For years, Penn Badgley didn't enjoy being on Gossip Girl. Being with Blake Lively 'saved him'.

Penn Badgley needs no introduction.

From starring on Gossip Girl to currently appearing in Netflix’s You, the man has made himself a household name from Gen X to Gen Z.

But having been in the industry since he was 20, means things haven't always been smooth sailing.

Refresh your memory with the trailer for CW's Gossip Girl here. Post continues below. 

In 2007, Badgley was cast on the teen drama TV series Gossip Girl as Dan Humphrey. He became famous seemingly overnight.

"It was a little bit night and day," Badgley told Variety in a recent interview. 

"I think the date was September 19, 2007."

Not only was Badgley playing a lead role in one of the biggest shows on television, but he was also dating his co-star Blake Lively.

The actor was unprepared for how interested fans would be in their relationship both on and off-screen.

"Beyond our relationship, I don’t think anybody was going to be interested in me publicly," he told the publication.

How wrong he was.

Badgley recalls that time of his life "fun and fast-paced" with a "dark undercurrent that would bottom out in my later 20s". 

He told Variety that although never suicidal, he was certainly in a despair.

While young stars turning to substance abuse is nothing new nor surprising, Badgley didn't. It's something he attributes to Lively and their relationship.

"Blake didn’t drink, and I think our relationship in some ways saved me from forcing myself to go down that road," he said.

Instead, the actor found comfort in spirituality - he travelled, learned about the Baháʼí Faith, and meditated. He also developed an interest in social justice and political causes. 

When Badgley was 11, he persuaded his mother to move from Seattle to Los Angeles to pursue acting.

He took his high school GED when he was only 13 years old to allow him to focus on his craft and book roles. 

His first film was in the 2001 cult film, The Fluffer, followed by an appearance on Will & Grace and a role in John Tucker Must Die.

Then came Gossip Girl.

During the six seasons, Badgley worked on other projects here and there, most notably Easy A alongside Emma Stone. But his passions were elsewhere.

Image: Sony Pictures.

In 2014, two years after Gossip Girl wrapped, the actor took a step back from acting to pursue music as the lead singer of indie pop band MOTHXR.

The band got signed in 2015 and released their debut album Centrefold in 2016. 

Music continued to be a large part of Badgley’s life.

Image: Getty.

Badgley is notoriously private, and has only ever publicly been in two high-profile relationships.

The cast and crew on Gossip Girl didn't even know he and Lively had ended their relationship during filming for the show.

"The shocking thing was, I found out on the set of the Season 2 finale that Blake and Penn had broken up months before," the show's executive producer, Joshua Safran, told Vanity Fair.

"They kept the breakup hidden from the crew, which you could never do now. I don’t even know how they did it." 

"They kept it from everybody which is a testament to how good they are as actors. Because they did not want their personal drama to relate to the show," Safran added.

Image: Getty.

After Lively, Badgley dated Zoë Kravitz from 2011 to 2013.

The pair lived together in an apartment in New York, and reportedly, ended things amicably. 

"It wasn't a sad breakup. It is all good between them," a source told US Weekly source. 

"They are at two different stages in their careers. They just didn't have time for each other."

But good things were just around the corner. Badgley met his now-wife, Domino Kirke, in a meatball shop a year later.

She told the story of how they met on the actor's podcast, Podcrushed.

"Penn and I met at a meatball shop… I had never seen Gossip Girl, so I had no context for Penn," she said.

The actor was couch surfing at the time and Kirke offered him the spare room in her apartment. 

"I got his number because I was really interested in him living with me, and I thought he was cute," she said.

"And it would have been nice to have a little winter, you know, fling with my roommate."

The pair got married in 2017, and Badgley took on the role as stepdad to her son Cassius. 

The couple welcomed a child in 2020 after struggling with miscarriages.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Fox Fodder Farm (@foxfodderfarm)

Now the actor is appearing in the fourth season of Netflix's You - a role he initially turned down.

Badgley was concerned about how sexual the role was, having previously been uncomfortable with that aspect of his job.

He also noted that fidelity is important to him - another reason he wasn't sure whether to take on his character.

But after finding out Joe Goldberg wasn't one of the good guys, he felt more comfortable in playing him.

"Everyone was like, 'I want Joe Goldberg to murder me,'" You executive producer, Sarah Schechter told Variety about fans' initial reaction to Badgley's character. 

"And Penn was like, 'Ladies, no! Do not. Do not be attracted to this man.'"

Badgley has even taken to TikTok to spread this message.

In his first video on the platform, the actor lip-synced Taylor Swift's song 'Anti-Hero' in character. 

"It’s me, Hi! I’m the problem, it’s me!"

@iampennbadgley #antihero ♬ Anti-Hero - Taylor Swift

These days, Badgley has started his own production company, Ninth Mode Media, which homes his podcast Podcrushed with co-hosts Nava Kavelin and Sophie Ansari. 

The trio have interviewed Lisa Kudrow, Conan O’Brien and You co-stars Jenna Ortega and Victoria Pedretti. 

The actor has plans to expand the company beyond podcasting as well.

And after that?

Badgley recently secured the rights and funding to direct his first feature film, an adaption of comedian David Sedaris’ short story Jamboree. 

"I think he has more than proven that he’s someone people really, really want to watch," You showrunner Sera Gamble said.

"But, you know, Penn gets to do whatever he wants."

Feature Image: Warner Bros.