You’s Penn Badgley Reveals Which Gossip Girl Character Joe Goldberg Would Kill

It says a lot about society when millions of Netflix viewers around the world find themselves falling for the modern-day thirst trap that is the fictional, charismatic, sociopathic serial killer Joe Goldberg of You.

‘Rather than looking at what we could do to reform society ourselves, we want to tell and watch stories about letting the horror play out,’ Badgley, who plays the TV heartthrob, tells ELLE UK of our obsession with serial killer narratives. ‘In some sense it’s an escapist thing, and in other ways it’s a fantasy thing, and it’s a dangerous obsession... that we should curtail.’

During a recent game of Ask Me Anything, Badgley, who rose to fame on the hit Noughties HBO series Gossip Girl, opposite Blake Lively and Leighton Meester, says Goldberg wouldn’t think twice if it came to picking which Upper East Side character to bump off.

‘Dan [Humphrey] and Joe would hate each other,' he says, referring to his wordsmith Gossip Girl character. 'Dan, because he’s not an actual killer, even though he was arguably a sociopath... he would hate Joe because he’s an actual murderer, and you should. Although we know if we’d just have loved Joe as a baby boy he’d never have become a killer, but that’s not who he is now – he’s a full-blown killer.

‘And Joe would hate Dan because he’d reflect him back to himself, impossibly well. They would really despise each other. They would have narrations inside of their minds about... and I feel Joe would inevitably kill Dan. There’s a spin off!’

The actor currently stars in the show’s fourth season of the American psychological thriller television series, which explores the dramatic life and devastating murders of University lecturer Professor Jonathan Moore, aka Goldberg’s reinvented character after he fled the US after killing countless characters.

Last month, the first volume of the fourth season dropped on Netflix, before the streaming platform released the second volume on March 9. Recalling filming the fourth series in London, Badgley tells us: ‘The best thing about filming in London was, and I’m not pandering here, but the people and the culture. I didn’t actually get to do a lot of the touristy things, I didn’t have time frankly. I walked across some bridges, went to one museum, went to Borough Market, and it was great. But really just being here, and living here like Americans don’t usually get to as a tourist… honestly, that and the tea.’

As for Goldberg/Moore’s go-to disguise – a measly cap – Badgley is well aware of its not-so-conspicuous ability to conceal his character’s identity. ‘I had no idea how iconic the cap would become,’ he says.

‘I remember the first time I had to wear it inside, rather than outside. Because outside, people wear hats. Outside, it actually kind of works… you keep your hat down, it’s not that big of a deal. I’m pretty sure in the pilot or maybe the second episode Joe is stalking Beck, RIP Beck, in a hat inside a bar. That was the first time I was like “guys, it’s a little conspicuous in the wind breaker and in a cap at the bar!”'.

From finding out which character he’d love You fan Cardi B to play in the show, to the most shocking plot twist in the series to date, you can watch the rest of Penn Badgley’s Ask Me Anything video at the top of this article.

You season 4 is finally available to stream on Netflix.

Katie O'Malley

Site Director

Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.