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With the fourth season of Netflix’s “You” right around the corner, the hit Netflix thriller covers new ground — literally — as Penn Badgely’s character, murderous stalker Joe Goldberg, flees the scene of the previous season’s crimes and hides out in London.
Living under a new identity, Joe has assumed the identity of literature professor Jonathan Moore; joining the cast is British actress Amy-Leigh Hickman as Nadia, a student who captures Joe’s attention.
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ET Canada’s Morgan Hoffman spoke with Badgley and Hickman about the highly anticipated new season.
“Amy, now that you’ve been a part of the world of ‘You’, Joe Goldberg continues to be this character that the internet can’t stop thirsting over,” Hoffman asked. “Do you understand the appeal to this character still, after all the things that he’s done?”
“I did ask myself,” replied Hickman, noting that “Joe has this quality about him where you I don’t know why you root for him. I mean, it’s a credit to Penn as an actor, but you do want the best for him. And I don’t know why. And I think that’s kind of the mystery of this show, is that you don’t know why you root for this guy, but you do and you actually do want the best for him.”
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Badgley, however, has a different theory about why such a deadly character has become a thirst trap.
“I think it’s because we designed him to be that way,” Badgley explained. “He’s meant to be very charming. I think he’s actually impossibly charming. I don’t know, that somebody who’s genuinely capable of all this murder… is he really capable of, you know, the loving, longing moments that he’s known for? Is he really capable of loving someone like Parker or someone like Ellie and then Nadia? I don’t know. So, in that way, to me, it’s more of like this camp, high-drama fantasy exploration. Well, he’s not a real person, you know… we’ve made him that way and we keep making him that way for a reason.”
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The fourth season of “You” premieres Thursday, Feb. 9.