Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Penn Badgley
Penn Dayton Badgley (born November 1, 1986) is an American actor and producer. He is known for his roles as Dan Humphrey in The CW teen drama series Gossip Girl (2007–2012) and Joe Goldberg in the Netflix psychological thriller series You (2018–2025).
Badgley came to prominence playing Phillip Chancellor IV on the soap opera The Young and the Restless (2000–2001). He featured in the comedy films John Tucker Must Die (2006), Drive-Thru (2007) and Easy A (2010), the thriller films The Stepfather (2009) and Margin Call (2011), the biographical film Greetings from Tim Buckley (2012), and the drama film The Paper Store (2016).
Penn Dayton Badgley was born on November 1, 1986, in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Duff and Lynne (Murphy) Badgley. 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 State in 2008. Badgley has stated that his first name comes from the brand of tennis ball his father was holding during his mother's first sonogram.
An only child, Badgley attended Woolridge Elementary (where his mother served as a PTA president), before he transferred to St. Christopher's School in Richmond, Virginia. He attended Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma, Washington. Badgley is said to have been home schooled alongside Blake Lively, his future co-star and partner. His parents divorced when he was 12. 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".
As a child, Badgley was involved with the Seattle Children's Theatre and the Pine Nut Players community theater in Monroe, Washington. His mother supported his acting efforts, and worked various jobs (later beginning a business in jewelry design with Badgley's godmother, Jan Sneed). He has said that he "skipped high school altogether" and at age 14, he took a proficiency exam and began attending Santa Monica College. He was later accepted to the University of Southern California, but deferred admission due to contractual obligations, later enrolling for two years at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.
Badgley and his mother moved to California so that he could pursue an acting career, and he recalls, in an interview, departing for Los Angeles at age 11. He soon began doing voiceovers for children's radio stations in Hollywood. His first credit was voice work for the video games Mario Golf 64 and Mario Tennis 64 in 1999 and 2000. Badgley had his first screen acting credit on an episode of Will & Grace and he subsequently appeared on shows such as Daddio, The Brothers García, and What I Like About You. Badgley's first noticeable role was as Phillip Chancellor IV on the soap opera The Young and the Restless, which he portrayed from 2000 to 2001. He was nominated for the Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Daytime Series in 2001 for his performance.
In 2002, Badgley starred in The WB's comedy-drama series Do Over as Joel Larsen, a 34-year-old man who gets a second chance to get his life right, thanks to a freakish accident that catapults him back to 1980 as a 14-year-old. He went on to star in two other WB series: The Mountain from 2004 to 2005, and The Bedford Diaries in 2006. Badgley's first major film credit was 2006's John Tucker Must Die, playing the role of Scott Tucker. In its opening weekend, the film grossed a total of $14.3 million, ranking third in the US box office results for that weekend. He later appeared in Drive-Thru, co-starring future castmate Leighton Meester.
In 2007, Badgley was cast in The CW's teen drama series Gossip Girl as Dan Humphrey, based on the book series of the same name by Cecily von Ziegesar. He initially turned down the role, but accepted after the producers struggled finding someone to fill the role. His performance as Dan Humphrey was praised by audiences and critics alike, and earned him six Teen Choice Award nominations over the show's run. Jason Gay of the Rolling Stone particularly complimented his characterization, writing that "while another actor may have played Dan as a blah straight man, Badgley imbued him with an occasionally obnoxious know-it-all-ness." In 2009, Badgley starred in the thriller film The Stepfather, a remake of the 1987 film, as the stepson of a serial killer.
Hub AI
Penn Badgley AI simulator
(@Penn Badgley_simulator)
Penn Badgley
Penn Dayton Badgley (born November 1, 1986) is an American actor and producer. He is known for his roles as Dan Humphrey in The CW teen drama series Gossip Girl (2007–2012) and Joe Goldberg in the Netflix psychological thriller series You (2018–2025).
Badgley came to prominence playing Phillip Chancellor IV on the soap opera The Young and the Restless (2000–2001). He featured in the comedy films John Tucker Must Die (2006), Drive-Thru (2007) and Easy A (2010), the thriller films The Stepfather (2009) and Margin Call (2011), the biographical film Greetings from Tim Buckley (2012), and the drama film The Paper Store (2016).
Penn Dayton Badgley was born on November 1, 1986, in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Duff and Lynne (Murphy) Badgley. 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 State in 2008. Badgley has stated that his first name comes from the brand of tennis ball his father was holding during his mother's first sonogram.
An only child, Badgley attended Woolridge Elementary (where his mother served as a PTA president), before he transferred to St. Christopher's School in Richmond, Virginia. He attended Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma, Washington. Badgley is said to have been home schooled alongside Blake Lively, his future co-star and partner. His parents divorced when he was 12. 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".
As a child, Badgley was involved with the Seattle Children's Theatre and the Pine Nut Players community theater in Monroe, Washington. His mother supported his acting efforts, and worked various jobs (later beginning a business in jewelry design with Badgley's godmother, Jan Sneed). He has said that he "skipped high school altogether" and at age 14, he took a proficiency exam and began attending Santa Monica College. He was later accepted to the University of Southern California, but deferred admission due to contractual obligations, later enrolling for two years at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.
Badgley and his mother moved to California so that he could pursue an acting career, and he recalls, in an interview, departing for Los Angeles at age 11. He soon began doing voiceovers for children's radio stations in Hollywood. His first credit was voice work for the video games Mario Golf 64 and Mario Tennis 64 in 1999 and 2000. Badgley had his first screen acting credit on an episode of Will & Grace and he subsequently appeared on shows such as Daddio, The Brothers García, and What I Like About You. Badgley's first noticeable role was as Phillip Chancellor IV on the soap opera The Young and the Restless, which he portrayed from 2000 to 2001. He was nominated for the Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Daytime Series in 2001 for his performance.
In 2002, Badgley starred in The WB's comedy-drama series Do Over as Joel Larsen, a 34-year-old man who gets a second chance to get his life right, thanks to a freakish accident that catapults him back to 1980 as a 14-year-old. He went on to star in two other WB series: The Mountain from 2004 to 2005, and The Bedford Diaries in 2006. Badgley's first major film credit was 2006's John Tucker Must Die, playing the role of Scott Tucker. In its opening weekend, the film grossed a total of $14.3 million, ranking third in the US box office results for that weekend. He later appeared in Drive-Thru, co-starring future castmate Leighton Meester.
In 2007, Badgley was cast in The CW's teen drama series Gossip Girl as Dan Humphrey, based on the book series of the same name by Cecily von Ziegesar. He initially turned down the role, but accepted after the producers struggled finding someone to fill the role. His performance as Dan Humphrey was praised by audiences and critics alike, and earned him six Teen Choice Award nominations over the show's run. Jason Gay of the Rolling Stone particularly complimented his characterization, writing that "while another actor may have played Dan as a blah straight man, Badgley imbued him with an occasionally obnoxious know-it-all-ness." In 2009, Badgley starred in the thriller film The Stepfather, a remake of the 1987 film, as the stepson of a serial killer.