Penn Badgley made an unusual choice of souvenirs as You came to an end with Season 5

Netflix’s You finally came to an end after telling the story of Penn Badgley’s Joe Goldberg for 5 seasons. Joe was a violent and obsessive protagonist who would go to great lengths to get the women he desired.

Even after establishing a relationship with them, he continued to exhibit violent tendencies and often resorted to murder when things didn't go as per his wishes.

In the last season, also, though Joe relocated to start fresh, he could not leave his instincts behind and committed a gruesome trail of murders before finally realizing what he had become.

With the show coming to an end, it was natural for the actor, Penn Badgley, who portrayed this demonic character for 5 seasons, to take some things back from the set as souvenirs.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Badgley mentioned that he took some books from the set as they were genuinely good ones and too lucrative to leave behind.

Joe’s character has always been associated with books through his profession, and it was only natural that the set of You featured a good collection of old and new books. It is from those books that Badgley took some home.

Penn Badgley took track pants and some books as souvenirs from the You set

Besides the books, Badgley took a pair of track pants from his show. When he was asked about souvenirs like trinkets that his character had a penchant for hiding from the girls he was dating, Badgley said to The Hollywood Reporter,

“I like that you said trinkets. Teeth, and should I say the other one that starts with a T? Nobody liked that. I kept one pair of track pants. That’s the only thing I kept because what else am I gonna keep? I don’t wanna look like him any more than I already do.”

This clearly shows how he is quite keen on distancing himself from the character he has played for 5 seasons. However, one thing he could not escape was Joe’s love for books, which led him to collect some from the set.

In the very first season of You, Joe Goldberg was shown to be a manager of a New York bookstore, and over the seasons, while his professions kept evolving, a consistent connection to books was maintained.

Besides souvenirs, Badgley also talked about his character Joe in You, and when asked if he is taking anything from that character, he said to The Hollywood Reporter in another interview,

“It’s hard to say exactly what, because I think in time I’ll know a bit more. If anything, I’ve just been reflecting on who not to be as a man and a father and a husband, and not the obvious things, like don’t manipulate and murder people. That’s clear. It’s far more about the ways in which desire makes love a self-centered thing and then it’s no longer love.”

He further added,

“It’s no longer a mutually empowering experience but something where you’re just concerned with your own gratification, your own needs, and we all do that at different points all throughout any relationship in subtle ways and ways that are not so subtle. So I’ve just really had to think about that. Those are the places where I connect with him and try to understand the best I can. I think that’s the only thing that’s enabled me to ground his performance all throughout, and that’s the most relatable part of him to me.”

His words show how clearly he understands the character he has played for all these years and how the lessons he took from him would ultimately help him to become not like Joe Goldberg by any means.

All seasons of You can be streamed on Netflix.

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