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New York Post
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
I look like a hot serial killer on TV — women beg me to kidnap them and lock them up
He has a lot of value on the 'stalk' market. A UK man claims he looks so much like Joe Goldberg from the Netflix show 'You' that female fans regularly ask him to 'kidnap them and lock them in cages.' 'People really love the idea of being stalked by Joe,' Nikita Darwin, 22, told South West News Service of these macabre requests. Advertisement The Dover resident said the phenomenon began after his friends and family noticed his eerie resemblance to Penn Badgley's well-read ripper, who's infamous on the show for stalking, dating and killing various uppercrust women — like 'Dexter' meets 'Gossip Girl.' 4 'I get thousands upon thousands of messages every day of people telling me that I look like Joe,' said Darwin (pictured). Nikita Darwin / SWNS 4 Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg in 'You.' CLIFTON PRESCOD/NETFLIX Advertisement 'I have a lot of family and friends say that I look like Joe from You,' explained Darwin. 'A lot of people tell me that I have a serial killer vibe, which is kind of scary as I am not trying to be a serial killer.' Despite initially finding the comparisons 'crazy,' the Goldberg doppelganger has since embraced his dead ringer status — and even started posting videos of himself to TikTok parroting the 'You' character's dress and mannerisms. 4 'I will be sent locations, people will ask me to stalk them and lock them in a glass cage,' said Darwin (pictured). Nikita Darwin / SWNS 4 L to R: Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg and Madeline Brewer as Bronte in episode 503 of 'You.' CLIFTON PRESCOD/NETFLIX Advertisement Since the Brit started his page in January, the slasher villain facsimile has amassed over 180,000 followers due to his killer looks. 'I get thousands upon thousands of messages every day of people telling me that I look like Joe,' the inadvertent impersonator said. Sometimes the fandom can turn a bit creepy as well. Darwin, who is single, said that he often receives messages on dating apps from female fans, who send him their real-time location so he can 'stalk' them. Advertisement 'I get people on dating apps messaging me asking if I can put them in a glass cage,' exclaimed the inadvertent impressionist. 'They don't think I am a catfish, they just think I am a really good lookalike.' He added, 'I just respond to them saying I'm his brother and their reaction is always a surprise.' Darwin said he even gets stalking requests in person when he leaves his house. Despite being a fan of the show, whose fifth and final season premiered on Netflix last month to mixed reviews, Darwin said he doesn't understand women's fascination with Joe Goldberg. 'In all honesty, I don't think people would enjoy it as much as they think they would,' he said. 'I think he is really bad, but all the girls seem to be fascinated by this serial killer, which is really messed up.'
New York Post
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Penn Badgley on why he threw ‘no sex scenes' rule ‘out the window' for ‘You' Season 5
Let's get physical. Penn Badgley made headlines in 2023 when the 'Gossip Girl' alum, 38, spoke out against sex scenes and revealed he'd asked the 'You' creators to cut back on them. However, in the fifth and final season, which is now streaming, his character, Joe Goldberg, steams up the screen several times. Advertisement 6 Penn Badgley attends Netflix's 'You' Season 5 New York Screening at The Plaza Hotel on April 23, 2025 in New York City. Getty Images 'I had to throw that out the window,' Badgley told People in an interview published Thursday. Badgley explained, 'That was the question again. All right, what am I willing to do? And as I always said, I said, my desire is that least as possible, but if it's necessary, that's the show we all sign up to make. So, let's make sure it's vital, let's make sure it's important, it's deliberate. And we did.' Advertisement The Netflix thriller 'You' follows Goldberg, a man who thinks of himself as a bookish and sensitive romantic, but he's really a killer. In the fifth and final season – spoiler alert – he has an affair with a bookish woman named Bronte (Madeline Brewer). She ultimately helps bring about his downfall after the two have several steamy bedroom intervals. In 2023 when 'You' Season 4 was airing, Badgley said on the Podcrushed podcast, 'I asked Sera Gamble, [the] creator, 'Can I just do no more intimacy scenes?'' 6 Madeline Brewer as Bronte, Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg in 'You' Season 5. CLIFTON PRESCOD/NETFLIX Advertisement 6 Domino Kirke, left, and Penn Badgley attend a special screening of the fifth season of Netflix's 'You' at The Plaza Hotel on Wednesday, April 23, 2025. Charles Sykes/Invision/AP He added, 'This was actually a decision I had made before I took the show. I don't think I've ever mentioned it publicly, but one of the main things is, 'Do I want to put myself back on a career path where I'm always [the] romantic lead?'' Badgley married his wife, Domino Kirke, 41, in 2017. The singer is the sister of 'Girls' star Jemima Kirke, 39, and actress Lola Kirke, 34. Badgley is the stepfather of Domino's son Cassius, 16, who is from a previous relationship. Badgley and Kirke also have a son named James, 4, and she's currently pregnant with twins, due in the summer. Advertisement 6 Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg in 'You.' CLIFTON PRESCOD/NETFLIX 'Fidelity in every relationship, and especially my marriage, is really important to me. It just got to a point where I don't want to do that,' Badgley said in 2023, referring to sex scenes. 'It got to a point where [I thought], 'I don't want to do that,' so I said to Sera, like, 'My desire would be zero [intimate scenes], to go from 100 to zero.'' For his part, 'Outlander' star Sam Heughan, who has tangled in the sheets onscreen many times, told The Post in January that sex scenes are 'just a part of the story.' 6 Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg, Charlotte Ritchie as Kate in 'You.' Courtesy of Netflix 6 Griffin Matthews, from left, Madeline Brewer, Penn Badgley, Charlotte Ritchie, and Anna Camp attend a special screening of the fifth season of Netflix's 'You' at The Plaza Hotel on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in New York. Charles Sykes/Invision/AP However, Badgley turned his back on that 'no sex scenes' mandate for the last season of 'You.' The actor told People that he felt like the show 'really had to return to form,' with Joe being seen as 'a romantic icon' in the final season. Advertisement 'He's been a profound experience for me. He's not a real person. So what have I been doing? I've been engaging in this … my entire 30s,' Badgley explained of his character. 'I was 30 when I took the role. I'm going to be 39 this year. Even though the show, the way it came out, it's actually been closer to seven years. For me, it's like my 30s.' He added that Joe 'taught' him a lot about 'what it is to be a man by knowing what it is not.' The former 'John Tucker Must Die' star quipped, 'And I don't mean the obvious things like, oh, don't murder, that's bad. That's very clear.'
