Penn Badgley is spilling the tea behind the steamy scenes on “You”.
The actor, who plays Joe on the Netflix thriller series, revealed on his podcast “Podcrushed” that he often gets told some surprising directions during his masturbation scenes.
“Every time I’ve done a masturbation scene…I’ve always gotten the note to make it less creepy,” Badgley explained. “They say like, ‘Close your eyes or go faster or go slower.’ I’m like, ‘What? This man is f–king murdering people, and he’s masturbating in the street. You’re saying I’m making it creepy? How is it I’m the one making it creepy?’”
He added, “I just remember I wouldn’t close my eyes and the director came up to me. He was like ‘Buddy, I think you gotta close your eyes.’”
The show follows Badgley’s character as an obsessive stalker who even goes to the lengths of murder to obtain the object of his affection. It was in this vein that the actor argued the scenes being “creepy” made sense.
“That’s just the strange line that we’re always walking on our show,” Badgley explained. “Examining toxicity in sexual culture while also trying to be sexy.”
The show, which has been renewed for a fourth season, features steamy scene of sex alongside the scenes of self-pleasure – which 35-year-old finds a lot easier to film.
“You read it. It’s actually kind of funny or it’s creepy but it serves the story,” he said. “And then you discover in front of a crew of people with a camera on your face, knowing that, in all likelihood, millions of people are going to see this, you’re simulating masturbation.”
At least, he ensures that his co-star in those scenes, Tati Gabrielle who plays Marianne, is comfortable with what they’re doing.
“Because I told him the first day that I came on set for our first scene, I was like, ‘Dude, I got to tell you, I’m so nervous. Never done this before,’” Gabrielle told Glamour UK. “He’s like, ‘Oh my God, no, it’s going to be fine. We’ll go through it.’ It ends up being like a dance. You choreograph it all.”
Season 4 of “You” is currently filming in London.