Joe Goldberg

Joe Goldberg
You character
Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg
First Episode Appearance	Novel: You Television: Pilot
Created by	Character Caroline Kepnes Developed for Television Greg Berlanti Sera Gamble
Character played by	Penn Badgley (Original) Gianni Ciardiello (Teenager) Aidan Wallance(Child)
In-universe information
Full name	Joseph Goldberg
Alias	Will Bettelheim (identity theft)
Nickname	Joe Joseph (by Peach Salinger) Joey (by Sandy) Bunny (by Candace Stone) Old Sport (by Forty Quinn)
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Occupation	Serial killer Stalker Bookstore clerk Former bookstore manager
Family	Ivan Mooney (adoptive father) Raphael Passero (biological father) Sandy Goldberg (biological mother)
Significant other	Love Quinn (girlfriend) Karen Minty (ex-girlfriend) † Guinevere Beck (ex-girlfriend) † Candace Stone (ex-girlfriend) †Delilah Alives (hook up)
Children	Henry Goldberg (with Love)
Home	New York City, New York Los Angeles, California
Nationality	American

Joseph "Joe" Goldberg is a fictional character and main protagonist of the You book series, written by Caroline Kepnes, as well as the television series of the same name, where he is portrayed by American actor Penn Badgley and by Gianni Ciardiello and Aidan Wallace as a youthas a youth. Joe is a serial killer, stalker and former bookstore manager, who upon meeting Guinevere Beck at his workplace in New York, starts to develop an extreme, toxic and delusional obsession. After moving to Los Angeles, to escape his sordid past, he meets avid chef Love Quinn, and starts to fall into his old habits of obsession and violence in order to avoid the fate of his past romantic endeavors.

Character biography

Joe Goldberg born in September 19th, in 1988 and was the only child born into a dysfunctional relationship. He idealized his mother Sandy Goldberg, whom he said was his home no matter where they were. His father was abusive to him and his mother. His mother frequently cheated on his father, often leaving Joe alone in public areas while doing so. His father would physically abuse him, such as putting cigarettes out under his arms, trying to force him to confess his mother's infidelity. His mother would sometimes take Joe and leave his father, usually in the company of another man, but would always come back. She hid a gun in a closet where Joe would often hide and showed Joe, telling him that one day she would kill his father. But instead, Joe later used the gun to shoot his father, protecting his mother from his beating, killing him. His mom told him that he was a good boy who would never hurt anyone and was only protecting her. Shortly after, she turned him over to social services, telling him that being with her was not the best thing for him and he was put into a group home. While there, he was viciously bullied and bonded with a nurse who worked there who was in an abusive relationship and reminded him of his mother. He felt the need to protect her from her abusive boyfriend and blamed himself for not doing so when she later stopped coming to work. He tracked down his mother and went to find her, and it is revealed that she is now raising her new son. She tells him that she needed to start over.

Development

In 2014, Caroline Kepnes released her first novel of the thriller series, You. The author stated that her inspiration for creating the character of Joe Goldberg, stemmed from a personal loss. Kepnes explained the darkness of You, which deconstructs the romantic-comedy tropes highlighted in many films and shows, by making the protagonist, a violent stalker and serial killer, saying it was written in a dark period of her life, the year her father died of cancer, and in which she experienced several other personal challenges. Later, Kepnes was initially hesitant on labeling Joe, as a few readers argued that his actions, classified him as a serial killer. The author then, clarified her position on the matter, citing that "I remember when I wrote You and someone first referred to Joe as a serial killer. I argued 'he’s not a serial killer, he meets these terrible people and has these awful thoughts, but he’s very sensitive'. It’s very strange to realise you have written a serial killer."

Sera Gamble, the showrunner and co-creator of the television adaptation mentioned in an interview with Collider, that when envisioning Joe, the main protagonist of the series, she wanted to delve deeply into the root cause of the pathology of his behavior that shaped his amoral position to justify and rationalize stalking, kidnapping and killing his victims. When she was writing the character, she stated that "I want to understand what coaxes behavior of this nature out of that very tiny percentage of men. I like to think it’s a very tiny percentage of men who would cross a line like the line that Joe Goldberg crosses". In an interview at The Contenders Emmys 2019 panel, Gamble highlighted the importance of casting the right person to play the role of Joe Goldberg. She stated that "it had to be a love story and a horror movie in every single scene", further adding that if they "cast someone who was sort of creepy, then the story wouldn’t work; the idea is that it’s a lead in a romantic comedy who works in a bookstore and a woman walks in, they have a cute meet and fall in love and live happily ever after. That’s the show."

