Penn Badgley Says ‘You’ Sex Scene Backlash Felt “Blown Out of Proportion”

Penn Badgley opened up about the controversy he stirred last February when he expressed that he was no longer interested in filming “intimacy scenes.” At the time, the You actor offered a variety of explanations, stating that he doesn’t want to play the typical “romantic lead” and he values fidelity in his real-life marriage. 

His comments left the internet confused with many questioning why he is able to separate fact from fiction when it comes to… erm… murdering women on television, but not when it comes to getting down and dirty. 

In a recent interview with GQ Magazine, Badgley claimed that his comments felt “blown out of proportion” and were taken out of context. 

“What I was speaking about wasn’t actually the final product. It was sort of like the culture inherent to the production of all movies, but particularly those scenes,” he stated. “It’s like, look, we know that Hollywood has had a history of flagrant exploitation and abuse.” 

Badgley went on to state that it “was not easy” to have that conversation with showrunner Sera Gamble. “I was nervous to even have that conversation. It was not easy. It was easy because of Sera’s response, and I felt relieved. But technically speaking, if I thought I’d had the ability to set that boundary earlier, I would have,” he said.

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The actor also shared that his newfound decision “didn’t change the trajectory of the season at all.” Badgley claimed, “I mean, Joe was naturally ready to not be in that position anymore.”

In February, Badgley revealed on his Podcrushed podcast that he asked Gamble if he can “do no more intimacy scenes.” He claimed to have made the decision before accepting the role in the Netflix hit because he didn’t want to put himself “back on a career path” where he was always playing the romantic lead. He also mentioned wanting to respect his wife, Domino Kirke. “Fidelity in every relationship, and especially my marriage, is important to me,” he said. “It just got to the point where I don’t want to do that.” 

A week later, Badgley doubled down on his stance in an interview, saying that he’s felt this way for much of his career, not just since he got married. He said, “That aspect of Hollywood has always been very disturbing to me — and that aspect of the job, that mercurial boundary — has always been something that I actually don’t want to play with at all.”

You is currently streaming on Netflix.