Love can be messy, but the cast of You enjoys more stable offscreen relationships than their characters.
The drama, based on Caroline Kepnes’ novel of the same name, premiered on Lifetime in September 2018. It starred Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg and Elizabeth Lail as aspiring writer Beck. Season 1 followed Joe’s extreme lengths to pursue Beck. The series gained a significant following after moving to Netflix, with season 2 dropping in December 2019. A third season was confirmed the following month.
What is Penn Badgley’s perspective on his character Joe Goldberg? Badgley believes Joe not being a traditional romantic lead holds value. He told IndieWire in December 2019 that much of pop culture’s portrayal of love is distorted and often misrepresents true love, which he feels is more broadly expressed. He added that what is often called “love” is actually lust, and while lust isn’t inherently wrong, it doesn’t always lead to the best actions.
Before You, Badgley was well-known for his role as Dan Humphrey on Gossip Girl from 2007 to 2012. His brooding performance captivated fans, and he even sparked a real-life romance with his onscreen love interest, Blake Lively, who played Serena van der Woodsen.
The couple split in 2010 but continued working together on the CW series. Badgley married Domino Kirke in Brooklyn in 2017. The couple welcomed their first child in the summer of 2020, after experiencing multiple miscarriages.
Kirke, who has a son named Cassius from a previous relationship, shared in October 2019 that Badgley has a positive relationship with her son. She noted that he can have more fun with Cassius since he isn’t in the “dad” role. Kirke admitted that being a stepparent was uncharted territory for her, having not grown up with a stepparent, but praised Badgley’s care for Cassius.
Production for season 3 of You was temporarily halted due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, Badgley and his costars returned to filming in February 2021.
