@shneens WAITED MY WHOLE LIFE TO HEAR HIM CALL ME BY MY NAME. #serenavanderwoodsen #penbadgely #you #gossipgirl #VivaCleanHacks #FestiveFashion
Penn Badgley just gave one lucky Gossip Girl fan the surprise of a lifetime. In a video shared on TikTok, the actor, who starred as Dan Humphries on the stylish CW series from 2007 to 2012, sent an extra special birthday message that has us totally freaking out.
“Happy birthday Serena,” the 34-year-old said before adding, “XOXO.” Gossip Girl’s famous sign off.
As GG fans remember, in the series finale, Badgley’s character, who was revealed to be the omniscient blogger, ended up with Serena van der Woodsen, played by actress Blake Lively. The two actors even dated off screen for three years.
“I’ve always tried to be both transparent and forthcoming and grateful of the way Gossip Girl positioned me to be in a role like this and for it to have the particular effect that it has,” the You Tube star told Variety in June. “Because it’s interesting that regardless of my performance, the fact that it’s simply me, just one of the main characters of the show called Gossip Girl, and I ended up being Gossip Girl — even though we can debate about whether or not that makes sense. And we can debate about whether or not Dan is even really a male lead in the show, because the heart of the show was somewhere else.”
A sequel series, also titled Gossip Girl, is currently shooting in New York City and will be released in 2021 on the HBO Max streaming service. While set in the same continuity, this series focuses on a new cast of characters from a different perspective in the same setting—likened to that of a shared universe.
Since his iconic role on Gossip Girl, Badgley has starred as the cute but creepy Joe Goldberg on Lifetime’s turned Netflix’s psychological thriller series You. The third season is scheduled for release sometime in 2021.
