Penn Badgley Thinks Dan Humphrey and Joe Goldberg Would ‘Hate’ Each Other

You is one of the most popular shows on Netflix — and for good reason. Penn Badgley thoroughly inhabits the role of Joe Goldberg, a serial killer who develops deep obsessions with a series of different people. The show debuted on Lifetime before switching over to Netflix, and these days, You is one of the hottest programs in rotation, with an all-new season now streaming. However, long before Badgley was impressing people with his work as a creepy serial killer, he was breaking hearts as the character of Dan Humphrey in Gossip Girl. In a recent interview with Elle, Badgley opened up about both of his iconic characters, admitting that he believes Dan Humphrey and Joe Goldberg would “hate” each other.

Penn Badgley rose to fame for his work in ‘Gossip Girl’

penn badgley dan joe — Penn Badgley attends “You” New York series premiere on September 6, 2018 in New York City. | Jenny Anderson/Getty Images

Badgley’s career kickstarted in the early 2000s with a series of television and film roles. He acted in several popular TV shows, including a supporting role in The Young and the Restless. Badgley got his big break in 2007, when he was cast as aspiring writer Dan Humphrey in Gossip Girl. He quickly became one of the shining stars of the teen drama, receiving recognition from critics and fans over the course of the series run.

After Gossip Girl went off the air in 2012, Badgley would land his second biggest role — that of Joe Goldberg in You. The Netflix series became an undercover hit, introducing Badgley to a whole new contingent of fans.

Why did Penn Badgley say Dan Humphrey and Joe Goldberg would ‘hate’ each other?

Badgley has some strong opinions about both of his most popular characters. In a recent interview with Elle, Badgley admitted that “Dan (Humphrey) and Joe would hate each other. Dan, because he’s not an actual killer, even though he was arguably a sociopath… he would hate Joe because he’s an actual murderer, and you should.” Badgley went on to note, “Although we know if [his family would] just have loved Joe as a baby boy, he’d never have become a killer, but that’s not who he is now – he’s a full-blown killer.”

Badgley continued. “Joe would hate Dan because he’d reflect him back to himself, impossibly well. They would really despise each other. They would have narrations inside of their minds about… and I feel Joe would inevitably kill Dan. There’s a spinoff,” he joked.

Even though Dan Humphrey and Joe Goldberg might seem very different on the surface, the two characters have more in common than what meets the eye. Notably, neither Dan nor Joe seems to fit in with society at large. Dan, although he is attending a prestigious school, doesn’t have the generational wealth of his classmates and struggles with his aspirations to become a writer. Joe, like Dan, is living a double life – although his secret life proves to be a great deal more extreme than Joe’s.

Some fans have also pointed out that both Joe and Dan exhibit stalker-like tendencies, and that both men are very skilled at using social media. Both Dan and Joe have an odd intensity to them, which can endear them to others in their orbit. However, in the case of Joe Goldberg, close proximity usually means that the other person will meet a swift, untimely end. For fans who want to catch up on the latest exploits of Joe Goldberg (and enjoy Badgley’s acclaimed performance), they can watch the latest season of You, which is now streaming on Netflix.

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