Calling all Upper East Siders: there’s a new starlet in town, and her virtuosity is stretching its perfectly manicured fingertips far past the reaches of Fifth Avenue. At 22 years old, Savannah Lee Smith—who might be more familiar as Monet de Haan, the PR- savvy, affluent, and ambitious HBIC in the Gossip Girl reboot—is doing it all, including acting, directing her own project, and making R&B-jazz music.
“Monet is very driven, and I have a personality where I hone in on something and it becomes a slight obsession, so that’s our one similarity,” Smith says. “Maybe that’s not so healthy, but I’m not a billionaire and I’m not evil. [In that sense], Monet and I aren’t very similar.”
Obviously, Smith’s background isn’t full of private jets and tea at Bergdorf’s. Rather, it’s rooted in a love of theater and singing, or in afternoons of thrifting in Brooklyn. Her breakout role in Gossip Girl led to her landing the part of “intelligent, thoughtful” protagonist Sam in the forthcoming, highly anticipated musical Something Here. Beyond the acting, Smith also gets to show off her vocal prowess on the movie’s soundtrack.
If Smith’s characters were on a spectrum, there’d be Monet on one end, all cut-throat couture, and Sam on the other, with big dreams of NYU and an even bigger voice. And then, in the middle, would be Smith herself: a driven actress, a Los Angeles- native who graduated from NYU, and a longtime singer who’s finally blossoming into herself.
Story by Trishna Rikhy
Photography by Tyrell Hampton
Fashion by Michael Vasquez
Makeup by Holly Silius
Hair by Lauren Palmer Smith
Edited by Kevin Ponce / Dania Curvy
Photo assistant Khalilah Pianta
Production Photobomb
