Penn Badgley asked for no sex scenes in ‘You’ season four
Penn Badgley has said he asked You creator Sera Gamble if he could avoid doing any sex scenes in the show’s fourth season.
The actor, who plays charming killer Joe Goldberg in the Netflix series, explained that he wanted to tone down the amount of “intimacy scenes” due to his marriage to singer Domino Kirke.
Speaking on the podcast Podcrushed, Badgley said: “I asked Sera Gamble, the creator of the show, ‘Can I just do no more intimacy scenes?’
“This was actually a decision I had made before I took the show. I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned it publicly, but one of the main things is, ‘Do I want to put myself back on a career path where I’m always [the] romantic lead?
“Fidelity in every relationship, especially my marriage, is important to me. It just got to a point where I don’t want to do that.”
He added: “Before I took the show, it was a question: do I have a career if I don’t? Think about every male lead you’ve loved. Are they kissing someone? Are they doing a lot more than that?
“So I said to Sera, ‘My desire would be zero [intimate scenes], to go from 100 to zero. But I signed this contract. 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, she had a really positive response. They came back with a phenomenal reduction.”
Based on the books by Caroline Kepnes, You’s fourth season follows Joe Goldberg’s new life in London as he masquerades as a university professor.
Tati Gabrielle also reprises her role of Marienne Bellamy, alongside new cast members Lukas Gage, Charlotte Richie, Tilly Keeper, Amy-Leigh Hickman and Ed Speleers.
In a four-star review of You season four part one, NME wrote: “Yes, it’s all very silly, but it’s also surprisingly gripping and consistently witty. ‘I’m in the West End revival of Mean Girls,’ Joe’s internal monologue deadpans at one point. By the end of episode five, you’ll be craving the season’s second half more than you might care to admit.”
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Adam Starkey
NME
