Actor Penn Badgley Explains Why He Swore Off Explicit Sex Scenes: ‘That Aspect of Hollywood Has Been Very Disturbing’

Actor Penn Badgley has elaborated on why he has sworn off explicit sex scenes in his hit Netflix series You, saying “that aspect of Hollywood has been very disturbing.” He also talked about being cast at the age of 12 in the sexually explicit gay comedy The Fluffer (2001).

“Should a 12-year-old be…? Let’s go ahead and just say no,” he said in the most recent Variety cover story.

In the interview, Badgley spoke about his discomfort with sex scenes, “having done a fair amount of them in my career.”

“It’s not a place where I’ve blurred lines,” he said. “There’s almost nothing I could say with more consecration. That aspect of Hollywood has always been very disturbing to me — and that aspect of the job, that mercurial boundary — has always been something that I actually don’t want to play with at all.”

Penn Badgley on sex scenes: “It’s not a place where I’ve blurred lines. There’s almost nothing I could say with more consecration. That aspect of Hollywood has always been very disturbing to me." https://t.co/eXgvDsrCgU

— Variety (@Variety) February 14, 2023

He said he’s now older than his romantic interests on the show. “Didn’t used to be the case,” he said.

Badgley said he wishes he didn’t have to do any sex scenes. “It’s important to me in my real life to not have them.”

When asked to clarify, he added: “My fidelity in my relationship. It’s important to me. And actually, it was one of the reasons that I initially wanted to turn the role down. I didn’t tell anybody that. But that is why.”

As Breitbart News reported, Badgley recently revealed in his podcast that he asked You producers for “zero” sex scenes in Season 4 of You, out of respect for his marriage. “Fidelity in every relationship, and especially in a marriage, is important to me,” he said.

Badgley added that to his pleasant surprise, the show creator “didn’t even bat an eye” over his request.

“She was really glad that I was that honest. She had a really positive response,” he said. “They came back with a phenomenal reduction.”

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