers. He even asked Kate out on a date, but at the end of the episode, it transpired what his true intentions were. Mike believes that she could be Gossip Girl, and it seems like he is set on doing everything to get to the truth.
Episodes of the second season of Gossip Girl air every Thursday on HBO Max.
About the writer
Molli Mitchell is a Senior SEO TV and Film Newsweek Reporter based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on ... Read more