Penn Badgley almost turned down 'You' over intimate scenes: 'Fidelity is important to me'

Gossip Girl and You star Penn Badgley has expressed his "strong dislike" about doing intimate scenes on-screen. Badgley currently plays the role of the bookstore manager Joe Goldberg in You. He said that after having discussions with the showrunner Sera Gamble, his intimate scenes in the latest season of the show were reduced.

Badgley shared a number of reasons why he is uncomfortable with on-screen intimacy. He said that most of his co-stars are younger to him and that aspect puts him in the spot. Badgley also shared how it was like filming for the intimate scenes in the initial seasons of You, which came out in 2017, when there was no concept of an intimacy coordinator. For the unversed, intimacy coordinators work with the actors and the unit in executing intimate scenes on-screen.

In an interview with Variety, Badgley said, "That aspect of Hollywood has always been very disturbing to me. That aspect of the job, that mercurial boundary, has always been something that I actually don’t want to play with at all," the actor said.  

About having 'lesser' intimate scenes in You season 4 and his discussions with showrunner Sera Gamble, Badgley further shared, "I’m always very practical. I said I know it can’t be none, because there’s something coded into the DNA of the show, and I signed the contract, and so it is what it is but as little as possible would be my preference.”

Badgley also said that his decision about not doing intimate scenes with his You co-stars was related to his 'fidelity' in his relationship in real life. He also said that he almost turned down the show because of such scenes but his wife convinced him to take up the role.

"My fidelity in my relationship is important to me. And actually, it was one of the reasons that I initially wanted to turn the role down. I didn’t tell anybody that. But that is why," Badgley said.

Penn and Kirke-Badgley married in 2017.