“Fidelity is important to me”: Blake Lively’s Ex-Boyfriend Penn Badgley Breaks Silence on ‘No S*x’ Scenes in Netflix’s ‘You’, Claims Not Every Actor Has to Get Intimate

Penn Badgley’s portrayal of Joe Goldberg in Netflix’s You is nothing less than remarkable. The actor’s portrayal of the character was mesmerizing, as beneath his charming face, hides a disturbed individual obsessed with love and control. Throughout the series, viewers see striking instances of Badgley’s manipulation, conflicting emotions, and inner turmoil, making the audience fall for the character.
Penn Badgley
Even though Penn Badgley portrays the role of Joe Goldberg who desires love in an unhealthy manner, throughout the series, there are little to no intimate scenes. This has often confused the viewers, who wonder why for a character like Joe Goldberg, there are so few explicit scenes throughout the 4 seasons of the Netflix series. Turns out, the actor is not very comfortable with such scenes, and he explains the reason behind it.

Penn Badgley Explains The Lack of Steamy Scenes in You

Penn Badgley as a guest on the Podcrushed podcast, explained that he was hesitant to be in the s*x scenes, and he even asked Sera Gamble, the showrunner of the Netflix show, to omit such scenes from the script of the show.

“This is actually a decision I had made before I took the show. I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned it publicly, but it’s… one of the main things is, like, ‘Do I want to put myself back on a career path where I’m just always the romantic lead?’”

Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg in Netflix’s You
The actor added that he made this request to Sera Gamble, primarily because of his marriage to Domino Kirke, with whom he has a son. He is also a father to the actress’ son from her previous relationship. According to the actor, “fidelity” is important to him in his relationship.
“Fidelity in every relationship — and especially in my marriage — is important to me. I said to Sera, like, ‘My desire would be zero, to go from 100 to zero.’”
When Penn Badgley shared his request to Sera Gamble, she was glad that the actor would share that he was uncomfortable with shooting romantic scenes with his co-stars in the show. The showrunner then went on to reduce the number of intimate scenes in the show without affecting the storyline of the series.

Sera Gamble Urged The Cast of You To Make Any Particular Request For The Show

In the same episode of the Podcrushed podcast, it featured Sera Gamble as the special guest. During the episode, Badgley and Gamble talked about their conversation about reducing the s*x scenes from the show. The showrunner stated how the conversation “was not very difficult” for her, as none of the cast members were sharing anything which would have made them uncomfortable in the show.
“Nobody was saying, ‘I refuse to do something… My job in that conversation was just to like pinpoint exactly what you were asking for and what was making you uncomfortable… We’re not in the business of saying, ‘Strip down and touch someone,’ if you know that’s not what you wanna do.”
Penn Badgley and Charlotte Ritchie in You Season 4
Penn Badgley emphasized that such conversations in the industry are “not common,” and simulating certain things in the series was not possible for him.
“When people bring up, ‘Well, what about murder?’ It’s like, guys, I’m not murdering anybody. At the end of the day, there’s something that you can’t simulate, which is physical touch. It just comes down to that. It’s like, not everybody has to do this in their job.”

Sera Gamble stated that she wanted to understand the parameters for the show they will be creating together, and she does not want to add any scenes or dialogue which would make the cast members uncomfortable in the show.
A still from You
“The two people in that conversation are me and you. We’re making the show together. We were many years into it at this point. And it’s just like, let me understand. My job is just let me understand the parameters and then come back with a plan.”
Since Badgley requested the changes, the 4th season of You had a massive reduction of intimate scenes. Even though Joe Goldberg is emotionally inclined with Love Quinn for the first three seasons of the show, there are no s*x scenes between them and it is quite likely to remain so in the upcoming season as well.