Penn Badgley recently opened up about filming his masturbation scenes in Netflix’s hit thriller series, ‘You,’ and he revealed why he was advised to make them “less creepy.”
“I have scenes where I have to fake masturbate. You don’t think it’s going to be that big of a deal. It serves the story. It is what it is. And then you discover in front of a crew of people with a camera on your face knowing that millions of people are gonna see this, you’re simulating masturbation,” he shared on his Podcrushed podcast.
The 36-year-old actor continued by admitting,
“I have to say those scenes are sometimes harder than with a person. The feelings that go through my mind.”
Badgley then went on and spilled the TEA on why he often had to film those scenes again.
“Every time I’ve done a masturbation scene, I’ve always gotten the note to make it less creepy. They say like, ‘Close your eyes or go faster or go slower,’” he revealed.
And to that piece of advice, the actor reacted:
“I’m like, ‘What? This man is fucking murdering people, and he’s masturbating in the street. You’re saying I’m making it creepy? How is it I’m the one making it creepy?’”
Furthermore, he shared one specific incident, recalling:
“I wouldn’t close my eyes and the director came up to me. He was like ‘Buddy, I think you gotta close your eyes.’”
And although Badgley reiterated that being creepy is “the fucking point” of the psychological thriller, he also noted:
“That’s just the strange line that we’re always walking on our show. Examining toxicity in sexual culture while also trying to be sexy.”
The first part of ‘You’ Season 4 is now available for streaming on Netflix. Meanwhile, Part 2 is scheduled to premiere on the streaming platform on March 9.
Sources: popbuzz.com, people.com