Penn Badgley has said that, out of respect for his wife, he asked that there be fewer sex scenes in the most recent season of the Netflix show You.
On a new episode of his podcast, “Podcrushed,” the 36-year-old said that Penn Badgley and the show’s host, Sera Gamble, talked about the issue.
I asked [showrunner] Sera Gamble can I just do no more intimacy scenes,
he told his co-host Nava Kavelin.
This is actually a decision I made before I took the show. I don’t think I have ever mentioned it publicly. One of the main things was, do I want to put myself back on a career path where I’m always playing the romantic lead?
In the Netflix thriller series You, Penn Badgley plays a charismatic serial killer. This might be one of his most famous roles.
It tells the story of Joe Goldberg and his dangerous obsession with the women he likes. In season four, after causing a lot of trouble in California, Joe tries to start a new chapter in London. But being with old lovers and new lovers at the same time makes it tempting for him to go back to his old ways.
Even though his TV character might be easy to tempt, Penn Badgley is very firm about being faithful.
Fidelity in every relationship, including my marriage, is important to me. It’s got to the point where I don’t want to do that. So I said ‘my desire would be zero, to go from 100 to zero.’
But the actor who used to be on Gossip Girl said that his contract had a lot to do with how he played the role.
But I signed this contract,
he continued.
I signed up for this show. I know what I did. You can’t take this aspect out of the DNA of the concept. So how much less can you make it, was my question to them.
She didn’t even bat an eye. She was really glad that I was that honest. She was sort of almost, I want to say empowered, it had a really positive response. They came back with a phenomenal reduction.
Badgley met his wife, Domino Kirke, in 2014. In 2017, they got married in two small, private ceremonies.
The 36-year-old said how much he loves his wife, with whom he has a 2-year-old son.
I don’t think I could truly value human love until I developed divine love,
Badgley said.
[Domino and I] very much had a romantic beginning, and I think that you discover in marriage that what sustains a marriage for decades — there are less and less people who can tell us this — but I think it has something to do with [divine] love.
He also talked about how much he believed in his religion and how important that was to the couple’s relationship.
I’m really grateful for [the notoriety], but also, you struggle with things,
he said.
The phenomenon of fame is literally invisible, but it influences and dominates your life if you aren’t careful. Learning how to accept it and accept that lots of people think they know me is ultimately what led me to seek out such a spiritual perspective.
The fourth season of “You” can now be seen on Netflix.
