‘You’ Star Penn Badgley Has Thought a Lot About How Joe Goldberg Should Die
You Season 3 is almost here — Netflix dropped a teaser in late August 2021 — once again with Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg. The series centers around Goldberg, a serial killer and stalker masquerading as a good guy. Badgley’s made his feelings about his character known and, in a recent interview, the actor shared the ways he’s thought Goldberg should die.
Penn Badgley doesn’t like his ‘You’ character
Actors might find ways to connect to a character or, in some cases, even consider them someone they’d be friends with in real life. None of that applies to Badgley and his You character. The 34-year-old, who rose to prominence as Gossip Girl’s Dan Humphrey, told Digital Spy in December 2019 he doesn’t like anything about Goldberg.
“There’s a lot I don’t enjoy about him … to be honest, I don’t enjoy nearly everything about him. However, it ends up being a deep, deep psychological exploration for me,” Badgley said. “And it seems to bear fruit. There’s a lot about him that I struggle with and yet I’m always trying to humanize him as much as possible.”
Penn Badgley’s thought about various ways Joe Goldberg could be punished
In past interviews, Badgley’s shared it’s his opinion that Goldberg’s punishment should be death. As for how his demise would play out on You the actor’s undecided. The actor shared some of his ideas in an August 2021 Vulture interview. He admitted that previously he’d wanted to see his character killed by a Black woman but now he says “it’s not fair to do that to that woman.”
“Punishment is important, but what form of punishment is actually effective? With Joe, the irony is that death is almost too easy for him,” he continued. Torture’s a possibility but Badgley sees problems with that potential ending for Goldberg too. “He deserves it, but does someone deserve to have to do it?” he said.
What about being miserable for the rest of his life? “He already is miserable,” the actor said. Ultimately Badgley doesn’t know how Goldberg should die. “It’s a strange question to ask because I really don’t know,” he said, adding that “this show isn’t going to answer that question.”
Penn Badgley’s Joe Goldberg starts a family with Love Quinn in ‘You’ Season 3
Badgley’s character isn’t just a serial killer or a stalker. Now the California transplant can add father to his list of titles. At the end of season 2 viewers learned Victoria Pedretti’s Love Quinn was having a child with Goldberg and in season 3 they — a boy named Henry — have arrived.
But parenthood doesn’t mean Goldberg’s giving up his old ways. He’s obsessed with someone new, his neighbor named Natalie (Michaela McManus). Thanks to hints from Pedretti You fans know there are going to be clashes between Quinn and Goldberg in season 3. Whether they involve Natalie, baby Henry, or something (or someone) else entirely fans will have to wait to find out until You Season 3 hits Netflix on Oct. 15, 2021.
