Penn Badgley Just Told Some Funny Stories About When He and Blake Lively Dated
Diehard Gossip Girl fans know that Penn Badgley (Dan) and Blake Lively (Serena) dated both on screen and off in 2007. Yes, at one point they were a real-life couple, but things fizzled after only a few years. Now Lively is happily married to Ryan Reynolds and Badgley is with Domino Kirke—but the internet, of course, still thinks fondly of Serena and Dan.
And Badgley just playfully fueled those flames even more. The You star video-chatted with fellow GG alum Chace Crawford (Nate) for Variety’s Actors on Actors series and, naturally they touched a little on the show that made them famous. After Crawford pointed out that Badgley was the first of the Gossip Girl gang to get an iPhone—the first iPhone, back in 2007—Lonely Boy gave some more details that will amuse fans.
“I didn’t even want [the iPhone],” Badgley told Crawford. “Blake got me that. I literally was like, ’I don't want this thing. It’s so cumbersome and it has all these…apps? It has apps on it?’”
The two actors continued down memory lane for a little bit, noting that Gossip Girl was indicative of its time. “Back in 2007—I mean, dude. That’s a long time ago when we were just boys. People wanted to watch a show like Gossip Girl because it was aspirational,” Badgley said. “It was an escape. It seemed like it struck a certain cultural chord because it was this aspirational fantastical vision of excess and wealth.”
He continued, “Now, cut 13 years later, people are not interested in that. And I think rightfully so. Now they’re interested in deconstructing why we’re so fascinated with that in the first place. We’re interested in deconstructing those systems of privilege.”
They also reminisced on the red-carpet treatment the GG cast experienced quickly—even on set. Both Crawford and Badgley have fond memories of a manager at the Palace, one of the show’s landmarks, who always treated them well.
“He’s the one—when Blake and I went [to the Palace] to eat, it was probably when we were shooting there. They had a grilled cheese sandwich there called the Gossip Girl Grilled Cheese Sandwich.” Badgley recalled. “And I was like, ‘You should just call it the Gossip Grill.’ And then he took the menu from me and went inside, changed the name right there, printed a different menu and handed me a new menu with my suggestion. And I was like, ‘Okay. This is a way to live.’”
Watch Penn Badgley and Chace Crawford’s full Actors on Actors interview in the video above.
Originally Appeared on Glamour
