We wrote the biography of actor Penn Badgley, who is the only child of his parents and moved on with his mother after their divorce, accelerated his recognition as Dan Humphrey in "Gossip Girl" and brought it to the top with his role as Joe in "You".
His full name is Penn Dayton Badgley, he was born on November 1, 1986 in Baltimore, Maryland. He was born the only child of his mother, Duff, and his father, Lynne Murphy Badgley, a newspaper reporter, carpenter, and homebuilder. Educated at Woolridge Elementary School, Badgley later transferred to St. Christopher's School in Virginia. He then trained by attending the Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma, Washington.
Having been in different community theaters as a child, Badgley always had the support of his mother after his parents divorced when he was 12 years old. He continued his education by enrolling in Lewis & Clark College in Oregon for two years.
Badgley moved to California with his mother to continue his acting career, and after a while he started to do voiceovers for children's radio stations in Hollywood. He did his first voiceover work with the sports video games "Mario Golf" and "Mario Tennis". He made his acting debut in the television sitcom "Will & Grace" created by Max Mutchnick and David Kohan. He has also appeared on the NBC sitcom "Daddio", the youth sitcom "The Brothers García" created by Mike and Gibby Cevallos and Jeff Valdez, and the tv sitcom "What I Like About You" created by Wil Calhoun and Dan Schneider. He took part in minor roles.
His first notable role was as Phillip Chancellor IV in the CBS television sitcom "The Young and the Restless" created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell. For his performance, he was nominated for the Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Daytime Series in 2001. Thus, it caused Badgley to be recognized.
The following year, he landed the lead role as Joel Larsen in the fantasy sitcom television series "Do Over," created by Kenny Schwartz and Rick Wiener. He later appeared in the drama television series "The Mountain" created by Gina Matthews and Grant Scharbo from 2004 to 2005. In 2006, he starred as Owen Gregory in the drama television series "The Bedford Diaries" created by Tom Fontana and Julie Martin.
That same year, he appeared as Scott Tucker in the teen comedy movie "John Tucker Must Die" directed by Betty Thomas. The film, which received mixed reviews after its release, was a great success at the box office. He then starred with Leighton Meester and Nicholas D'Agosto in the black comedy slasher film "Drive-Thru" directed by Brendan Cowles and Shane Kuhn.
In 2007, he co-starred as Dan Humphrey with Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Kelly Rutherford and Ed Westwick in the teen drama television series "Gossip Girl" based on the novel of the same name developed for television by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage. The series, which ran for six seasons after its release, was a huge success after its release and won 18 Teen Choice Awards. In addition, his performance was praised by audiences and critics alike, and was nominated for six Teen Choice Awards.
Meanwhile, he co-starred with Dylan Walsh, Sela Ward, Amber Heard, and Jon Tenney in the psychological thriller "The Stepfather", a remake of the movie of the same name. The film, which received negative reviews from critics, was able to achieve moderate success at the box office. In 2010, he co-starred with Emma Stone as "Woodchuck" Todd in the teen romantic comedy "Easy A" directed by Will Gluck. Released on September 17, 2010, the film received critical acclaim and was a box office success and financial gain. He received a Teen Choice Award nomination for her performance.
In 2011, he starred with a large cast as Seth Bregman in the drama film "Margin Call", written and directed by JC Chandor. The film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2011, was successful at the box office and received many positive reviews from critics. He won the Robert Altman Award for his performance at the Independent Spirit Awards.
The following year, he took the lead role of Jeff Buckley with Imogen Poots in the movie "Greetings from Tim Buckley" directed by Daniel Algrant. For the role, she took guitar and vocal lessons. The film, which received generally positive reviews, premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2012. In the following years, he starred with Frank Langella, Gena Rowlands, Rosario Dawson, Teresa Palmer and Josh Hartnett in the romantic drama film "Parts per Billion" written and directed by Brian Horiuchi. Later, he appeared in the role of Posthumus in the detective thriller "Cymbeline" based on the novel of the same name.
In 2015, Badgley formed a band with others and released a song called "Easy" under the name MOTHER via SoundCloud, and from the moment it was released, the song quickly gained popularity and was posted on numerous blogs. The group later changed their name to "MOTHXR" and in February 2016 the group released their debut album, "Centerfold".
In 2015, Badgley appeared as Jamie in the NBC drama television mini-series "The Slap". He then appeared as the Prince of Monaco in the independent film "Adam Green's Aladdin", written and directed by Adam Green. Later in the year, he co-starred with Stef Dawson and Richard Kind in the drama "The Paper Store", based on a play directed by Nicholas Gray. The film, which received many acclaim and praise, was selected as the Best Drama of 2016. He won the Best Actor at the Oxford International Film Festival and the Special Jury Mention at the Manchester International Film Festival for his performance.
In 2021, Crystal starred with Tiffany Haddish, Laura Benanti and Louisa Krause in the comedy-drama film "Here Today" (2021), directed by Billy Crystal. Released on May 7, 2021, the film met with mixed to average reviews. That same year, he appeared as Peeno in the crime thriller "The Birthday Cake" directed by Jimmy Giannopoulos.
Since September 2018, he has been starring as Joe Goldberg in the psychological thriller television series "You" on Netflix, the television adaptation of the book of the same name. The series, which was renewed for its fifth and final season in March 2023, has garnered generally positive reviews since its airing. His performance earned him nominations for the Saturn Award, the MTV Movie & TV Awards, and the Hollywood Society of Critics' TV Awards, in addition to being hailed as his "best performance". In addition, the series, which gained a large following shortly after its broadcast, entered the list of most watched on Netflix in the first month each season was shared.
Private life
From 2007 to 2010, Badgley was in a relationship with actress Blake Lively. Later, he dated actress Zoë Kravitz from 2011 to 2013. Then in 2014, he started a relationship with singer Domino Kirke. The couple got married in 2017 and their first child was born in August 2020.
In 2011, he was listed on People magazine's "25 Beauties of 25" list and was listed by BuddyTV website as "TV's 100 Sexiest Men of 2011". Badgley's hobbies include; singing, playing the guitar and surfing. He is also very fond of football.