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Penn Badgley has effortlessly played serial killer Joe Goldberg in Netflix’s You since 2018. The actor used his psychopathic character to introduce fans to his TikTok and has been making a splash on the platform since then. Badgley recently commented on being the “King of TikTok.”

Penn Badgley had the perfect song for his first TikTok

Badgley has always been notoriously private about his personal life and mostly kept to Twitter and Instagram. However, that changed when he joined TikTok out of the blue in October 2022 and used a viral Taylor Swift song to introduce his fans to his account.

Pulling double duty as Joe Goldberg, Badgley lip-synced to Swift’s ‘Anti-Hero’ in a video that the pop star herself commented on. Later that day, Badgley made a follow-up video responding to a fan who commented, “Screaming, crying, throwing up.” The star responded with “Me too” and posted a video of him croaking into a silver bowl pretending to vomit.

Swift played a big part in influencing the Gossip Girl star to join the platform. “I thought for years, ‘I’ll get a TikTok when the time is right. And then when Taylor’s record came out, it just seemed the song wouldn’t have worked with anybody else,” the actor told Rolling Stone earlier this year, calling it “the perfect moment.”

Penn Badgley on becoming a TikTok sensation

The 36-year-old actor has kept up the momentum since then, with his videos raking in millions of views and likes. The star has taken to the platform quickly and easily, and he uses the account to promote his podcast Podcrushed, posts dancing videos, and duets random creators who tag him in their videos.

In a recent interview with This Morning, the actor talked about his newfound fame on TikTok and how he became one of the biggest hits on the platform. Badgley revealed that he had already been on TikTok before his official debut but didn’t think much of it then.

Explaining one of his dance videos, the You star said, “The first time I was on TikTok was before I had a TikTok. We were just promoting one of his (friend’s) songs with the dance. It’s called ‘I Did It.’ And that blew up.”

The star echoed his Rolling Stone statement saying he wanted to join TikTok “when the time is right,” and Swift’s Anti-Hero gave him the perfect opportunity. Badgley joked that dancing videos are the content audiences love to see before host Phillip Schofield hilariously addressed the star as “Your majesty, the King of TikTok.”

The shocking ending of You Season 4 and possible storylines for Season 5

Penn Badgley sits on a couch on the "Today" show set.
Penn Badgley appears on the “Today” show. I Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images
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Throughout Season 4, You led fans to believe that Joe had a stalker of his own in Rhys Montrose. However, Volume 2, which debuted on March 9, revealed that Joe’s mind had eventually broken, and he had imagined Rhys up due to his admiration for the mayoral candidate. 

In the final episode, Joe tries killing his evil alter ego but is shown to have failed when Rhys shows up as Joe’s reflection. The finale also saw Joe returning to his old ways by killing one of his students and framing another. Joe makes it clear that he now has plenty of resources thanks to his relationship with Kate Lockwood. 

On her end, Kate had spent the entire season fleeing from her father only to turn out to be just like him. In Season 5, Marienne may return to finally give her side of the story in an attempt to end Joe for good. However, she may not have an easy time with Kate’s money and the heiress’ love for Joe. Tom Lockwood was good at covering his flaws, and Kate may prove that the apple truly doesn’t fall far from the tree.

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