Badgley initially made the comments on his 'Podcrushed' podcast last month.
Penn Badgley says his comments about requesting for his You character, Joe Goldberg, to have less sex scenes were "blown out of proportion."
Speaking with GQ, the former Gossip Girl star said he was taken aback by the reaction to comments he made on his Podcrushed podcast last month, in which he revealed that he asked Sera Gamble, the hit Netflix series' showrunner, if it would be possible for his character to "do no more intimacy scenes."
"I asked Sera Gamble, creator of the show, 'Can I just do no more intimacy scenes?' This is actually a decision I had made before I took the show... I don't think I've ever mentioned it publicly, but it’s... one of the main things is, like, 'Do I want to put myself back on a career path where I'm just always the romantic lead?'" he said on his podcast.
In that same podcast, Badgley added, "Fidelity in every relationship -- and especially in my marriage -- is important to me."
Some fans misconstrued those comments as saying even an actor taking part in simulated sex scenes could be considered a form of cheating. Badgley now says that the reaction to his comments were "blown out of proportion" and that he is "all too aware of how the internet takes things out of context."
"What I was speaking about wasn't actually the final product," he tells GQ. "It was sort of like the culture inherent to the production of all movies, but particularly those scenes. It's like, look, we know that Hollywood has had a history of flagrant exploitation and abuse."
If he had his druthers, Badgley says he would have made the no-sex scenes request a long time ago, if he felt he had the power to make such a request.
"I was nervous to even have that conversation. It was not easy. It was easy because of Sera's response, and I felt relieved. But technically speaking, if I thought I'd had the ability to set that boundary earlier, I would have," he says.
That he's now created a label for himself as an actor who may not be down with sex scenes, Badgley says only time will tell if such a request will impact his career.
"We shall see if setting that boundary, of course, has any ramifications," he says. "Just simply, it does limit the number of projects you can be a part of."
For what it's worth, Badgley's request to cut down the sex scenes didn't impact his character.
"It didn't change the trajectory of the season at all," he says. "I mean, Joe was naturally ready to not be in that position anymore."
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