Penn Badgley

Penn Badgley was born on November 1, 1986, in Baltimore, Maryland, to Lynne Murphy Badgley and Duff Badgley, a newspaper reporter and carpenter. He spent his early years moving between Richmond, Virginia, and Seattle, Washington, where he engaged with the Seattle Children’s Theater and performed voice-overs for a children’s radio station. These early experiences cultivated his interest in acting. At age 11, he relocated to Los Angeles with his mother to pursue an acting career. He completed his California High School Proficiency Exam at 14 and attended Santa Monica City College. Badgley was later accepted to the University of Southern California and enrolled for two years at Lewis & Clark College.

Badgley’s career began with voice work for video games like “Mario Golf 64” (1999) and “Mario Tennis 64” (2000), followed by an appearance on “Will & Grace.” He gained notable recognition playing Phillip Chancellor IV on “The Young and the Restless” from 2000 to 2001, earning a Young Artist Award nomination in 2001. After several recurring roles on shows like “Daddio” and “The Brothers García,” he landed major parts in The WB’s “Do Over” (2002), “The Mountain” (2004–2005), and “The Bedford Diaries” (2006). His film debut came in 2006 with “John Tucker Must Die” and he later co-starred in “Drive-Thru” (2007) and the thriller “The Stepfather” (2009).

A significant turning point in Badgley’s career was his casting as Dan Humphrey in The CW’s “Gossip Girl” (2007–2012), a role he initially declined but eventually accepted. This performance earned him six Teen Choice Award nominations and established him as a prominent figure in the industry. He continued to build his filmography with roles in “Easy A” (2010), for which he received a Teen Choice Award nomination, and the critically acclaimed “Margin Call” (2011), where the ensemble cast won the Robert Altman Award. Badgley also portrayed Jeff Buckley in the 2012 biopic “Greetings from Tim Buckley” and starred in the independent film “The Paper Store” (2016), winning Best Actor at the Oxford International Film Festival. More recently, he has gained widespread acclaim for his starring role as Joe Goldberg in the Netflix psychological thriller series “You” (2018–2025), a performance for which he received a Saturn Award nomination. In addition to acting, Badgley is a musician, forming the band MOTHXR, and an active advocate for social justice issues.