After five seasons, more deaths than we can count, and several moves around the globe, Netflix's YOU has finally come to an end. And one person who seems pretty ok about the show finishing is Joe Goldberg himself aka Penn Badgley.
The 38-year-old actor, who has been playing the monstrous serial killer since 2018, has, over the years expressed his dislike and distaste for the character of Joe. Pretty understandable since he does routinely lock women in glass cages and kills on the regular.
And after seven years of playing the same character, Penn has had shared a lot of thoughts about Joe. So what's he said? Well here is every time Penn has thrown shade at Joe Goldberg.
Every time Penn Badgley has slammed Joe Goldberg
He said he doesn't 'enjoy' playing Joe - December 2019
Ahead of the release of the second season of YOU back in December 2019 Penn spoke to the media in a press conference about his experience of playing the killer and said he doesn't "enjoy" playing him.
"There's a lot I don't enjoy about him. To be honest, I don't enjoy nearly everything about him," he revealed. "However, it ends up being a deep, deep psychological exploration for me. And it seems to bear fruit. There's a lot about him that I struggle with and yet I'm always trying to humanise him as much as possible."
Penn said he doesn't think Joe wants a happy ending - January 2020
Following the release of season two, Penn spoke with EW about the season's ending and expressed his desire for fans not to feel sympathy for Joe and his psychotic ways.
"Joe is not actually looking for true love. He’s not actually a person who just needs somebody who loves him," he told the publication. "He’s a murderer! He’s a sociopath. He’s abusive. He’s delusional. And he’s self-obsessed. You can’t fool yourself into thinking that he just needs somebody who’s right for him. Nobody’s right for him!"
He slammed fans' thirsty response to Joe - January 2020
A recurring thread throughout all the promotion for every season has been Penn suggesting fans should *not* be thirsting over the serial killer, something that then happens within season five.
While appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2020, he said: "I struggled greatly with the conflict of playing such a guy and him being partly so likeable and having such a, as we say, thirsty response to him."
And back in 2019 he also responded to a number of fan tweets who were lusting over the character.
He retweeted on fan's post who said: "the amount of people romanticising @pennbadgley's character in YOU scares me," and replied saying: "Ditto. It will be all the motivation I need for season 2."
Penn called Joe's approach to fatherhood 'morbid' - October 2021
The third season of YOU saw Joe and Love Quinn bring baby Henry into the world. At the same time in real life Penn welcomed his first child with partner Domino Kirke.
Having a child of his own made it even harder for Penn to relate to Joe, explaining how "morbid" he found Joe's experience of fatherhood in the series.
"He's so scared, and of course I can identify with the fear, but he's just so morbid in his obsessive, sort of like self-preservation, primal instinct that sometimes I almost found it harder as a result," he told Access Hollywood.
He thinks Joe won't change - February 2023
After four seasons there was some debate about whether redemption could ever be possible for Joe or if he could turn things around. For Penn Badgley this is a resounding no.
Speaking about Joe's character arc around the release of season four in 2023, Penn told E News!: "I'll go ahead and say Joe can't change, won't change."
Penn said he was 'glad' the show is ending - April 2025
The fifth and final season of YOU has just been released and as part of his press tour for the show Penn has expressed his thoughts about the show ending and why he's glad it's over.
Speaking to The Guardian, Penn said he often wonders if Joe has become "too likeable" and added: "I’ve always wanted to make him less likeable at every turn that is possible and plausible, and in this moment, I actually don’t know what to say about that.”
He went onto add he was glad the show is coming to an end because the question of "how do we reward bad people?" felt more "playful" a decade a go, but now it feels heavier and so he feels it's the right time for the show to end.
The fifth and final season of YOU is available on Netflix now
