Introducing "Gossip Girl" Spin-off Star Shiloh Fernandez!

If you’re a fan of Gossip Girl (and really, who isn’t nowadays?), then you’re really going to love Lily, the spin-off that debuts May 11 during a regular episode of Gossip Girl and is a shoo-in to get picked up by CW for the fall '09 season. EW.com's Michael Ausiello reports that Lily, set in Los Angeles, will center around the alter-ego of Gossip Girl's Kelly Rutherford in her teen years. The lead role of young Lily Van Der Woodsen, who leaves her parents and moves in with her rebellious sister, will be played by cute-as-a-button, immensely talented movie actress Brittany Snow, of Hairspray and John Tucker Must Die! fame.

But with this being Latina.com—and me being someone who lives por TiVo—I’m more interested in the show's Latino lead: 25-year-old actor Shiloh Fernandez. Shiloh (did Brangelina steal his name?) is all set to play Owen, “a hot Valley punk guy with a caustic wit,” according to Hollywoodreporter.com. But who is this brooding, come-from-nowhere actor who looks like he belongs in the vampire world of Twilight?

Well, word on the street (and by the street, I mean my fellow TV bloggers on the interweb), is that Shiloh is a former American Apparel model turned indie horror film actor extraordinaire. Have I seen him in anything, you ask? No. But in all fairness, he’s been in some pretty unknown stuff. After dropping out of the University of Colorado at Boulder at 19, Shiloh did stints on TV shows like Jericho and Lincoln Heights and a parade of independent horror movies too obscure to name here. Finally, last year, Shiloh landed a role in a movie that people actually saw—the star-studded Cadillac Records—opposite Adrien Brody and Beyonce Knowles. And most recently, he guest-starred on The United States of Tara, the moderately successful Showtime series about multiple personality disorder written by Oscar-winning scribe Diablo Cody.

One thing’s for sure: once Lily airs in May, Shiloh won't have to worry about being obscure anymore.

What do you think of our new Latino gossip boy? And will you tune in to the Gossip Girl prequel? Hit me up in the comments!