Even Penn Badgley Wasn't Immune To The Effects Of You's Gore-Filled Sets
One of the details that make Netflix's "You" such an intriguing series is the way it juxtaposes romance with brutality as it follows a serial killer named Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley). This bizarre balancing act typified Caroline Kepner's book series of the same name and is given a wickedly addictive dynamism by Badgley, creators, and writers Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble, as well as a large supporting cast that is manipulated by and eventually catches onto Joe's obsessions and crimes. Now in its fourth season, which finds the psychopath in Europe, the drama is truly starting to ramp up its camp factor.
Badgley's performance is receiving praise, with The Guardian's Ellen E. Jones observing, "When it works, it works because Badgley is charismatic and the show is brash enough to drop a decent number of plot twists into every episode." But even the actor that makes the show what it is sometimes has a rough time with some of the material. For the latest season, in particular, Badgley revealed that the gory sets had nauseating effects on him.
Season 4's gruseome parts made Badgley nauseous
In an interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Penn Badgley was asked by the host if he ever needed to take a time out from the gory special effects used in "You." The actor replied, "Yeah. I'm not precious about my process in any way, but there have been a few times where I've spontaneously become nauseous." Badgley specifically pointed out an example from the drama's fourth season and continued, "Just in this last season — when you don't finish a scene on time in the day, you have to go back and do ups, and so I was in the middle of something else."
The actor explained how he needed to redo some scenes from earlier parts of Season 4 on a day that was filled with normal dramatic scenes up until that point. Badgley then added, "And then I got to strap on this jumpsuit, and then I'm like, 'Oh. Right.'" He then shares how the crew proceeded to spray him down with fake blood where he is then escorted to a set decorated with more fake blood and a saw that has meat particles on it. After the crowd expresses their discomfort at the description, the former "Gossip Girl" star then shares what would occasionally make him sick to his stomach.
When you add in the gore along with playing a psychopath, Badgley describes wrestling with this combination as "So, I just let the nausea come through." Although not quite as gruesome as "Dexter," the violence in "You" can be extreme.