Expanding on her commentary on the show's themes and origin, Gamble stated at The Hollywood Reporter's roundtable interview, that she was not surprised to hear an overwhelming reception to Joe's character amongst online fans and viewers, citing that "There's a very vocal contingent of fans of Caroline Kepnes' book [on which You is based] who were like, "I heart Joe." Essentially what she's done is taken the classic romantic hero and just peeled back the gloss and sheen and John Cusack with the boombox and she followed it to its logical conclusion. I mean, if you turn off the sappy music and turn on a David Fincher score, romantic comedies are stalker movies. The plot of pretty much every one I can think of — and we have watched all of them many times in the writers room — is contingent on the guy … well, first of all, he has to do a certain amount of fucking up so she can forgive him. And he has to get over some of her shortcomings. I mean, that's love, right? But also, he's chasing her through a fucking airport, chasing her on a freeway, watching her sleep because he feels protective. Romantic comedy behavior in real life is criminal! And that was basically the starting place for the show."

Portrayal

Penn Badgley was cast in the lead character of Joe Goldberg in June 2017. Prior to the show's premiere, Badgley mentioned his disinterest in playing the character of Joe Goldberg in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, saying that "I didn’t want to do it — it was too much. I was conflicted with the nature of the role. If this is a love story, what is it saying? It’s not an average show; it’s a social experiment." However, he was strongly convinced by the script and the social commentary around the series, adding that "what was key in me wanting to jump on board were my conversations with Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble, the creators, and understanding Joe’s humanity. I knew that I would be conflicted about the role from day one till the last day, and that is why they thought I would be good for it, is that I’m not psyched to play somebody of this nature." Relaying similar thoughts in an interview with GQ, Badgley again raised his concerns of portraying Joe, noting that he was first apprehensive at the role but later changed his mind, expressing that "no one in any position of authority could ever try to act as though we don’t know that sex and murder sells, but how can it work in a different way we’ve not seen? That’s where I think this show does something that none of us could have said for certain that we would nail. It could have been really irresponsible. It could have fallen flat and been like, whoa." In another interview at The Contenders Emmys 2019 panel, Badgley mentioned that his character was "the hero of his own story...every serial killer is" but added that Joe is "ultimately, the word that’s coming to mind is un-saveable". The actor highlighted that though, there is an apparent affinity to Joe's character, it is somewhat of a "Rorschach test of a kind for us," adding that "we’re failing..."

Reception

Critical response

Penn Badgley's portrayal of Joe Goldberg has received critical acclaim. Many reviewers gave praise to Penn Badgley's performance and comparing the eerie tone and terrifying approach established in the series to the themes of violence and stalking, reminiscent in contemporary thriller films and series like Dexter, Gone Girl and American Psycho. Certain reviewers have also highlighted that the series provides an alluring but, disturbing insight into the mind and profile of a psychopath, who charmingly manipulates his way through his anti-hero charisma, motives and warped sense of morality, in order to convince the audience "to sympathize with a stalker" and "serial killer".

Alicia Lutes of IGN gave praise to Badgley's performance in her review of the series, highlighting that he is "doing some of his best, most unhinged work in the series. His charming nature and playful face are the perfect, twisted mask for the “Nice Guy With Control Issues” lurking underneath" and further adding that "Joe’s inner monologue frames the series in a way that shows just how malcontented a guy he really is despite his warm smile and cool demeanor."

Tiffany Kelly from Daily Dot praised the performance of Badgley in her review of the series by stating that he "shines as a bookstore manager and bone-chilling stalker in this surprisingly good thriller." While reviewing the first season, Anna Leszkiewicz from New Statesman praised Penn Badgley's performance, by declaring that the "Netflix series You does what it says on the tin – offering surprise twists, drip-fed reveals, a magnetic villain in Joe, the horrible suspense of knowing more than his clueless victims and satisfyingly gory murders." Christina Radish of Collider named Joe Goldberg as the "Best TV Villain" of 2018. Radish wrote that, "thanks to the performance given by Penn Badgley and some terrific writing, the character has layers that make him complicated and intriguing, even though you know he should be making you cringe and recoil. Joe Goldberg is a character that does horrible things, but also keeps you so engrossed that you can't stop watching." Tilly from Metro gave high praise to the actor's performance in the second season, noting that "Penn Badgley is perfect in this role, as is Victoria Pedretti, and we can’t wait to see what season three (assuming it happens) brings."

Samantha Highfill from Entertainment Weekly mentioned You in her wish list of contenders for the 2019 Emmy Nominations. Praising Badgley's performance, she notes that the series "presented a different look at a serial killer, one that took viewers inside the mind of Joe Goldberg, thereby presenting them with the reasoning for his actions. By never shying away from Joe’s dark side, the show’s freshman season unraveled a beautifully paced modern-day thriller about what people do for love…and what is acceptable to do for love."

Team TVLine ranked the performances of Penn Badgley and Victoria Pedretti at the top of The TVLine Performers of the Week list. Praising the two, the team notes that "embodying a sympathetic serial killer is no easy feat, yet Penn Badgley has spent the past two seasons of You making the process appear effortless. And just as his character, Joe Goldberg, finally met his match this season in the form of a woman named Love, so too has Badgley found the perfect on-screen companion in Love’s portrayer, Victoria Pedretti."