Skip to main content

Penn Badgley has been wowing audiences as Joe Goldberg in Netflix’s You since 2018. The show contains very graphic scenes that even Joe himself cannot seem to stand as he always gets ill when chopping up his victims and he is not alone. Badgley recently revealed one gruesome moment that made him sick on the set of You Season 4.

Part 1 of ‘You’ Season 4 arrived on February 9

The first part of the fourth season of You hit Netflix in February and this time, Joe has taken his stalking habit international. The last time viewers caught up with him, he was chasing Marienne, the librarian, who had escaped Love’s blade by a whisker. Joe’s search for Marianne led him to London but Joe let her go after seeing her fear.

This time the show has Joe obsessed over someone but it isn’t a love interest. Season 4 of You finds Joe, who now goes by Professor Jonathan Moore, trying to solve several murders while attempting to conceal his identity and preventing the killer from claiming their next victim.

Penn Badgley became physically ill on the set of ‘You’ Season 4

You Season 4 has its fair share of gore, from slit throats to chopped-up body pieces. While the graphic elements are true to the thriller and have been in other seasons, one particular scene had Badgley feeling unwell.

In a recent interview with Seth Meyers, Badgley revealed that redoing a scene with intense gore was too much for him to take. When asked if there are instances he has to take a minute, Badgley said, “There have been a few times where I’ve spontaneously become nauseous, like just in this last season.” The actor said he usually films scenes more than once if he doesn’t finish the scene on time and the unfortunate pick-up scene involved being hosed down with blood.

“I [strapped] on this jumpsuit and then they sprayed me down with blood fully. I have goggles on and then I walk into this room they’ve created to make it look like the place we were in and it’s full of smoke and dark fake blood all over the table and a table saw with meat on it,” the actor said recalling the scene. “I let the nausea come through” he added.

‘You’ Season 4 has received critical acclaim

A black and white image of Penn Badgley
Actor Penn Badgley backstage before an appearance on “Late Night With Seth Myers” I Lloyd Bishop/NBC via Getty Images

Season 4 of You is not done yet but it’s already receiving great reviews from critics. The first half of the season has a 90% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes with Badgley once again earning praise for his performance as Joe.

The critics’ consensus reads, “The hunter becomes prey in You‘s London-set fourth season which shows some wear as this premise begins to outlive its believability, but Penn Badgley’s sardonic performance continues to paper over most lapses in logic.”