Penn Badgley: ‘You’ director said my masturbation scenes were too ‘creepy’ for TV

nypost.com:

“Podcrushed” podcast that every time he shot a self-pleasure scene, directors called him out for being too “creepy.”“Every time I’ve done a masturbation scene … I’ve always gotten the note to make it less creepy,” the “Gossip Girl” alum divulged to co-hosts Sophie Ansari and Nava Kavelin as well as his former CW co-star Chace Crawford, who was a guest on the episode.“They say like, ‘Close your eyes or go faster or go slower.’ I’m like, ‘What?

This man is f–king murdering people, and he’s masturbating in the street,'” Badgley said. “‘You’re saying I’m making it creepy?

How is it I’m the one making it creepy?’”Badgley said the director pointed out that having his eyes open was part of the problem.“I just remember I wouldn’t close my eyes and the director came up to me,” he explained. “He was like, ‘Buddy, I think you gotta close your eyes.’”However, Badgley noted that being chilling is “the f–king point” of his character, Joe Goldberg, a serial killer.“That’s just the strange line that we’re always walking on our show.

Examining toxicity in sexual culture while also trying to be sexy,” he said. “You read it. It’s actually kind of funny or it’s creepy, but it serves the story.”“And then you discover in front of a crew of people with a camera on your face, knowing that, in all likelihood, millions of people are going to see this, you’re simulating masturbation,” he added.The Netflix thriller ended its third season last year and has been shooting its fourth installment in London.Season 3 co-star Tati Gabrielle opened up to Page Six last October about what it was like to film intimate scenes with Badgley.The 26-year-old — who plays Marienne Bellamy — admitted she “freaked out” while filming her first sex scene.“I was so.