You Season 4 hasn’t been universally loved by fans, and that includes myself, since Joe Goldberg and the show have been hit by a severe case of ennui. That wasn’t my main criticism of this season, but that lack of fire does extend to a corresponding lack of super fiery intimate scenes for Penn Badgley’s character. There is a lewd scene (that’s going viral) starring Lukas Gage’s character, but again, Joe keeps things pretty tame.
As Badgley revealed on his Podcrushed podcast, this was a fully intentional move. As relayed by the New York Post, Badgley was frank about the subject: “I asked Sera Gamble, [the] creator, ‘Can I just do no more intimacy scenes?” Penn also added that this has been a subject on his mind since the beginning of You, although certainly it was hard to avoid not getting busy at all when Joe’s very nature revolves around his fatal obsession with women (and the people who get in his way of being with said women).
“This was actually a decision I had made before I took the show,” Penn admitted. “I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned it publicly, but one of the main things is, ‘Do I want to put myself back on a career path where I’m always [the] romantic lead?’” Penn then related how doing sexy-time scenes made him feel uncomfortable, given that he’s married to Domino Kirke, and it sounds like he doesn’t want to compartmentalize in that way. This is fine and all good, apparently, with the makers of You.
There’s likely also the added edge of Penn being reminded that the Internet lusts after his character, even after he pointed out that being a killer isn’t sexy. All one has to do is visit Twitter to confirm how people aren’t done with that vibe yet. Penn Badgley, on the other hand, is more than happy to not take it off on TV anymore.
(Via Page Six & Podcrushed)