Hello you, Penn Badgley is breaking down an intimate form of art.
Indeed, the You actor detailed his experience filming sex scenes for the Netflix series in his upcoming book Crushmore: Essays on Love, Loss, and Coming-of-Age—including a moment where he had to get very close to the camera.
“We’re shooting a fantasy sequence,” Penn, 38, explained in an excerpt from the book, which was published by Vulture on Sept. 25, “and as a stylistic choice, one that makes a lot of sense, the director has chosen to place the camera directly in front of my face.”
In this scene from the show’s third season, his character Joe Goldberg is “meant to be humpin’ on his wife” Love (played by Victoria Pedretti), but he’s actually imagining “having sex with a librarian” named Marienne (Tati Gabrielle) that “he’s been flirting with.”
However, in order for the scene to work, Penn had to “simulate sex by myself.” After all, the show’s director Silver Tree revealed there wasn’t enough room for him and Victoria to fit within the tight shot.