Penn Badgley Initially Turned Down ‘Gossip Girl’ Because He Was ‘Tired of Television’ | Video

Penn Badgley said he initially turned down his breakout role of Dan on “Gossip Girl,” he was “tired of television” after eight years of working as a child actor.

As the actor told Alex Cooper on the Call Her Daddy podcast, “I was tired of television by the time ‘Gossip Girl’ came around… I initially turned the role down and I didn’t just kind of turn it down, I said, ‘So grateful you thought of me, wish you well, but no thanks.'”

He explained, “By the time I was 20, I was feeling really disillusioned and dried up and tired of being in Hollywood, of acting. I’ve been doing it my entire, since I was 12… I had a tiredness about me at 20 that I think is not typical for a 20-year-old because I’ve been working for so long.”

The actor’s early roles include playing Phillip Chancellor IV on “The Young and the Restless” and Joel Larson on The WB’s “Do Over.”

Badgley added that he only consented to take the role after nearly going broke. And after having his manager tell him he should do it and that fact it was shooting in New York.

“I’d had a pretty Spartan year behind me I was enjoying my way of life. But the future was real unknown … a few people [like] my manager certainly spoke about it in a way that he thought it was a good idea. A few key people close to me and then it was New York City. Getting to live in New York City where I’ve now lived since and which is my home I’ve always wanted to live there.”

He quipped, “I’m 38. So I’m going to be 39 this year. Next year I’ll be 40. I will still be answering questions about this show I decided to do when I was 20.”

Badgley also shared his reaction when he found out that his character was the titular “Gossip Girl.”

“I was in the hair and makeup trailer room. Don’t remember what I was wearing. JFK was not assassinated on that day. Just me being Gossip Girl, but I remember just being like, ‘Huh. Okay. I’m trying to math it. It’s tough. Alright, and we’ve got a shoot tomorrow. Cool. Okay.’ I mean, I found out real late. Real late.”

Badgley returns for Season 4 of “You,” which premieres on Netflix on Thursday.

Watch the entire podcast episode in the video above.

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