Penn Badgley has just discussed why he thinks You fans found his creepy stalker character Joe Goldberg so attractive.
The Gossip Girl alum previously called out fans for romanticising his murderous character who stalks and kills women in the Netflix series based on the book of the same name by Caroline Kepnes.
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And now the actor has given his own thoughts on why a huge proportion of You's fan base are seriously thirsty for the bookstore manager.
"It's interesting the way people are talking about it because I don't find it addictive, because I have to be him," Penn said on The Today Show.
Penn puts it down to viewers having conflicted feelings to Joe throughout the series.
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He explained: "The whole point is he's meant to garner a conflicted reaction. I don't see him as a portrayal of a real person, I see him as a representation of the part of us that identifies with him.
"The part of us that is a troll; that part of us that is victim blaming; the part of us that is privileged and blind. We're meant to identify with him."
Interestingly, a number of viewers pointed the finger at social media for Joe's actions rather than the man himself. Some fans blamed the internet as it made it so easy for Joe to treat Beck like he did, although Penn thinks the character isn't as clever as he might first appear.
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"The whole point is that Joe is actually not a mastermind," he said. "He's actually, in some ways, extremely average.
"It's this really interesting thing where you're seeing the trajectory of a soul, of a man and he's just completely obsessive and compulsive and believing that he's operating by the logic of a true romantic."
Penn also explained that he was hesitant to take the role on in the first place until his wife, singer Domino Kirke, gave him a nudge.
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"She wanted me to take it,'' he said. "I was like, 'I don't know if I can play this guy.' She really wanted me to take it."
And we're glad she did.
Featured Image Credit: NetflixTopics: Penn Badgley, You, TV Entertainment, Netflix