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Hello you, Penn Badgley is dismantling a personal art form. In fact, in his forthcoming book Crushmore: Essays on Love, Loss, and Coming-of-Age, the You actor talked about his experience filming sex scenes for the Netflix series, including a scene in which he had to get extremely close to the camera.
In an interview with Vulture, which was released on September 25, Penn, 38, stated, "We're shooting a fantasy sequence, 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."
His character Joe Goldberg is "meant to be humping on his wife" Love (played by Victoria Pedretti) in this scene from the third season of the show, but in reality, he's imagining "having sex with a librarian" named Marienne (Tati Gabrielle), whom "he's been flirting with."
But Penn needed to "simulate sex by myself" for the scene to work. After all, Silver Tree, the show's director, admitted that he and Victoria couldn't fit in the limited frame.
Regarding the memory, he added, "I'm going to be looking directly down the lens, something I never do out of habit, in addition to humping the air with the camera in my face."
Gossip Girl alum Michael Penn shares a humorous anecdote about his experience filming sex scenes. He shares that he and the crew initially giggled at his close proximity to the camera but eventually locked in and focused on the matte box that fit perfectly over the camera. This setup slightly hid his reflection from the lens, making him feel more at ease performing the act.
Penn has been candid about how uncomfortable filming sex scenes can be and that choreographing certain details into a scene makes the act unrealistic. He explains that there is no time for condoms, conversation, awkwardness, or real connection in the narrow and simplistic way they have done it so far, and he is not interested in that. Penn also shares a lighthearted memory of his stepdad, Cassius Riley, who is 16 years old and Domino's son with ex Morgan O'Kane.”
