'You' Star Penn Badgley Says Filming Masturbation Scenes 'Harder' Than Doing Sex Scenes

“You” star Penn Badgley has opened up about his experience filming masturbation scenes for the hit Netflix series.

Badgley, who plays Joe Goldberg in the series, revealed on the July 13 episode of “Podcrushed” podcast that his experience simulating masturbation was not as easy as it seemed.

“I’ve now done it so many times on camera. It’s strange—you don’t think it’s going to be that big of a deal,” he said. “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 stimulating masturbation,” he added.

Badgley also revealed that he found faking masturbation far more difficult than doing other types of sex scenes for the series. “I have to say sometimes those scenes are harder than with a person because it’s just like, alright, this is what I’m doing,” he explained.

The actor said he had to film fake masturbation scenes at least once in every season of the show, noting that he would get the same comment from the director every time. “I’ve always gotten the note to make it less creepy. They say like, ‘Close your eyes or go faster or go slower.’ I’m like, ‘What? This man is f***ing murdering people, and he’s masturbating in the street. You’re saying I’m making it creepy? How is it I’m the one making it creepy?’” he said.

He recalled getting a note from director Lee Toland Krieger asking him to close his eyes while faking a masturbation scene and how it got on his nerves when Krieger brought it up on set. “He was like, ‘Buddy, I think you gotta close your eyes,’” he said.

Badgley said he didn’t remember how exactly he responded to the director’s note, but he remembered Krieger “graciously communicating” to him that what he was doing was “creepy.” “I’m like, ‘That’s the f***ing—that’s the point!” he said.

The first season of “You” aired in 2018 and marked Badgley’s return to the spotlight after “Gossip Girl.” In the series, he plays a creepy bookstore manager who takes advantage of social media to stalk and gaslight his crush.