‘NO MORE INTIMACY’

‘You’ Star Penn Badgley Asked for Sex Scenes to Be Cut From New Season

Badgley said the showrunner was “glad that [he] was honest” about the issue.

Penn Badgley has revealed that he made a special request to do fewer sex scenes in the new season of You. “I asked [showrunner] Sera Gamble: ‘Can I just do no more intimacy scenes?’” Badgley said on his “Podcrushed” podcast. “This is actually a decision I made before I took the show. I don’t think I have ever mentioned it publicly. One of the main things was, do I want to put myself back on a career path where I’m always playing the romantic lead?” On the show, Badgley plays serial killer Joe Goldberg and has featured in multiple sex scenes in previous seasons. But he explained his reluctance to shoot more was out of respect for his real-world wife, Domino Kirke. “Fidelity in every relationship, including my marriage, is important to me,” Badgley said. “It’s got to the point where I don’t want to do that.” Describing Gamble’s response, Badgley added: “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, it had a really positive response. They came back with a phenomenal reduction.”