Penn Badgley

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Badgley split his childhood years between Richmond, Virginia. and Seattle, Washington. In Seattle he was involved in the Seattle Children's Theater and did voice-overs for a children's radio station. It was through these experiences that Badgley discovered his love of acting. This passion brought him one summer to Hollywood, where he landed an agent and his first big break guest-starring on "Will & Grace" (1998). After relocating with his mother to Los Angeles, Badgley secured several recurring roles on "The Young and the Restless" (1973), "The Brothers Garcia" (2000), and "Daddio" (2000). Badgley currently lives in Los Angeles. At the age of 14, Penn completed his California High School Proficiency Exam and began attending Santa Monica City College.
Badgley's first notice came with his role as Phillip Chancellor on the soap opera The Young and the Restless (2000 - 2001). He was nominated for a 2001 Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Daytime Series for his work. In 2002, he starred in the WB half-hour series Do Over. Badgley starred as Joel Larsen, a 34-year-old man who gets a second chance to get his life right, thanks to a freakish accident that catapults him back to 1980, as a 14-year-old.The show premiered on The WB Network, which is currently known as The CW. He appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno as this show opened. The series was cancelled short of a full season. Badgley later appeared in Drive Thru playing Van co-starring future castmate Leighton Meester.
Wider audiences may recognize him from his next starring role as Sam Tunney in The Mountain (2004 - 2005), but was cancelled after the first season. The same thing happened to The Bedford Diaries, another series where Badgely had a lead role. While the show was popular, it was cancelled in its first season. In The CW's new drama Gossip Girl, Badgley portrays Dan Humphrey, the son of 1990's former rock star Rufus Humphrey (Matthew Settle). He plays the love interest of Upper East Side's "it" girl, Serena Van DerWoodsen (Blake Lively). The show revolves around the lives of socialite young adults growing up on New York's Upper East Side who attend elite academic institutions while dealing with sex, drugs, and other teenage issues.
He is set to star in the announced 2009 remake of the 1987 American thriller film The Stepfather. He is currently dating Gossip Girl co-star Blake Lively.