Penn Badgley's Rare Insight Into Being a Dad and Stepdad Is Pure XOXO
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Originally appeared on E! Online
Penn Badgley is no longer a lonely boy.
After all, the Gossip Girl alum is dad to a 3-year-old boy with wife Domino Kirke, as well as a stepdad to her 15-year-old son Cassius with ex Morgan O'Kane. As he navigates fatherhood within a blended family, Penn has come to the realization that he plays "two different kind of parental roles."
"I have an interesting situation where I have a biological son and a stepson," the 37-year-old shared on the March 27 episode of the New York Times' Modern Love podcast. "And my stepson is—his father is very much in his life, so his father is his father, and I'm something else."
And given the large age gap between the boys, Penn said his approach to parenting each child is "very different." Referring to an essay he read about a father showing his softer side around his kids, Penn explained of his younger son, "I'm going to need to be able to more consciously show him my vulnerability as he gets older in those years, you know?"
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Meanwhile, the You star has discovered that bonding with his teenager can be as simple as a movie together.
"It's a beautiful, beautiful dimension of life," he said elsewhere in the podcast. "There's joy often."
Recounting how the two recently stayed up late watching Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt's 2014 sci-fi action flick Edge of Tomorrow, Penn continued, "I just knew it was important. It was like the stars had aligned so that my wife and youngest son were asleep, and I was just like, 'This is a good time to do this. You're not going to play video games right now. We're going to do this.'"
As for what Cassius thought of the experience? "He loved it," Penn shared. "And you want to talk about modern love: One of the ways you got to do that is watch things with people."
But he isn't the only one in the Gossip Girl cast who is experiencing all the XOXOs of parenthood these days. Keep reading for an update on his former costars:
Blake Lively
The actress, who portrayed It Girl Serena van der Woodsen, has been keeping very busy since the end of Gossip Girl. A few months prior to the 2012 finale, Lively tied the knot with actor Ryan Reynolds and they're now the proud parents to four kids: daughters James, Inez and Betty and a baby born in 2023, whose name and sex has not been revealed. In recent years, she's starred in hit movies The Age of Adaline, The Shallows, A Simple Favor and The Rhythm Section.
Penn Badgley
Lonely Boy no more! Badgley, who portrayed Dan Humphrey (who, spoiler alert, was ultimately revealed to be Gossip Girl), has been making headlines for his turn as stalker Joe Goldberg on the hit Netflix series You.
On a more personal note, Badgley is also a married man. The actor tied the knot with Domino Kirke, the sister of Girls actress Jemima Kirke, in Feb. 2017. They welcomed their first baby together in August 2020. Of course, fans of GG remember Badgley and Lively dated during the show's early run before splitting in 2010.
Leighton Meester
The actress, who portrayed Blair Waldorf, has been making a splash in the comedy world in recent years, starring in ABC's Single Parents.
Meester married actor Adam Brody (aka The O.C.'s Seth Cohen) and they're parents of a daughter named Arlo, born in 2015, and a son born in 2020, whose name has not been revealed.
Chace Crawford
For six seasons, viewers swooned over Crawford's character Nate Archibald. Since the 2012 finale, Crawford has starred in ABC's Blood & Oil, as well as films Eloise and All About Nina. Crawford now stars in the Amazon original series The Boys.
Ed Westwick
Westwick rose to fame as Chuck Bass and after hanging up his character's signature scarf, he went on to appear in 2013's Romeo & Juliet and star in 2015's short-lived ABC drama Wicked City. He also starred in the British TV series White Gold.
In the fall of 2017, the Los Angeles Police Department started an investigation into sexual assault allegations made by several women against Westwick, which he denied. In July 2018, the Los Angeles County District Attorney declined to prosecute Westwick after determining there wasn't enough evidence to file charges in two instances and a third accuser failed to cooperate with investigators.
Taylor Momsen
Little J has come a long way since her days trying to snag a place in Blair's crew. Momsen was just 14 when she starred as Jenny Humphrey on Gossip Girl, though she left the show in 2010 as music was her ultimate passion from an early age. She went on to form and front her band The Pretty Reckless when she was 17. They have released four studio albums.
As for a potential return to acting? "I never say never anymore in life, especially now with all the curveballs the world is throwing everyone," she told E! in March at the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Awards, her first red carpet in five years. "But no immediate plans."
Jessica Szohr
Szohr burst onto the Hollywood scene with her breakout role as Vanessa Abrams in GG. Since that time, the actress has appeared in films The Internship, Ted 2 and Two Night Stand. She's also been on TV shows Kingdom, Shameless and The Orville.
She gave birth to daughter Bowie Ella with hockey pro fiancé Brad Richardson in January 2021.
Kristen Bell
Since the finale in 2012, the snarky narrator—who returned for the reboot—tied the knot with longtime love Dax Shepard, with whom she shares daughters Lincoln and Delta. In the acting world, the actress starred in Hulu's Veronica Mars revival and NBC's The Good Place. Bell also fronted the Bad Moms films and voices Anna in Disney's Frozen and Frozen 2.
Sebastian Stan
Remember when Bucky Barnes was on was on Gossip Girl? That's right, the actor appeared in 11 episodes of the CW series as bad boy Carter Baizen from 2007 to 2010 and dated Leighton Meester during that time.
Since his time on the show, Stan has become a household name thanks to his role as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier in the Captain America and Avengers films. He recently starred on Disney+'s The Falcon and Winter Soldier opposite Anthony Mackie and in Hulu's Pam & Tommy.
Hilary Duff
It's hard to believe it's been a decade since Duff made a guest appearance on GG. In her six-episode arc, she appeared as Hollywood star Olivia Burke, who sparked a romance with Dan while at NYU and infamously engaged in a threesome with the not-so-Lonely Boy and his BFF Vanessa.
Since then, Duff starred in her own hit TV series, Younger and, more recently, How I Met Your Father. She was about to step back into Lizzie McGuire's platform sandals for a Disney+ revival, but it didn't work out due to differing creative visions.
In 2019, the "So Yesterday" singer married musician Matthew Koma, and they share daughters Banks and Mae, who the couple welcomed in March 2021. She's also mom to son Luca from her relationship with Mike Comrie.
