Wait, Penn Badgley Is Basically Playing Gossip Girl Again in His New Movie

This is too meta—even for us.

By Mehera Bonner

Oct 20, 2017

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Remember when Dan Humphrey turned out to be Gossip Girl on Gossip Girl and you spent the next year of your life in a state of LOL. Well Penn Badgley back at it, only on Lifetime.

In what has to be the most meta moment of his career, Badgley will star in You, a thriller about a bookstore manager who gets close to a woman by "using the internet and social media as his tools to gather the most intimate of details."

So...basically the plot of Gossip Girl, yes?

"Trust me, the parallels were the first thing that dawned on me when I read the script," he told TVLine. "I have no interest in ignoring the ways in which [Dan and Joe] are similar, or any of the comical parallels between the two. If anything, to the degree that there is any parallel between this role and Dan is the degree to which I get to sort of live out these twisted fantasies that I always wanted to. And that’s that. As much as people want to connect those dots, they’re welcome to, and I’m sure they will. It’s certainly not lost on me. But there’s a lot else about this show that makes it quite different. It’s just a matter of how much people are paying attention.”

Wait, so this is completely amazing. But also important, Badgley talked about his iconic turn as the Upper East Side's resident spy. "I think I got that show the least out of anyone who was a part of it. I have to just admit that," he said. "But I’m happy to wear that crown, so to speak. Like, yeah, okay. I’m Gossip Girl. That’s cool."

Penn Badgley is the hero we don't deserve.