Interesting Facts

Full Name: Penn Dayton Badgley

Date of Birth: November 1, 1986

Place of Birth: Baltimore, Maryland

Height: 5' 10½" (1.79 m)

Occupation: Film, television, voice actor, model, spokesperson

College: Santa Monica College and University of Southern California (USC)

• Penn has black hair.
• He has an older half sister.
• Attended Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma, Washington.
bull; He got his name when his father was bouncing a Pilot Penn tennis fall in frustration while trying to think of baby names. When his mother got her ultrasound he referred to the baby looking like the size of the tennis ball. And thus, they named him Penn.
• Penn is left-handed.
• In the 2008 Presidential Elections, Penn campaigned for Senator Barack Obama.
• As of 2008, Penn resides in New York. He moved to Manhattan when he joined the cast of Gossip Girl, due to the fact that they shoot on location in New York as opposed to a studio.
• His middle name "Dayton" is a traditional name in his family.
• Penn likes playing Soccer and writing music.
• In 1998, Penn recorded a pop single.
• Penn is close to his parents.
• Penn admires actresses Tina Fey and Parker Posey.
• Penn's first kiss was when he was 11 years old.
• When Penn was 11, he & his mother relocated to Hollywood so he could pursue his acting Carrer.
• Penn's dream job would to be a paid musician.
• Penn's TV guilty pleasure is Friends reruns.
• Penn owns an Audi.
• Penn has known Blake Lively, who plays Serena Van Der Woodsen in Gossip Girl, since he was 11 years old.
• Penn is currently dating Gossip Girl co-star Blake Lively, who he also dates on the show.
• One of Penn's favorite bands is Incubus.
• Penn was nominated for a Teen Choice Award in 2008, for Choice TV Actor: Drama for Gossip Girl.
• Penn and the rest of the Gossip Girl young cast were featured in People magazine's World's Most Beautiful People of 2008.
• Penn's mother once drove him 50 miles to appear in a community production of Music Man.
• Penn's inspiration for playing Gossip Girl character Dan is the show's creator Josh Schwartz. Besides him, he also draws his inspiration from the everyday, regular teenager.
• Penn admits that among all the actors of Gossip Girl, he's the one who adlibs the most due to the awkward nature of his character.
• Penn turned down the role of Dan Humphrey twice before accepting.
• Penn was chosen as one of People Magazine's Sexiest Men Alive for 2007.
• Penn's most embarrassing moment was forgetting the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner" while singing at a minor-league baseball game.
• Penn is 5' 10½" (1.79 m) tall.
• In 2001, Penn was nominated for a Young Artist Award for his performance in the TV series The Young and the Restless.
• Penn did some voice acting in some of the Mario games like Mario Tennis in 2000 and Mario Golf 64 in 1999.
• Penn has appeared in the following videos as himself: Kodiak Yearbook and Grrrl Power.
• Penn got his GED at the age of 13, so he and his mom could move to LA, so he could start auditioning.
• Once lived in Richmond, Virginia and Seattle, Washington
•Around Penn's 'Do Over' days he had a email address set up. Where he would reply to fanmail via emails and stay in touch with his fans