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Penn Badgley is all set to return as Joe Goldberg for one last time in Netflix's You, which premieres its fifth and final season on April 24, 2025. The actor has played the character for years, and in the process, got typecasted in certain kinds of roles, something he carried over from his acclaimed portrayal in Gossip Girl.
Penn Badgley is not satisfied with being typecasted into similar kinds of romantic leads. He is also not interested in doing intimate scenes on screen anymore, as revealed in his interview with Harper's Bazaar in 2023.
His aversion towards physical intimacy was met with varied kinds of reactions online, but the actor was more than happy to explain why he was not averse to committing murder and torture on-screen, but was doubtful about doing scenes that required physical intimacy.
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Penn Badgley said that stories where a girl and boy fall in love can be depicted on screen without the need for s*x scenes. Addressing this in the 2023 interview, the actor said:
"I also don’t wanna do that...When you are simulating murder, nothing of reality is happening. When you are simulating s*x, your body is touching another person’s body. There is an act that is not being simulated. Right? Would I like to play a less violent person? Are you f*cking kidding me?"
He further explained:
"Of course. Would I like to not depict all these things? Sure. It’s a case-by-case basis, but when my body actually touches another person’s body, that’s not a simulation. That’s the only thing that isn’t being simulated. Everything else is being simulated."
In this same interview, the You star delved deeper into his reasoning and explained how he was not a hypocrite because he wanted to let go of intimate scenes on screen.
Penn Badgley explains his criticism of intimate scenes on screen
From the start of his career, the Gossip Girl star was averse to doing s*x scenes. Penn Badgley has always believed that there are other ways of portrayal on screen apart from specific intimate scenes. While explaining his point about why he was comfortable with murder and other atrocities on the screen, the actor further said:
"That blood’s not real. Those people who died, they’re alive, you know? If this is a larger conversation about what we do and don’t want to tell stories about … sure. But I’m not a writer in any of these things."
Addressing some of the things that women in the industry often face because of intimate scenes written into scripts, he added:
"I’m hopefully always becoming increasingly sensitive to the plight of others generally, and specifically to women as it comes to s*xual objectification and specifically in our industry. I’ve always thought about that. So again, none of this thinking for me is new, to be honest."
There was a lot of discussion surrounding Penn Badgley because of these particular comments, but the actor has stuck to his viewpoints.
The 38-year-old actor is finally set to wrap his stint in You, which also means that viewers can expect to see him in other productions soon. Though nothing concrete has been announced yet, he is expected to take up new roles very soon.
Meanwhile, all the episodes of You season 5 are set to drop on April 24, 2025.
