Penn Badgley says he was obsessed with losing weight for rom-com role

Penn Badgley has admitted that he was "consumed" by the body transformation required for his upcoming romantic comedy You Deserve Each Other.

In the upcoming adaptation of Sarah Hogle's book, the You actor and Sirens star Meghann Fahy play Nicholas and Naomi, an engaged couple who suffer from cold feet and try to goad the other into calling off the wedding.

Reflecting on the shoot during Fahy's guest appearance on his Podcrushed podcast, Badgley admitted that he felt his character should have "a Marvel body" so he became "consumed" with trying to achieve a fast body transformation before filming began.

"It happened very fast. I signed on right before we had to go," he shared. "I was actually mostly consumed with losing enough weight, so it just made sense for how maniacal this guy was supposed to be about his body."

He continued, "The way he is written on the page is truly, like, I should have had a shredded eight-pack. I should have had a Marvel body. And I had like a real-life good body, you know what I'm saying? There's a difference."

The former Gossip Girl star admitted that he was "just focused" on the physical preparation because he never had to do it before.

"I never had to lose weight and get kind of ripped for a role, so I was just like, 'Of all things, a f**king comedy, of course,'" he quipped.

You Deserve Each Other marks Badgley's return to comedy after his early film roles in John Tucker Must Die and Easy A, however, this is his first time in one of the leading roles.

Filming has been completed on the rom-com, directed by I Feel Pretty's Marc Silverstein and Abby Kohn, but a release date has not yet been announced.

Fahy appeared on the podcast early because Podcrushed is coming to an end after almost four years. The White Lotus actress was one of the final four guests on the show, which began in May 2022.