Penn Badgley Might Move Behind The Camera After Finale Season Of You
Penn Badgley has become one of the most familiar faces on television. Following his breakout role in the ultimate early-aughties teen soap "Gossip Girl," the actor has kept present on our screens as the star of "You," the pulpy Netflix thriller that has become a killer whodunnit. The series has marked a pivot towards more mature dramatic work in Badgley's career, but it's also inspired him to wade into more uncharted territory. In fact, his next venture might even be on a totally different side of the industry.
Longtime fans of "You" might be surprised to learn that Badgley has actually been working behind the scenes on the series as well. The actor has been credited as a producer for the entirety of seasons 3 and 4, working alongside showrunner Sera Gamble. Producing was a breath of fresh air for Badgley, who has been working as an actor for decades, and he plans to produce more of his own projects in the future. He recently founded his own production company called The Middle Productions, per GQ.
"Maybe because I've done this now for so long, directing and writing and producing are all far more interesting to me," he explained.
The "You" star wet his director's beak with the penultimate episode of season 4, "She's Not There." Joe's psyche unravels further than ever before as he realizes that his murderous past is not quite as far behind him as he thought. Hallucinations of his victims bleed into his reality as he is forced to confront his unreconciled dark side. "She's Not There" dips into dreamy surrealist imagery in a manner thus far totally unprecedented for the series, making it a standout moment and an exciting indication of Badgley's talents behind the camera.
The actor plans to adapt a David Sedaris story
Badgley has also established a production company called Ninth Mode Media with Nava Kavelin, the co-host of his podcast Podcrushed and writer-director of the award-winning mid-length documentary "Glimpses Into the Spirit of Gender Equality." The wheels of their first full-length project are already in motion — they recently acquired the rights to the short story "Jamboree" by the humorist David Sedaris, which was originally published in his critically acclaimed 1994 book "Barrel Fever."
"Jamboree" is told through the eyes of a young boy who admires his older sister Vicki's impossible ambition of becoming a pop star. Sadly, her dreams never come to fruition, and an adult Vicki is resigned to a mediocre and unfulfilled life. "This is a story about fixation and fantasy in the face of family trauma and generational cycles of poverty, and yet I found so much humor in it," Badgley told Variety. "The project of translating Sedaris's masterful wit and subversive social commentary into a feature film is very exciting."
The rights were acquired by Ninth Mode in collaboration with producer Raven Tazhib, who has thus far worked only in an assistant role in various departments. It was apparently Tazhib who initially approached Sedaris' team to purchase the rights to the story. "Sedaris is a literary icon, unparalleled in humor and tone," she explained. "And 'Jamboree' is such an elegantly twisted and compelling piece within his body of work — the characters and story, though timeless, are also completely singular. I'm so honored he's given us the option, making it possible to dig in and bring these characters to life for an even wider audience."
Badgley might want to get out of the spotlight
Badgley has been very candid about his trouble with fame, which may explain why he feels compelled to keep his face out of the frame for a while.
"I have been in this position now for 16 years," he explained to GQ. "['Gossip Girl'] was the first time I had my face on a Times Square billboard. And I have another one this season [...] Every relationship you have — every single one, down to your parents, your children, and everybody outside of that — it influences every single relationship in ways that are always unpredictable and a bit tricky."
The actor cites Zadie Smith's essay "Meet Justin Bieber!" as "the most brilliant analysis of the phenomenon of fame. She pontificates on her own fascination with mega-celebrities like Michael Jackson and Justin Bieber, how they become a love object and how people interface with that."
A passage from Smith's essay mirrors a near-daily experience for Badgley. "With a fixed smile on his face he listens as they say the magic words, over and over: 'I can't believe I'm meeting Justin Bieber!'" Smith writes. "As if he were not a person at all, but a mountain range they had just climbed."
If Badgley moves behind the camera, it might afford him a little more privacy in his day-to-day life. The kind of fame he has achieved between "Gossip Girl" and "You" never truly burns out, but it could fade away with time. Fans have wondered how long "You" would run after season 4 concluded, but Badgley got his wish that the series would end after season 5, (and we'll see if Joe "gets what's coming to him.") That leaves him wide open to make a dramatic career pivot.
He won't direct any more episodes of 'You'
Whether it's shying away from the camera or pure creative inspiration that's motivating Badgley's career pivot, he's definitely proved his directorial and producer chops on the set of "You." Still, the actor doubts that he will end up directing more episodes of the series.
"I don't know if I can direct more of this show because I'm not able to watch enough, just from a purely practical standpoint," he admitted to IndieWire. "There's not enough time for me to watch every take, so therefore I'm kind of directing with my eyes closed a little bit [...] I loved stepping behind the camera. But I think it's maybe being a bit much, being Joe and directing. I had no time at all. I had no time for life for about four weeks."
However, that doesn't mean that Badgley won't be putting the director's hat back on in the near future. "I'm definitely going to direct more," he revealed. "I would love to direct something else. Features, probably."
Perhaps Badgley's directorial debut will be the adaptation of "Jamboree," or maybe it will be something else entirely. He floated an idea on his podcast Podcrushed for "something that intersects with social issues, the story of a journalist, something like that," and teased a foray into writing in the future.
Whether it's journalism or "Jamboree," director Badgley's first film is sure to make waves. The star has proven his prowess on both sides of the camera in recent years. His fans might miss seeing him on their screens at home, but he could end up shooting his most successful project to date from the other end of the lens.