Penn Badgley Cuts a Stylish Figure on Set, Reveals How Blake Lively Romance ‘Saved Him’

Penn Badgley looked as dapper as ever as he posed for a stunning Variety shoot to promote the fourth season of his serial killer drama, You.

The 36-year-old actor, who plays assassin ex-bookstore manager Joe Goldberg on Netflix sensation, cut a daring figure as he posed in tailored suits, before making rare comments about his previous relationship with his Gossip Girl co-star, Blake Lively, 35 years old.

Penn dated Blake from 2007 to 2010, after meeting on the set of the hit show where Penn played Dan Humphrey and Blake played Serena van der Woodsen.

Penn, who is now married to Domino Kirke, 39, and the father of their two-year-old son James, credited Blake’s teetotal lifestyle with “saving” him from forcing himself to experiment with drugs and the alcohol.

Speaking about how he felt a ‘dark undercurrent that would hit rock bottom in my late 20s’ as he dealt with his newfound fame, he said: ‘To be honest, I never really struggled with the substance. Blake didn’t drink, and I think our relationship somehow saved me from forcing myself down that path.

Reflecting on the intense interest surrounding the show and her romance with Blake, she added: “Beyond our relationship, I don’t think anyone is publicly interested in me.”

Blake is now married to Ryan Reynolds, and the couple recently welcomed their fourth child together,

The star, who previously revealed that he requested fewer sex scenes on the show “because fidelity in his marriage is important,” also revealed that he had never felt comfortable doing intimate scenes and was pushed by Domino to take the role of You.

He said: ‘It’s not a place where I have blurred the lines. There is almost nothing I can say with more consecration. That aspect of Hollywood has always been very disturbing to me, and that aspect of the job, that fickle edge, has always been something I really don’t want to play with at all.

‘It’s important to me in my real life not to have them. My fidelity in my relationship is important to me. And in fact, it was one of the reasons she initially wanted to turn down the role. I didn’t tell anyone that. But that’s why.

In season four of You, Badgley’s character Joe Goldberg gets a taste of his own medicine from a vengeful serial killer while trying to keep a low profile under a new identity.

After killing ten people in the last three seasons of You, Goldberg is unable to escape his past once he catches the eye of a killer, dubbed “Eat the Rich Killer.”

Following his move to London and his new life as Professor Jonathan Moore, Joe wrestles with a new angst, which he ominously calls the “catalyst for a new path.”

The previous season ended with Joe killing Love, the mother of his child, before traveling to Europe in search of Marienne.