What keeps Penn Badgley excited about his You character Joe
Even after four seasons, Penn Badgley continues to be excited about playing the lead character Joe Goldberg in Netflix’s romantic thriller You.
After the final events in Season 3, where the love-obsessed stalker-turned-serial killer Joe set his own house on fire and staged his own death after killing his unstable wife Love Quinn (played by Victoria Pedretti) to avoid getting killed first, he is now off to London to start afresh in Season 4. He has a new identity as Jonathan Moore and a new job as a literature professor.
Part 1, which is currently streaming, sees Joe getting dragged into a multi-murder mystery involving his new circle of friends — all rich, famous and spoiled high-society — in the English capital. He also finds himself being stalked, with his true identity at risk of being uncovered following the murders. Although at first it appears like he has sworn off love, Joe will also have a new obsession and love interest (not necessarily the same person).
But no more spoilers here. What’s sure is that Penn continues to pour his charm into the portrayal of Joe. It’s one of the major reasons why, despite everything, fans are drawn to this antihero, and notwithstanding the actor’s past attempts to call out any romanticization of his character, if you’ve read his previous interviews.
“I feel like as though there’s no secret sauce to it, there’s nothing special. I just play him like everything he’s saying is true, that he doesn’t think he’s bad. Is that the way a real serial killer would think and behave? I’m frankly, like, that’s not the kind of story we’re going for. We’re not trying to understand the mind of serial killers better,” he previously weighed in on Joe’s audience appeal in a 2019 interview with The STAR.
“I just make him mean everything he says. That’s all I do. So, when he says, I love you, he means that. When he is trying to be a good man, he is trying to be a good man. When he’s just doing what needs to be done in order to get to the good thing, that’s what he’s doing, you know?”
You, a Netflix Original romantic crime drama series, is created by Greg Berlanti and based on the novels You and Hidden Bodies by author Caroline Kepnes. The second installment of Season 4 is set to premiere on March 9.
During a one-on-one interview with The STAR for the newest season, Penn shared what continues to make Joe a fun and exciting role for him.
“Every season, I think the writers find a way to put Joe into more and more dangerous positions and situations, which I love because he always finds a way out. And I think it’s always quite funny and it always means that I have to do a lot of very physical work, very physical acting, you know, which I like. I like it a lot!” he said.
“Actually, I’ve never been able to be so physical in a role. It’s like… It actually is as though sometimes I have the same level of an action star — almost. I don’t know if you see that in the show, but it ends up being that way in my experience. So that is usually (what keeps me excited)… I think, the physical aspect of it. He’s always like tied up or he’s always in crazy situations. And that to me is fun,” he continued.
“Also every episode, there’s a dream or some kind of fever dream, you know, some kind of surreal episode where things that are not really there are happening and Joe is in like another world. Those are some of my favorites,” he pointed out.
Penn noted that there are more shocking twists in Part 2. But when he got the script for Season 4, what perhaps excited him more was seeing Joe reestablishing himself and trying to stay incognito in London. “I was aware of all of them (the twists) before I was even able to read a script because they pitched the show to me before they’ve got scripts, right? So, I never have that benefit of reading a script and being like, wow,” he said.
“But I was most excited to see him (Joe) in London, you know, and to see how much we could change the appearance and to see how much he would embrace teaching? Anything that’s new, I think, of course, I was really looking forward to.”
“And then, of course, in one way or another, dead bodies start turning up, but for me, that’s never… I’m not like a viewer. I have a different relationship to it. So, when I see those kinds of things in the script, that’s not what I’m reacting to. I’m gonna have to do very different things.”
There’s no telling how many more seasons it will take to reach the end of Joe’s story. But if you ask Penn as to how he wants his character’s journey to conclude, he would say, “I want justice, as I think everybody who watches the show. As much as we might like him, we also really want him to get what he deserves.”
“You know, it’s a kind of crazy, heavy, meaningful topic. Like what does justice mean for someone like Joe? I think it’s like what, just put him in prison or does he die?
“Those things seem like they’re somehow less than satisfying. But do we just want revenge? Do we want him to be tortured endlessly? No, I mean, you know, that’s too grim.
“I think it’s an interesting question. It brings up a lot, to be honest. For me, I’m not really sure but I want him to have a fitting end,” he added.
Penn, nevertheless, revealed that showrunners had already given him an idea of the planned closure of Joe’s story.
“I can tell you that actually, Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble years ago pitched me on the way they saw Joe finally reaching his conclusion. And I thought it was very smart and perfect,” said Penn before quipping, “But, I can’t tell you what it is.”
He added, “And maybe, even if there is another season, I have no idea if that’s going to happen. But, you know, maybe.”
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