Penn Badgley Says We Actually Need to ‘Hear More’ From Famous People — Here’s Why

Penn Badgley is getting candid about fame and celebrity culture.

Speaking with Zibby Owens on the Nov. 17 episode of her podcast Totally Booked with Zibby, the actor, 39, spoke about his new essay collection, Crushmore: Essays on Love, Loss and Coming-of-Age written with his Podcrushed podcast cohosts Nava Kavelin and Sophie Ansari.

The essay collection follows the trio’s experience coming of age in all periods of their lives. Badgley told Owens he wrote about his experience with fame to be “transparent about the process.”

“I wanted to, and intended initially at the outset of that essay, to write way more specifically about what fame is or isn’t or what, at least, my experience of it is,” the You actor explained. “It’s not just a huge part of a celebrity’s life. It’s a huge part of everybody’s life. Our culture is just inextricably, undeniably entangled and obsessed with celebrity.”

Sharing his own experiences was one way to give readers a more nuanced look at fame, particularly in the face of critique and commentary, he explained.

“I think we should hear more, also, from people who are famous because it just gives us more of the pie of experience,” Badgley continued. “It gives us more of a share of like, ‘All right, let’s just examine this from all angles … I think the weirdness of celebrity is that, at worst, it really clouds the vision of the person suffering under it.”

And Badgley noted that fame isn’t just part of his identity — it’s a huge part of it.

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“It has impacted my life no less than any other thing,” Badgley said. “Being a father, being a man, eventually becoming a Baha’i, which is my faith, my religion, when I was in my late 20s.”

“Thank God when I die, the celebrity will go,” he added. “Until then, as long as my celebrity lasts, it’s a huge part of my life.”

Badgley also touched on how Crushmore ties back to the original message of the Podcrushed podcast, which explores adolescence in all its glory through stories and celebrity interviews.

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“We actually did hem and haw a lot with our editor over what that subtitle should be, to give people a sense of what this encompasses,” Badgley said of the book. “It is that. Love and loss are universal; universally appealing or interesting, hopefully.”

Crushmore: Essays on Love, Loss and Coming-of-Age is now available, wherever books are sold.