Penn Badgley

Penn Badgley is an American actor and musician born in Baltimore, Maryland. Most recognized for his roles as Dan Humphrey in Gossip Girl and Joe Goldberg in You, Badgley regularly features on both the big and small screens.

In his childhood, Badgley was involved in the Seattle Children's Theater and did voice-overs for a children's radio station. This passion brought him one summer to Hollywood, where he landed an agent and his first big break guest-starring on Will & Grace (1998). After relocating with his mother to Los Angeles, Badgley secured several recurring roles on The Young and the Restless (1973), The Brothers Garcia (2000), and Daddio (2000).

Later, Badgley went on to star as Michael Harding in the 2009 remake of the classic thriller The Stepfather. In 2010 he played opposite Emma Stone in the hit comedy Easy A. Badgley also played the role of Seth Bregman in the 2011 critically acclaimed financial thriller, Margin Call, and starred as singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley in 2012’s Greetings From Tim Buckley.

In the mega-hit CW television show Gossip Girl, Badgley portrayed Dan Humphrey, the love interest of Upper East Side “it” girl, Serena van Der Woodsen, played by Blake Lively. The show, which ran for six seasons, from 2007 to 2012, is known for its immense influence on contemporary youth culture and the vast following of young people it gained during its run.

Badgley’s recent project include 2014’s Cymbeline, in which he interpreted the role of Posthumus opposite Ethan Hawke, Ed Harris, and Dakota Johnson; 2015’s The Slap starring Uma Thurman, and 2018's series You in which he plays the leading role. He is the lead singer of the Brooklyn-based band MOTHXR.