Penn Badgley has opened up about how he wanted his character in Netflix’s hit series YOU to be killed off.
In the drama, Badgley plays Joe, a seemingly normal American man who lives a double life as a stalker and serial killer.
Speaking to Vulture in a new interview, Badgley revealed he used to have a “go-to answer” for how he wished his predatory character’s arc would finish – a Black female character should kill him.
The article describes the idea as an “easy liberal revenge fantasy”.
However, Badgley added that such a scene would “not [be] fair to do that to that woman”.
“Punishment is important, but what form of punishment is actually effective?” he asked. “With Joe, the irony is that death is almost too easy for him.”
Badgley then speculated about a number of other punishments for his character, suggesting that he “deserves” torture but questioned whether someone deserved “to have to do it”.
“It’s a strange question to ask because I really don’t know,” said Badgley, “and this show isn’t going to answer that question.”
The actor has spoken previously about his unease about the character’s reception among some of the show’s fans.
Responding to tweets from fans asking for him to lock them in his “murder cage”, Badgley previously said: “You’re supposed to see past my face to the crazy s***!”
The teaser trailer for the third season of YOU was released earlier today. The season will debut on Netflix on 15 October.
