Why Penn Badgley Altered His Guidelines for Intimacy Scenes for You
Penn Badgley made a significant exception to his personal policy during the final season of You, which included his “no sex scenes” rule.
The 38-year-old actor disclosed to People on Thursday, April 24, that for season 5 of the popular Netflix series, he had to “throw that out the window.”
Badgley, known for his role on Gossip Girl, shared that deciding whether to film intimate scenes again as Joe Goldberg was a challenge he faced.
“That was the question again. All right, what am I willing to do?” Badgley recounted to the outlet. “And as I always said, my desire is that at least as little as possible, but if it’s necessary, that’s the show we all sign up to make. So, let’s ensure it’s essential, let’s make sure it’s meaningful, it’s intentional. And we accomplished that.”
In February 2023, during an episode of his “Podcrushed” podcast, Badgley stated that his marriage to Domino Kirke influenced how he approached intimate scenes in his acting career going forward, including in You.
“I asked [the creator of the show] Sera Gamble, ‘Can I just do no more intimacy scenes?’” Badgley explained in the podcast. “This is actually a decision I’d made before accepting the role.”
He further added, “I don’t think I’ve ever discussed this publicly, but one of the primary factors was whether I wanted to return to a career path as just the romantic lead. Fidelity in every relationship, especially my marriage, is very important to me.”
Penn Badgley. (Photo by Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for Lifetime)
Badgley elaborated on the significance of this decision both as an actor and a husband. (Badgley wed Kirke in 2017 and they welcomed their son James in 2020. The couple is currently expecting twins, and Badgley is also a stepfather to Kirke’s son Cassius, 15, from a previous relationship).
“It just got to a point where I no longer want to do that. Before I accepted the role, I wondered, ‘Will I have a career if I don’t?’ Think about every male lead you’ve admired. Are they not kissing someone? Are they not doing much more than that?” Badgley pointed out.
He added, “I told Sera, ‘Ideally, I would prefer to go from 100 to zero.’ However, I signed this contract, I committed to this show, and I understand what I committed to. So my question for them was, ‘How much less can you make it?’”
The John Tucker Must Die star mentioned that Gamble was receptive to his proposal.
“She didn’t hesitate. She was genuinely pleased that I was so forthright, and she responded positively,” he shared. “She valued my honesty and appreciated that I was being reasonable and practical. They came back with an impressive reduction.”
