Penn Dayton Badgley (born November 1, 1986) is an American actor and musician. He has received wide media attention, including for his roles as Dan Humphrey in The CW teen drama series Gossip Girl (2007–2012), and as Joe Goldberg in the Netflix thriller series You (2018–present).
Badgley has appeared in a number of films, including John Tucker Must Die (2006), The Stepfather (2009), Easy A (2010), Margin Call (2011), and Greetings from Tim Buckley (2012). He is also the lead singer for Brooklyn-based indie band MOTHXR, whose studio album, Centerfold, was released in 2016.
Badgley was born Penn Dayton Badgley on born November 1, 1986, in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Duff and Lynne Murphy Badgley. His father had worked as a newspaper reporter and then as a carpenter and home builder, and was the Green Party candidate for governor of Washington in 2008. An only child, Badgley split his childhood years between Woodlake, Virginia, and Seattle, Washington. He attended Woolridge Elementary (where his mother served as a PTA president), before he transferred to St. Christopher's School. He attended Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma, Washington, and was involved with the Seattle Children's Theatre. He soon began doing voiceovers for children's radio stations. His mother supported his acting efforts, and worked various jobs (later, beginning a business in jewelry design with Badgley's godmother, Jan Sneed).