‘You’ Season 3: Penn Badgley Admits He Was ‘Surprisingly Disgusted’ By His Masturbation Scene

Actor Penn Badgley isn't a fan of his character's masturbation habit.

by Victoria Koehl

Published on February 4, 2022

3 min read

‘You’ depicts Joe masturbating in public

Season 3 of You picks up after Joe discovers the murderous side of Love after she kills Delilah. He still loves her and tries to maintain their marriage. The two of them prepare to raise their new baby, but they soon become unhappy with their relationship.

Love has an affair with a neighbor, and Joe develops an obsession with Marienne Bellamy. At the end of the series, Joe kills Love and leaves their son in Madre Linda. He adopts a new identity and goes to Paris to look for Marienne.

Another moment that many fans may remember is the masturbation scene. Joe performs the act in a place where anyone can see, which likely shocked some viewers. According to the New York Post, the director wanted to film the scene with Badgley’s eyes closed.

Badgley had his eyes opened, and the director found it “too creepy.” The actor refused to keep his eyes shut since the experience was supposed to be disturbing. The character is creepy himself, so Badgley was leaning into the characteristic.

Penn Badgley did not enjoy filming the scene

Badgley has given his thoughts about the series in interviews. Before, he wanted Joe to die because he believed that the man was irredeemable. The public masturbation scene did not help his opinion of the character. According to We the Pvblic, Badgley found it to be a difficult moment to shoot.

“There was a lot that was quite difficult. It’s funny, I don’t even wanna repeat what it is that I had to do – masturbating outside of her place. But that’s what I was doing. That’s what Joe was doing. That’s what I had to enact. I found myself surprisingly disgusted, like I did not want to do it,” Badgley said.

Badgley found the part challenging, but he learned to trust other people since he was not always sure. He would not recommend anyone playing Joe. Additionally, he wanted to make the character appear less charming.

Still, Badgley found the character to be an interesting role. Of course, he and the rest of the crew were able to have fun on set.

Other shows that contain masturbation

Victoria Pedretti, and Penn Badgley sitting next to each other in 'You' Season 2.

Victoria Pedretti, and Penn Badgley from ‘You’ Season 2

Many TV shows recently include at least one masturbation scene, especially the ones on Netflix. Cosmopolitan compiled a list of the best ones, and Bridgerton has one of the popular moments. In the third episode, Daphne has an authentic moment when she pleasures herself for the first time.

In Sex Education, Aimee Gibbs spends an episode figuring out what she likes. The show depicts masturbation as exciting instead of intimidating. In Orange Is the New Black, Boo uses a makeshift toy to pleasure herself.

Another example is Reign, and the scene takes place in the first episode of season 1. A man discovers one of the handmaidens helping herself during a ball. Some fans enjoyed it due to the wardrobe and the act being somewhat public.

Ginny from Ginny and Georgia starts to masturbate after she sexts someone. She decides to use an electric toothbrush to get the job done.