It comes year after Penn credited his ex Blake with salvage him from next issues with alcoholic beverage use after he fell into a “ desperation ” in his XX .
If you cast your mind back to the late ’00s, you might remember thatGossip GirlcostarsPenn BadgleyandBlake Livelyfamously dated for three years.
Penn and Blake portrayed on - cover love interestsDan Humphrey and Serena van der Woodsenin the hit CW show .
Over the years, Penn — who is now married to singer Domino Kirke — has discussed his past relationship with Blake here and there. Just last year, theYoustar detailed what it was like working on the same show as Blake — who is married to Ryan Reynolds — after they broke up. He said on his podcastPodcrushed, “I’m pretty sure we were exes for nearly half of the run of the entire series. We were always very professional. We had to do all kinds of nutso stuff. Having a fake marriage by the end of it. I don’t even think, in my memory, there was not one bit of strangeness. It wasn’t even a thing.”
A year prior , Penn credited Blake withinadvertently “ pull through ” him from future issues with alcoholafter he fell into a “ desperation ” in his 20s . “ Blake did n’t pledge , and I opine our family relationship in some ways salvage me from forcing myself to go down that road , ” he toldVarietyin 2023 .
Now, Penn has looked back on his relationship with Blake once again during a new appearance on theCall Her Daddypodcast.
Podcast host Alex Cooper asked Penn what it was like living a life so similar to his on-screen character’s while he was onGossip Girl.
“For six years, you’re living in New York City, you’re in your early 20s and I feel like a lot of the character that you [played] kind of had parallels. You were also living in New York City at the time for the show, you were dating Blake Lively you were dating Serena on the show — did you feel like you were able to separate your actual job from your reality and actually able to, like, grow in your 20s, or did it all feel like it was kind of merged?” Alex asked.
“I mean that’s a great question because it was the struggle,” Penn admitted.
“You know, there are many differences between film and television. One of them is that when you do a film, you do it once. You know? And you kind of give it your all. And then you move on,” he said. “When you do a television show, you’re doing it constantly.”
“Because of the nature of that show and because of celebrity culture at that time… You feel like you’re constantly needing to prove yourself in some manner. Otherwise, what are you doing? I mean, you know, what is the space?” he continued.
“ There is not enough separation , I think , for anybody , ” Penn added . “ You ’re seen as this person , you ’re called their name out on the street . You also constantly have to be that somebody at workplace , and I was 20 . I was 21 , 22 , so I did n’t have the aroused maturity to understand , to differentiate myself just in terms of ego - worth . ”
“ What people seemed to think of Dan seemed to be what people retrieve of me , ” he enunciate .
You can listen to Penn’s fullCall Her Daddyappearance here.
