Penn Badgley struggles with his role as Joe.
If you've seen Penn Badgley in You on Netflix, you may understand why he dislikes the role he played so much. Penn strongly advises against the widespread fangirl crushes on Joe. The actor describes him as a man who is “capable of stalking,” “capable of murder,” and “capable of a lot of manipulation and abuse.” Badgley had to put himself in a head space where he believed every line he was speaking as Joe, who is obviously extremely different from himself. He said, “Believing what he's saying is absolutely sad, and that's what gets me emotional. That's incredibly sad, horrible, and backward.
Blake Lively thought Gossip Girl was sending the wrong ideas.
Blake Lively has admitted that the teen drama Gossip Girl, in which she starred, is responsible for her rise to fame. The show follows a group of wealthy Upper East Siders as they are hounded by an anonymous blogger. Although she enjoyed playing Serena, she said that at times it felt “personally compromising” to play such a problematic figure. When her character provided someone illegal narcotics, resulting in an overdose, or when she slept with her best friend's partner, she felt that wasn't sending the best messages. Some of the boundaries start to dissolve… When everyone on the show is seeing the same person, that doesn't help.