Penn Badgley Elaborates On Why He Initially Turned Down The Dan Humphrey Role In Gossip Girl

Gossip Girl star Penn Badgley reveals why he initially turned down the role of Dan Humphrey in the hit CW teen drama. After rising to prominence with a part in the soap The Young and the Restless, his breakout role came as writer and romantic Dan as part of the cast of Gossip Girl, between 2007-2012. In the controversial season 6 finale, Dan Humphrey was revealed as the titular gossiper, cementing the character as an iconic yet divisive addition to popular culture. However, things could have been very different if another actor had played Dan.

Speaking to Alex Cooper on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Badgley revealed that he initially turned down the role of Dan. He explained it wasn’t even an indecisive ‘no,’ but it was a definitive rejection. The star described himself as feeling jaded and disillusioned with acting at the time, and tired of being in Hollywood, even in his 20s. Check out Badgley’s comments from the interview below:

“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.’ By the time I was 20, I was feeling really disillusioned and dried up and tired of being in Hollywood, of acting.”

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It is interesting to note Badgley’s disillusionment with the industry at the time, which was likely to have been a common feeling among struggling actors in their earlier years. However, this can often come as a result of actors struggling to get roles, so it is interesting that this drove Badgley to turn down a role that could have been huge for him. It’s not clear what prompted the actor to change his mind and accept the role, but the decision has shaped the course of his career.

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Dan Humphrey brought him global acclaim, and he has since built a strong career, starring as serial killer and writer Joe Goldberg, who can currently be seen as the lead in Netflix’s You season 5. But things could have been very different if Badgley had stuck to his initial decision about accepting the role of Dan. While it is difficult to think of any other actor in the role of Dan, this could very well have happened, and Badgley could have wound up quitting acting altogether. It has been noted that actors like Alden Ehrenreich were also in consideration as Dan.

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While another actor could have played the role of Dan, it is difficult to imagine someone other than Badgley as the character. I think that, in some ways, the murderous Joe Goldberg actually strengthens Badgley’s Dan Humphrey legacy. The two characters share a lot of similarities, and, in many ways, Joe is a darker and more disturbing version of how Dan sees himself, the romantic, sensitive white knight with the soul of a poet. Gossip Girl remains an iconic show, and Dan Humphrey is an iconic character, and much of this is down to Badgley’s portrayal of him.

Source: Call Her Daddy