Why Penn Badgley found dating co-star Blake Lively a 'struggle'
What's the story
Before Penn Badgley became synonymous with You's Joe Goldberg, he was Dan Humphrey from Gossip Girl.
And starring for so long on the hit teen drama series complicated things for Badgley, including dating.
On Alex Cooper's Call Her Daddy podcast, the 38-year-old spoke about how his romance with co-star Blake Lively, who played Serena van der Woodsen, blurred the lines between their real-life relationship and their characters.
The duo dated from 2007-2010.
Work-life balance
Badgley discussed the challenge of constant work in TV shows
Badgley went on to explain why working on TV shows has a greater impact on actors.
He said, "There are many differences between film and television. One of them is that when you do a film, you do it once."
"And you kind of give it your all and then you move on — whether you want to or not." In TV shows, "you're doing it constantly," which can confuse the lines between personal and professional lives.
Fame's influence
Badgley discussed the impact of fame on personal identity
He noted that when actors are stuck in a role for too long, they may find it difficult to separate who they are from who they play.
"You're seen as this person, you're called their name out on the street. You also constantly have to be that person at work," he said.
This is why it was a "struggle" dating Lively (37).
Aftermath
Badgley and Lively kept things cordial at work after breakup
Badgley admitted that while shooting for Gossip Girl, he didn't have the emotional maturity to separate himself from his character in terms of self-worth. He was in his 20s at the time.
"What people seemed to think of Dan seemed to be what people thought of me," he said.
Even though their off-screen relationship didn't last, Badgley and Lively kept things cordial at work.
Moving on
Badgley and Lively are in happy relationships now
After their breakup, both Badgley and Lively moved on. Two years after their split, the latter married actor Ryan Reynolds, and the two now have four kids together.
Meanwhile, Badgley married singer Domino Kirke in 2017 and welcomed their son James in 2020. Kirke is currently pregnant with twins.
The fifth and concluding season of Badgley's You hit Netflix on Thursday.