Penn Badgley

Penn Dayton Badgley (born November 1, 1986) is an American actor.

Badgley was born on November 1, 1986, in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Duff and Lynne Murphy Badgley.

He recalls having "wanted to make music... as a 12-year-old", and recorded an unreleased pop single in 1998, referring in an interview to the effort as "terrible" and "misguided".

Badgley and his mother moved to California so that he could pursue an acting career, and he recalls, in an interview, departing for Los Angeles at age 11.

He soon began doing voiceovers for children's radio stations in Hollywood.

His first credit was voice work for the video games Mario Golf 64 and Mario Tennis 64 in 1999 and 2000.

Badgley had his first screen acting credit on an episode of Will & Grace and he subsequently appeared on shows such as Daddio, The Brothers García, and What I Like About You.

Badgley first came to prominence for portraying Phillip Chancellor IV on the soap opera The Young and the Restless (2000–2001), which earned him a Young Artist Award nomination, and he followed this with roles in the comedy films John Tucker Must Die (2006) and Drive-Thru (2007).

Badgley's first noticeable role was as Phillip Chancellor IV on the soap opera The Young and the Restless, which he portrayed from 2000 to 2001.

He was nominated for the Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Daytime Series in 2001 for his performance, which brought him recognition.

In 2002, Badgley starred in The WB's comedy-drama series Do Over as Joel Larsen, a 34-year-old man who gets a second chance to get his life right, thanks to a freakish accident that catapults him back to 1980 as a 14-year-old.

He went on to star in two other WB series: The Mountain from 2004 to 2005, and The Bedford Diaries in 2006.

Badgley's first major film credit was 2006's John Tucker Must Die, playing the role of Scott Tucker.

In its opening weekend, the film grossed a total of $14.3 million, ranking third in the US box office results for that weekend.

He later appeared in Drive-Thru, co-starring future castmate Leighton Meester.

He is primarily known for his roles as Dan Humphrey in The CW teen drama series Gossip Girl (2007–2012) and Joe Goldberg in the Netflix thriller series You (2018–present).

For Gossip Girl, he received six Teen Choice Award nominations, and for You, he earned MTV Movie & TV Award and Saturn Award nominations.

In 2007, Badgley was cast in The CW's teen drama series Gossip Girl as Dan Humphrey, based on the book series of the same name by Cecily von Ziegesar.

He initially turned down the role, but accepted after the producers struggled finding someone to fill the role.

His performance as Dan Humphrey was praised by audiences and critics alike, and earned him six Teen Choice Award nominations over the show's run.

Jason Gay of the Rolling Stone particularly complimented his characterization, writing that "while another actor may have played Dan as a blah straight man, Badgley imbued him with an occasionally obnoxious know-it-all-ness."

His father had worked as a newspaper reporter and then as a carpenter and home builder, and was the Green Party candidate for governor of Washington in 2008.

An only child, Badgley attended Woolridge Elementary (where his mother served as a PTA president), before he transferred to St. Christopher's School in Richmond, Virginia.

He attended Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma, Washington.

As a child, Badgley was involved with the Seattle Children's Theatre and the Pine Nut Players community theater in Monroe, Washington.

His mother supported his acting efforts, and worked various jobs (later, beginning a business in jewelry design with Badgley's godmother, Jan Sneed).

He stated that he "skipped high school altogether" and at age 14, he took a proficiency exam and began attending Santa Monica College.

He was later accepted to the University of Southern California, but deferred admission due to contractual obligations, later enrolling for two years at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.

Badgley is said to have been home schooled alongside Blake Lively, his future co-star and partner.

His parents divorced when he was 12.

Badgley went on to appear in a number of films, such as the thriller The Stepfather (2009), the teen comedy-drama Easy A (2010), the financial thriller Margin Call (2011), the biographical film Greetings from Tim Buckley (2012) and the independent drama The Paper Store (2016).

For Margin Call, he won an Independent Spirit Award.

In 2009, Badgley starred in the thriller film The Stepfather, a remake of the 1987 film, as the stepson of a serial killer.

Badgley next played Todd, the love interest of Emma Stone's character, in the 2010 teen comedy film Easy A, which was a critical and commercial success, earning him a Teen Choice Award nomination.

He next appeared in the financial thriller drama Margin Call in 2011, for which the ensemble cast was critically acclaimed; he won the Robert Altman Award for his performance, which is presented at the Independent Spirit Awards.

Badgley portrayed Jeff Buckley in the 2012 biopic Greetings from Tim Buckley; the film follows the journey Buckley took in grappling with the legacy of his late musician father, Tim, leading up to and culminating with his 1991 performance of his father's songs.

For the role, Badgley took guitar and vocal lessons.

He joined the cast of Parts per Billion in December 2012, opposite Alexis Bledel and Teresa Palmer; the film was released in 2014.

Also released in 2014 was Cymbeline, where he portrayed the orphan Posthumus.

Badgley and others formed a band and released a song titled "Easy" on SoundCloud under the name M O T H E R; the song quickly gained popularity and was posted on numerous blogs.