Sometimes all you need is a good influence. Penn Badgley revealed that he thinks that his relationship with Blake Lively may have helped him avoid problems with drug and alcohol abuse in a new interview with Variety, published on Tuesday, February 14. The You star, 36, reflected on his time on Gossip Girl with his ex, 35, and though he had some struggles, he credited Blake with helping him stay clean.
During the interview, Penn revealed that he looked back on his time on the popular show with a dichotomy. He said that while it was “fun and fast-paced,” there was also a “dark undercurrent that would bottom out in my later 20s.” The interviewer naturally asked if that darkness involved any struggles with drugs or alcohol, and he revealed that he mostly avoided those, because of his relationship. “To be honest, I never struggled with substance,” he said. “Blake didn’t drink, and I think our relationship in some ways saved me from forcing myself to go down that road.”
While he may not have had issues with drugs and alcohol, the actor admitted that he went through more of a “spiritual crisis” as he rose to fame. “I was presented with the universal truth that not only does it not make your life better or easier, it actually can greatly complicate things, and make you quite unhappy,” he said. He later opened up about how he connected with the Baha’i faith through travel.
Penn and Blake co-starred on Gossip Girl from 2007 until 2012, but they only dated from 2007 to 2010. After they split, Blake met fellow actor Ryan Reynolds, and they got married in 2012. Penn started dating singer Domino Kirke in 2014, and the pair tied the knot in 2017.
Elsewhere in the interview, Penn opened up about his role on the hit Netflix series You and admitted that he considered turning down the role, because of the sex scenes. The star also opened up about how his life changed with Gossip Girl, and reflecting on dating his co-star, he said that he was surprised that people were interested in him. “Beyond our relationship, I don’t think anybody was going to be interested in me publicly,” he told Variety.