Penn Badgley's Son: Everything He's Said About Being a Father

Mar. 15, 2025

Penn Badgley holding his son.Photo:Domino Kirke Instagram

Domino Kirke Instagram

Penn Badgleymay play a cold-blooded killer in his hit Netflix show,You, but in real life, he’s a devoted husband to his wife,Domino Kirke, and dad to their son.

Aftermarrying his longtime love in 2017, the pair announced they were expecting their first child in February 2020. Their son was born on Aug. 11, 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now Badgley is navigating life as a father and a famous actor — a new challenge for him.

“I did most of that without any kids or spouse, you know?” he toldVarietyabout building his career. “Or any real consideration for family — and now all that’s very different.”

Badgley and Kirke’s son will soon be a big brother as Kirke is currentlypregnant with twins. The couple announced the happy news onInstagramin February 2025, writing, “Talk about a PLOT TWIST! Spontaneous twins are beyond magical.”

Here’s everything to know about Penn Badgley’s son.

Badgley and Kirke experienced miscarriages before having their son

Penn Badgley and Domino Kirke attend the 36th Annual Tibet House US Benefit Concert & Gala After Party in March 2023.Ilya S. Savenok/Getty

Ilya S. Savenok/Getty

Kirke shared that she had experienced “two miscarriages in a row” and was “ready to call it.”

“I stopped trusting my body and started to accept the fact that I was done,” the doula and pregnancy educator captioned a photo of her bump. “As a birth attendant, I’ve seen and heard it all. It takes everything I’ve got to detach lovingly from the losses I’ve been present for and be in my own experience.”

The couple credited their unborn child with “teaching us how to stay in the day in a way we’ve never had to.”

Badgley’s son was born in August 2020

Badgley and Kirke welcomed their son on Aug. 11, 2020. They shared the special news a month later in September 2020 in a now-deleted Instagram post showing a photo of her placenta.

“His heart shaped home❣️ #40dayspostpartum,” she wrote.

“I love burgers and IV fluids. Especially after going from 3cm to fully dilated in 45 mins,” she wrote.

Kirke shared the first photo of her and Badgley’s son in October 2020

In the snap, the wide-eyed infant looked at his father with wonder while wearing a green and white striped onesie. Kirke captioned the image with a single heart emoji.

Badgley called his son’s birth during the COVID-19 pandemic a “blessing”

Penn Badgley with his son while working.Domino Kirke Instagram

Badgley’s son was born at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which meant both parents could spend all of their time with him — something the actor has called a “blessing” while acknowledging the difficulties.

TheGossip Girlstarcontinued, “So that is a strange blessing in it all. I am having such a joyful experience as a father … Even being a father in a pandemic has still been a joy somehow.”

Badgley reveals how becoming a dad impacted his work onYou

Penn Badgley on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ in March 2023.Todd Owyoung/NBC/Getty

Todd Owyoung/NBC/Getty

In season 3 of his hit Netflix show, Badgley’s character, Joe Goldberg, became a father for the first time. Still, having fatherhood in common wassurprisingly unhelpful to the actor.

“I was curious … how that would influence my experience with Joeand acting with him,” he toldAccess Hollywoodin October 2021. “And sometimes it was almost not helpful because I was having such a light and joyful experience — still am — and Joe is so petrified.”

TheEasy Aactor added, “Of course I can identify with the fear but he’s just so morbid in his obsessive, sort of like self-preservation, primal instinct that sometimes I almost found it harder as a result.”

Badgley is also careful to keep his son from his scary on-screen role until he’s older — aside from one mishap in March 2023.

Adorably, the little one immediately recognized his father. “He was like, ‘Daddy!’ and I started to race around because the next thing he was going to see was something really crazy.”

Badgley bonded with other fathers in Hollywood

After becoming a dad, Badgley bonded with hisYoucostars over fatherhood behind the scenes.

“I can’t speak for Penn himself, but I absolutely loved working with him from start to finish,“Downton AbbeyalumEd Speleerstold PEOPLE. “I feel that we got on very well. We were a similar age.We’re both dads. We connected a lot over thatand music and football. And I feel that we pushed each other and we respected each other.”

TheParts Per Billionactor also got some advice fromScott Speedmanwhile filming season 3.

“It was so sweet. It was just like there’s a world where it was just two men talking about the vulnerability of fatherhood,” Badgley toldElleabout his chats with Speedman during downtime on set.

“It was one of my most memorable experiences of the season, and it was a very quiet, lovely day of work. We didn’t get a lot of that,” he added. “I think it’s not always so quiet and sensitive. … There’s a soft spot in my heart for him.”

Badgley learned about himself through becoming a dad

Penn Badgley with his son.Domino Kirke Instagram

The actor himself was born two months prematurely with a condition that made his heart and lungs frequently stop working — something that required his mother to resuscitate him “multiple times a day” until he was 1 year old.

“I’ve learned a lot about prenatal, postpartum stuff and realized how much it did impact me,” he said on theHypochondriActor⁠podcast.

Badgley reflected on how “constantly flatlining” might have affected his mom emotionally, and how the experience influenced his life. He shared that despite being an infant, he was still aware, like his own son is now.

source: people.com