‘You’: Penn Badgley Reveals a Gruesome Detail About the Fake Bodies Used in the Show

Penn Badgley is certainly no Joe Goldberg. The star of You is probably his character’s biggest hater. He’s constantly calling out the serial killer for his problematic ways. But the actor does share one thing in common with Joe. And that is that he’s gotten nauseous a time or two while chopping up bodies. Of course, in Badgley’s case, said bodies are 100% fake. Still, one very gruesome detail about the fake bodies gives them a very life-like look and feel.

Penn Badgley got nauseous while filming ‘You’ Season 4

Fans of You likely know that the show is not for the faint of heart. And it would appear that filming it isn’t always a cakewalk either. In fact, while filming an episode of the penultimate season, Badgely actually dealt with some pretty intense nausea. While on Late Night with Seth Myers, the Gossip Girl alum recounted a time where he felt sick to his stomach.

“I’m not precious about my process in any way, but there have been a few times where I’ve spontaneously become nauseous,” he explained. “When you don’t finish a scene on time in the day, you have to go back and do pick-ups, and so I was in the middle of something else. I’m like, ‘Yeah, we’re gonna go do pick-ups for this scene from the second or first episode. Sure, yeah, yeah.’ And then I got to strap on this jumpsuit, and the I’m like, ‘Oh, right.’ And then they spray me down with blood, like, fully, fully. I have goggles on, and I’m just like, ‘Okay, alright,”’ Badgley said, shuddering. “And then I walked 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 a table, and a table saw with meat on it.”

Why do the fake bodies on ‘You’ look so realistic?

Considering how life-like the fake bodies are on You, it’s no wonder that Badgley felt a little ill. In fact, one specific detail makes them look especially believable. Interestingly enough, Badgley revealed the gruesome detail in a separate interview with Capital FM. “Fake bodies are really well made,” he explained. “They cost a lot of money, and they’re covered in real human hair.”

Badgley’s makeup artist once had to feed him thanks to fake blood

Of course, the fake bodies don’t always make Badgley feel nauseous. In fact, sometimes they trigger a feeling of hunger, especially if he’s been fasting. Fans of You will recall that in season 2, Joe chopped up the body of a man named Jasper at Anavrin. Because of the nature of the scene, Badgley’s hands were covered with fake blood. And because fake blood is mostly made up of sugar and he’d been fasting, the actor was feeling pretty hungry.

“It’s time to break fast,” Badgley shared with Capital FM. “[So] I said to my lovely, lovely, makeup person, Amy, ‘I’ve never asked anybody to do this before, but could you please feed me that date?’ And she laughed, and she was like, ‘Absolutely.’ And so she fed me a date.” Clearly, filming You triggers all sorts of responses in Badgley. We’re sure he’ll have a lot more experience before the show concludes with season 5.