Penn Badgley<\/a> became financially independent at the age of 15.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Penn Badgley starred on the teen drama<\/p>\n
The 38-year-old actor became the breadwinner for his family while he was still a teenager – but Penn was “close to broke” before landing a role in ‘Gossip Girl’.<\/p>\n
During an appearance on the ‘Call Her Daddy’ podcast, Penn explained: “I was financially independent by 15. I wasn’t always the breadwinner, but I’ve always needed to and wanted to provide support for my parents since then.”<\/p>\n
Penn actually felt “tired of television” before he was offered a role in ‘Gossip Girl’.<\/p>\n
The actor felt “disillusioned” with Hollywood at the time – but he accepted the role of Dan Humphrey in the teen drama series because he needed the money.<\/p>\n
\nHe shared: “I was close to broke, although I was looking forward to figuring that out.<\/p>\n
\n“The future was a real unknown and I think the stakes [were] high.”<\/p>\n
\nPenn has worked on dozens of projects during his career, but he continues to be defined by his time on ‘Gossip Girl.<\/p>\n
\nThe actor explained: “I’m going to be 39 this year. Next year, I will be 40. I will still be answering questions about this show I decided to do when I was 20. And whatever. That is what it is … It sets you on a certain track that you have to in a sense resist. Work with it, interface with it. Otherwise, it just sort of takes you on its ride.”<\/p>\n
\nPenn also noted that the public struggled to differentiate him from his on-screen character.<\/p>\n
\nHe said: “What people seemed to think of Dan seemed to be what people thought of me. And now I had enough sense, enough intelligence, enough self-worth … I wasn’t like losing myself. But it bothered me.”<\/p>\n
\nWhat’s more, Penn actually found it “a struggle” to distance himself from his ‘Gossip Girl’ character.<\/p>\n
\nThe TV star – who appeared on the show alongside the likes of Leighton Meester and Blake Lively – said: “It was a struggle \u2026 When you do a film, you do it once and give it your all and then you move on \u2026 When you do a television show, you\u2019re doing it constantly because of the nature of that show.”<\/p>\n
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