Penn Badgley Says His Comments on “You” Sex Scenes Were “Blown Out of Proportion”
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You season 4 has dropped on Netflix, which means we’re seeing more of Penn Badgley on our TV screens and social timelines. The 36-year-old actor, who plays chilling serial killer Joe Goldberg in the series, has been trending on Twitter since the season 4 premiere for a multitude of reasons. From his unlikely friendship with Cardi B to him poking fun at the character he plays, the Internet is all about Penn as of late.
One of the biggest topics that got Penn trending, though, is a little more personal. During the February 10 episode of his podcast, PodCrushed, the Gossip Girl alum opened up about his experience with fidelity and filming intimacy scenes in You.
“Fidelity in every relationship, and especially my marriage, is really important to me. It just got to a point where I don’t want to do that,” he said. “Before I took [on the role of Joe], it was a question: Do I have a career if I don’t? Think about every male lead you’ve loved. Are they kissing someone? Are they doing a lot more than that?”
Penn has been married to actress and singer Domino Kirke since 2017. During the PodCrushed episode, the actor told co-hosts Nava Kavelin and Sophie Ansari that, ahead of season 4, he asked You showrunner Sera Gamble if his character could stop doing sex scenes. He shared that Sera supported his emotions and “was really glad that [he] was that honest and had a really positive response.”
Much to his surprise, Penn’s revelation grabbed the headlines. About one month after the episode dropped, Penn told GQ UK that his comments about sex and intimacy scenes were “blown out of proportion.”
“What I was speaking about wasn’t actually the final product,” he said in a March 14 interview. “It was sort of like the culture inherent to the production of all movies, but particularly those scenes. It’s like, look, we know that Hollywood has had a history of flagrant exploitation and abuse.”
The actor reiterated how supportive Sera was, saying it was “easy because of Sera's response” and that after the conversation, he felt “relieved.”
“We shall see if setting that boundary, of course, has any ramifications. Just simply, it does limit the number of projects you can be a part of,” Penn continued. But as for You season 4, Penn affirmed that the lack of sex scenes had no impact on the storyline. “It didn't change the trajectory of the season at all... I mean, Joe was naturally ready to not be in that position anymore.”
Catch the entire episode of PodCrushed where Penn, Nava, and Sophie discuss You season 4 below.
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