Penn Badgley dated his Gossip Girl costar Blake Lively from 2007 to 2010.
In a recent interview with Variety, the You actor opened up about his time on the set of the blockbuster American teen drama Gossip Girl in which he played the role of the famous Dan Humphrey.
GG was the reason, Penn rose to prominence in the early 2000s – he played one of the lead roles opposite Blake Lively who played the iconic role of Serena Van Der Woodsen in the drama.
The “glossy CW soap opera” premiered on September 19, 2007. Penn and Blake dated each other during the first three years while filming the show.
Recalling his time on the show, Badgley said there are two ways he sees that now – ‘Fun and fast-paced’ on the one hand, but underneath was a ‘dark undercurrent.’
“I ask whether any of the darkness was substance abuse-related, and he waves me off. “To be honest, I never struggled with substance,” he told Variety.
“Blake didn’t drink, and I think our relationship in some ways saved me from forcing myself to go down that road.”
The 36-year-old Easy A star added that instead of drinking and doing drugs, he found solace in traveling, exploring Buddhism, and even throwing himself into political causes like Occupy Wall Street.
“Like anybody who experiences some degree of fame and wealth, I was presented with the universal truth that not only does it not make your life better or easier, it actually can greatly complicate things, and make you quite unhappy,” he said.
After dating each other for three years, the couple called it quits in 2010. However, they kept their breakup a secret and even hid it from their GG costars and production team.
“I found out on the set of the season 2 finale that Blake and Penn had broken up months before,” the show’s executive producer, Joshua Safran, told Vanity Fair in 2017.
“They kept the breakup hidden from the crew, which you could never do now. I don’t even know how they did it. They kept it from everybody which is a testament to how good they are as actors. Because they did not want their personal drama to relate to the show.”
According to Us Weekly, even after their breakup both Penn and Blake kept things pleasant and professional between them and even hung out on the set.
“They’re professionals. They’re still good friends and hang out on the set,” an insider revealed at that time.
In 2013 Badgley sat in an interview with Elle and said their relationship was a learning experience for both him and Lively.
“We were very much caught up in the show, which itself was a six-year endurance test. Our relationship was a part of that and helped us through it. I mean, like anything valuable, it was good and it was bad and it was a learning experience.”
In 2015 he appeared on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live” and said he shared his best and worst kiss with Blake during the shooting of GG.
“I’ll say Blake because we actually had a relationship at the time,” he said while answering whom he had the best on-screen with on the show. “And worst? Maybe Blake after we broke up.”
“I think we should both pat ourselves on the back for getting through it, because anything is complicated in that way, and we handled it,” he added.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Sources: Variety – Vanity Fair – Us Weekly – Elle
