Penn Badgley
Penn Dayton Badgley (born November 1, 1986) is an American actor. He is primarily known for his roles as Dan Humphrey in The CW teen drama series Gossip Girl (2007–2012) and Joe Goldberg in the Netflix thriller series You (2018–present).[1][2][3] For Gossip Girl, he received six Teen Choice Award nominations, and for You, he earned MTV Movie & TV Award and Saturn Award nominations.
Penn Badgley
Actor - singer
1997–present
1
Badgley first came to prominence for portraying Phillip Chancellor IV on the soap opera The Young and the Restless (2000–2001), which earned him a Young Artist Award nomination, and he followed this with roles in the comedy films John Tucker Must Die (2006) and Drive-Thru (2007). Badgley went on to appear in a number of films, such as the thriller The Stepfather (2009), the teen comedy-drama Easy A (2010), the financial thriller Margin Call (2011), the biographical film Greetings from Tim Buckley (2012) and the independent drama The Paper Store (2016). For Margin Call, he won an Independent Spirit Award.
Early life[edit]
Badgley was born on November 1, 1986,[4] in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Duff and Lynne Murphy Badgley.[5][6] His father had worked as a newspaper reporter and then as a carpenter and home builder, and was the Green Party candidate for governor of Washington in 2008.[5] An only child,[5] Badgley attended Woolridge Elementary (where his mother served as a PTA president),[7] before he transferred to St. Christopher's School in Richmond, Virginia.[8] He attended Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma, Washington.[9]
As a child, Badgley was involved with the Seattle Children's Theatre and the Pine Nut Players community theater in Monroe, Washington.[10] His mother supported his acting efforts, and worked various jobs (later, beginning a business in jewelry design with Badgley's godmother, Jan Sneed).[11][6][12] He stated that he "skipped high school altogether" and at age 14, he took a proficiency exam and began attending Santa Monica College.[11][a] He was later accepted to the University of Southern California, but deferred admission due to contractual obligations,[8] later enrolling for two years at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.[8]
Badgley is said to have been home schooled alongside Blake Lively, his future co-star and partner.[13] His parents divorced when he was 12.[13] He recalls having "wanted to make music... as a 12-year-old", and recorded an unreleased pop single in 1998, referring in an interview to the effort as "terrible" and "misguided".[14]
Personal life[edit]
Badgley's relationships included[60] Gossip Girl co-star Blake Lively from 2007 to 2010,[61] and actress Zoë Kravitz from 2011 to 2013.[62][63] Badgley began dating singer Domino Kirke in 2014.[64] He married Kirke in a New York courthouse on February 27, 2017,[65][66] and became the stepfather of Kirke's son.[67] In February 2020, Kirke and Badgley announced they were expecting their first child together. Their son was born in August 2020.[68][69]
In an interview with Shadi Toloui-Wallace, Badgley described how the BP oil spill prompted his exploration into the connection between justice and spirituality, and led him to the rainforests of Colombia and the teachings of Baháʼu'lláh and the Baháʼí Faith.[70] Badgley has been a member of the Baha'i Faith since 2015.[71]
Political views[edit]
During the 2008 United States presidential election, Badgley supported Barack Obama.[74] He and Blake Lively appeared in an Obama commercial as part of MoveOn's Youth Vote program, which aired during Gossip Girl on The CW, MTV, and Comedy Central.[75]
In March 2010, the American Red Cross announced Badgley as a member of the National Celebrity Cabinet, a group of celebrities who promote Red Cross services.[76] Badgley supported the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011[77] and is an ally of the Black Lives Matter movement.[78][79] He wants police brutality dialogue to include female victims, and supports LGBT rights.[80][81]