What Is Penn Badgley's Net Worth?
Penn Badgley is an American actor, producer, and musician who has a net worth of $8 million. Badgley is best known for starring as Dan Humphrey on The CW's "Gossip Girl" (2007–2012) and Joe Goldberg on the Lifetime/Netflix series "You" (2018–present).
Penn has more than 30 acting credits to his name, including the films "John Tucker Must Die" (2006), "The Stepfather" (2009), "Easy A" (2010), and "Margin Call" (2011) and the television series "The Young and the Restless" (2000–2001), "Do Over" (2002), "The Mountain" (2004–2005), and "The Bedford Diaries" (2006). Badgley became a producer on "You" during the show's third season, and he executive produced the 2009 short film "Moth." Penn is also the lead singer of the band MOTHXR, which released the album "Centerfold" in 2016.
Early Life
Penn Badgley was born Penn Dayton Badgley in November 1, 1986, in Baltimore, Maryland. Badgley's parents, Lynne and Duff, divorced when he was 12 years old. Lynne was the president of the PTA at Woolridge Elementary and owned a jewelry design business, and Duff worked as a reporter, home builder, and carpenter; he also ran for governor of Washington as a Green Party candidate in 2008.
Penn attended Woolridge Elementary, St. Christopher's School (Richmond, Virginia), and Charles Wright Academy (Tacoma, Washington), and he appeared in plays with the Seattle Children's Theatre and Monroe, Washington's Pine Nut Players theater. Badgley has said that he "skipped high school altogether," and after taking a proficiency exam at age 14, he enrolled at Santa Monica College. He later attended Portland's Lewis & Clark College for two years.
Career
When Penn was 11 years old, he moved to Los Angeles with his mother and soon found work doing voiceovers for children's radio stations. He also lent his voice to the video games "Mario Golf 64" (1999) and "Mario Tennis 64" (2000). Badgley's first onscreen role came in a 1999 episode of "Will & Grace," and in 2000, he guest-starred on "Bull," "The Brothers Garcia," and "Daddio" and landed the role of Phillip "Chance" Chancellor on the CBS soap opera "The Young and the Restless."
In 2001, he made his big screen debut in the independent film " The Fluffer," and from 2002 to 2003, he played Joel Larsen on The WB fantasy series "Do Over." Penn guest-starred on "The Nightmare Room" (2002), "What I Like About You" (2002), and "The Twilight Zone" (2003), then he appeared in the 2004 film "Debating Robert Lee." He starred as Sam Tunney on The WB drama "The Mountain" from 2004 to 2005, and in 2006, he played Owen Gregory on "The Bedford Diaries" (also on The WB) and appeared in the teen romantic comedy "John Tucker Must Die." In 2007, he began starring as Daniel "Dan" Humphrey on "Gossip Girl" alongside Blake Lively, Leighton Meester (who he co-starred with in the 2007 film "Drive-Thru"), and Chace Crawford. Based on a series on young adult novels by Cecily von Ziegesar, "Gossip Girl" aired 121 episodes over six seasons and earned Badgley several Teen Choice Award nominations.
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Penn appeared in the film "Forever Strong" in 2008, then he starred in the 2009 thriller "The Stepfather" and co-starred with Emma Stone in 2010's "Easy A." In 2011, he appeared in the financial thriller "Margin Call" alongside Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Demi Moore, and Stanley Tucci, then he portrayed late musician Jeff Buckley in the 2012 film "Greetings from Tim Buckley." Badgley appeared in the 2014 drama "Parts per Billion," and in 2015, he guest-starred on two episodes of "The Slap" and played Posthumus in a film adaptation of Shakespeare's "Cymbeline." In 2016, he appeared in the film "The Paper Store," and he played the Prince of Monaco in "Adam Green's Aladdin."
In 2018, Penn began starring as stalker/serial killer Joe Goldberg on the Lifetime series "You," which moved to Netflix for season two. The show is based on a popular series of novels by Caroline Kepnes, and it was one of the top 10 most streamed original TV series in 2020. In a 2020 interview with "Vice," Badgley spoke about viewers lusting after his character, stating, "It was sort of like every one of my greatest fears and hopes for people's engagement came to be fulfilled. There were the reactions of overlooking all of Joe's faults, which is the whole point of the show, and just being really into him…It was both gratifying and troubling." In 2021, Penn co-starred with Billy Crystal and Tiffany Haddish in the film "Here Today."
Personal Life
Penn began a relationship with British singer Domino Kirke in 2014, and they married on February 27, 2017. After two miscarriages, the couple welcomed son James on August 11, 2020, and Badgley is also stepfather to Cassius, Kirke's son with musician Morgan O'Kane. Domino's father, Simon Kirke, is an English musician best known for being the drummer for the bands Free and Bad Company, and her sister Jemima starred as Jessa Johansson on the HBO series "Girls."
Penn previously dated his "Gossip Girl" co-star Blake Lively and actress Zoë Kravitz. Badgley became a member of the Baha'i Faith in 2015, and he has been outspoken about the government of Iran's persecution of Baháʼís. He supported Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential election, and he appeared in an Obama ad with Blake Lively for MoveOn's Youth Vote program. Penn was appointed to the American Red Cross National Celebrity Cabinet in 2010, and he has supported the Black Lives Matter movement and the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Awards and Nominations
In 2016, "The Paper Store" earned Badgley a Best Actor award at the Oxford International Film Festival and a Jury Special Mention for Outstanding Lead Actor at the Manchester International Film Festival. He won an "ELLE" Style Award for International Star for "You" in 2019, and "Margin Call" won the Robert Altman Award at the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards. Penn has been nominated for eight Teen Choice Awards: Choice TV Actor: Drama for "Gossip Girl" in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013, Choice Movie Actor: Horror/Thriller for "The Stepfather" in 2010, and Choice Movie Actor: Romantic Comedy for "Easy A" in 2011. The "Margin Call" cast received Best Ensemble nominations from the Central Ohio Film Critics Association, Gotham Awards, and Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards.
In 2001, Badgley earned a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Performance in a Daytime TV Series – Young Actor for "The Young and the Restless," and in 2019, he received an MTV Movie + TV Award nomination for Best Villain and a Saturn Award nomination (from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films) for Best Actor in Streaming Presentation for "You."
Real Estate
In October 2021, Penn and Domino paid $1.825 million ($100,000 over the asking price) for a three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in Brooklyn. They previously owned a loft in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood, which they sold for $2.19 million in 2019 after offering it for rent for $8,500 per month.
