Penn Badgley Says It’s ‘Possible’ He Could've Ended Up Like Netflix Serial Killer Character

Actor Penn Badgley has reflected on how he could have ended up like his on screen serial killer persona, Joe Goldberg.

The 38-year-old star of Netflix's record-breaking series, You, has been widely praised for his portrayal of the stalker who develops an obsessive fascination with a woman.

And in a revealing interview, Badgley says that despite being uncomfortable playing the toxic character, he actually believes that he could have ended up the same way.

Speaking to The Guardian, the actor said: “My 30s have been officially defined by him. It’s possible that [Goldberg has] made me a better person because he’s caused a lot of reflection.”

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Badgley described playing the role as an ‘exercise in understanding all the things I want to avoid’. “Some of the things are obvious,” he says. “Don’t kill, don’t manipulate, don’t be a predator.”

However, he says he has had to dig deeper than that. “What I’ve had to do is try to understand, in some manner, where these things come from. “I’ve found similarities, and had to understand how it could have been possible for me to end up that way, rather than the way that I am.”

Describing the core essence of the hit programme, Badgley said: “Ultimately, the show is about misconceptions or modern myths about love and about masculinity.

“I’ve been reflecting on love and what that means, and what it means to be a man and a father and a husband, [while] all these things were starting to happen to me in real life as well.”

The show’s villain has also become the object of troubling admiration among audiences, a trend that Badgley finds unnerving.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to understand,” he said. “I think we all have to wonder how much value is there in exploring the darker side of human nature. I do think we need to explore the ‘light’ side, and I don’t mean ‘light’ in a way that is thin or has less gravity.

“It’s a politically intensifying world, and I don’t think this show would make sense starting right now. It’s ending right now. The way this show plays with questions of how we reward bad people, that was a more playful question eight to 10 years ago. It’s not as playful a question now, and it comes with way more stakes, and I’m glad we’re not going to be playing with it any longer.”

The actor says he’s glad that his time playing the character will be over after the show’s fifth and final season airs, with the final series due out on Netflix on April 24th.