You Season 4’s second half will arrive in a few short days on Netflix, and for that reason, I’m circling back to a Penn Badgley interview that’s a few weeks old. Those Netflix split seasons make a lot of things timely, and I’m finding it very interesting that Badgley, who’s been even more vocal than usual lately about his current show’s trappings, is reflecting upon a show that would have provided him a bounty of food for thought in interviews. He’s been upfront about how You might be a little too seductive when it comes to Stalker Joe’s appeal to the audience, although Badgley points a bigger finger at Netflix’s Dahmer for feeding the public’s fascination with real-life serial killers.
Long before these shows emerged, however, the former Gossip Girl actor had a real shot at playing a different type of immoral character. That would be Jesse Pinkman (portrayed by Aaron Paul) of Breaking Bad fame. These days, it’s difficult to imagine anyone besides Paul being as unforgettable in the role, but via Buzzfeed and People, Badgley says that he almost snagged that puppy. We almost heard Badgley delivering the “b*tch” line? Yes, that’s true:
“One I got close on was Breaking Bad. It was between me and Aaron Paul, we tested. And actually, that was the best television script I’d read at that point. That was the one that got away.”
He’s not wrong about the script, obviously. Paul’s portrayal was an iconic one that scooped up awards, and he went on to reprise the role in a sequel film and, of course, a recent Super Bowl commercial. And Badgley went on to star in a role with appeal that does disturb him sometimes. It would have been curious to see if Badgley would have felt the same way about Pinkman and delivered interviews as such, but I guess we’ll never know.