New York Post
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
‘You' ending explained: Does Penn Badgley's Joe Goldberg die — or get away with it?
Joe Goldberg has ended his story. The fifth and final season of Penn Badgley's Netflix thriller 'You' is now streaming. The actor plays Joe Goldberg, a bookish romantic who thinks of himself as sensitive — and has a nasty habit of murdering people wherever he goes. So, does the final season of 'You' let Joe off the hook for his crimes? Does it end with him dead? Or, does it end with him in prison, suffering the consequences of his actions? Advertisement 8 Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg in 'You.' CLIFTON PRESCOD/NETFLIX 8 Madeline Brewer as Bronte, Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg in 'You.' CLIFTON PRESCOD/NETFLIX Spoilers below for 'You' Season 5. Advertisement Ultimately, the show ends with Joe behind bars. Season 5 finds Joe back where it all started, in New York City with his British wife, Kate (Charlotte Ritchie), and young son, Henry (Frankie DeMaio). Because Kate is a high-powered business exec, she and Joe become famous and are invited to all the splashy society events. Joe graces magazine covers, and becomes known as her supportive husband. The public thinks he's Prince Charming. All isn't well between Joe and Kate, though. As he becomes disillusioned with his life, Joe meets Bronte (Madeline Brewer) and starts an affair with her. Advertisement She's just his type: a down-on-her luck girl who enjoys discussing books with him. 8 Madeline Brewer as Bronte in 'You.' MATT INFANTE/NETFLIX 8 Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg, Madeline Brewer as Bronte in 'You.' CLIFTON PRESCOD/NETFLIX Halfway through the season, a twist is revealed: Bronte isn't who she seems to be. She catfished Joe. Advertisement Her real name is Louise, and she was close with Joe's first victim from Season 1, Beck (Elizabeth Lail). When Beck died, Louise was distraught and suspicious about the circumstances. She ended up finding a group of like-minded internet sleuths to team up with in order to take down Joe. After her friend Dominique (Natasha Behnam) catches Joe killing someone on video and live-streams it to the world, Joe's star falls. He even ends up on the cover of the New York Post, with the headline: 'Joe Goldmurderer.' Joe is furious to be so misunderstood by the public. 8 Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg, Charlotte Ritchie as Kate Lockwood in 'You.' COURTESY OF NETFLIX 8 Madeline Brewer as Bronte, Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg in 'You.' CLIFTON PRESCOD/NETFLIX There are twists and turns in his romance with Bronte / Louise, because although she was teaming up with her friends to dupe and expose Joe, it turns out she really did fall for him, and start doubting his guilt. In the end, Bronte / Louise agrees to run away with Joe to start a new life together – but at this point, she's once again trying to expose him as a murderer. Advertisement After the couple takes refuge at a secluded house, Bronte / Louise holds Joe at gunpoint and demands to know what happened to Beck. The struggle over the gun, and their fight soon trickles outside, with both of them wounded, running through the woods. She manages to call the cops, who chase Joe and catch him. 8 Joe's famous cell in 'You.' COURTESY OF NETFLIX Advertisement 8 Charlotte Ritchie as Kate Lockwood, Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg, Frankie Demaio as Henry Goldberg in 'You.' CLIFTON PRESCOD/NETFLIX The show ends with Louise's voiceover telling us that Joe was put on trial, his crimes were exposed, and now he's in prison. The camera shows Joe with a shaved head and in a prison jumpsuit, sitting alone in a prison cell. He still doesn't take responsibility for his actions, though – as he reads sexy letters that 'fans' sent him. Advertisement 'So in the end, my punishment is even worse than I imagined,' he says in a voiceover. 'The loneliness, oh my god, the loneliness. No hope of being held…this is forever. It's unfair, putting all of this on me. Aren't we all just projects of our environment? Hurt people hurt people.' As he reads one particular letter, he asks himself: 'Why am I in a cage when these crazies write me all the depraved things they want me to do to them? Maybe we have a problem as a society.' As 'Creep' by Radiohead starts to play, Joe proclaims: 'Maybe the problem isn't me…maybe it's you.'
