Penn Badgley Shares Cringeworthy Details of Filming Intimate Scene for "You"

In a new excerpt from his upcoming essay collection, Penn Badgley, the lead actor of the Netflix thriller "You," has shared the cringeworthy details of filming an intimate scene for the show's third season. The scene involved Badgley's character, Joe Goldberg, having a fantasy sequence where he imagines being intimate with a character other than his wife, Love.

To capture the close-up of Badgley's face "deep in dissociative reverie mid-coitus," the director required the actor to simulate sex solo, as the camera's large size prevented including his scene partner. Badgley, wearing only a nude thong, had to get on all fours and "hump the air" in front of the camera crew, struggling to look directly into the lens, which he normally avoids doing as it "ruins a take."

Badgley describes the experience as one of "sheer absurdity," feeling "naked" and unable to take the situation seriously at first. However, the crew's laughter helped create a relaxing, unifying moment, and Badgley was eventually able to complete the scene, looking into the camera and "humping his ass off."

The actor had previously requested fewer intimate scenes for his character in the show's fourth season, as he had reached a point where he no longer wanted to do them.