Netflix's ever-popular thriller-drama You has captured audiences' attention since it premiered on the streaming service, having been watched by a staggering 43 million households. The deliciously binge-able water-cooler series has been renewed for a third season after a cliffhanger ending to season two, and fans are excited to see where life takes Joe and his pregnant killer girlfriend, Love.
While we wait for the highly-anticipated return of You, here are 10 behind-the-scenes secrets about the series audiences might be surprised to know.
Penn Badgley Does A Lot Of Silent Acting
While the final edited result looks natural, strip away the voiceovers and Penn Badgley spends a significant part of You silently acting, making a variety of faces during large gaps of quiet. On-set, the silences are worked-around by Badgley's stand-in, who reads out all of Joe's voiceovers to ensure there's enough space in editing to fill in all of Joe's twisted inner monologues that make You tick.
Badgley was thrilled when his stand-in, Danny Watters, was given some time in front of the camera in season two, playing the husband of a woman who Forty kisses in episode eight.
Elizabeth Lail Hadn't Read The Books When She Auditioned
When Elizabeth Lail auditioned to play Beck, she wasn't aware at the time of her character's fate. It was only after Lail received a callback that she decided to give the source material a read through and quickly realized that her character was in for a gruesome roller-coaster ride with deadly consequences.
Lail later itted to RadioTimes that she'd hoped for a different ending for her character, and though she understood the ending from a story perspective, she still hoped that her character would've won out, stating, "the woman doesn't win in the end...and I'm so sick and tired of that".
Candace Wasn't Always Supposed To Return
In Kepnes' novel, Joe gruesomely kills Candace via drowning, but the series decided to notably deviate from its source material when the season one finale twist revealed Candace to be very much alive. Fans of the show were pleasantly surprised by the cliffhanger's reveal, as Joe's long-lost ex went on to play a critical role in season two, dating Forty and infiltrating Joe's inner circle as 'Amy'.
Berlanti said the decision to bring back Candace 'from the dead' only occurred about halfway through the first season when he realized the story could become more streamlined and punchy if they kept Candace alive.
The Series Is Largely Directed By Women
12 of the series' 21 episodes have been directed by women, with Dead To Me and Atypical director Silver Tree having directed the most at 3 episodes. You has an emphasis on telling its narrative through the female lens.
Other notable female directors who have stamped their mark on the series during its first two seasons are How To Get Away With Murder director Cherie Nowlan, Glow director Meera Menon, and Supergirl director Shannon Kohli.
Paco And Ellie Didn't Exist In The Books
What might surprise some viewers is that there is no trace of either Paco or Ellie in the books, which is notable because both youth characters add an incredible amount of warmth and dimensionality to Joe's character. Paco and Ellie humanize Joe, and Paco's narrative is particularly moving.
Furthermore, Ellie was a fan favorite in Season Two as the feisty and social-media-savvy younger sister of Joe's landlord, and it's hard to imagine the series having the same nuance without these key characters.
Penn Badgley Doesn't Like Joe And Considered Turning Down The Role
After coming off a multi-year stint on the smash hit Gossip Girl, Badgley wasn't sure he wanted to throw himself into another television project, though Berlanti had his eye on the actor for the role from the beginning. Badgley wasn't a fan of Joe as a character due to his twisted psychology and the actor felt morally conflicted. Badgley also recognized fans of Gossip Girl were likely to compare Joe to his previous role of Dan Humphrey, stating that "Joe ends up being a meta-progression of Dan Humphrey that makes me wildly uncomfortable, but also, right at home".
Fans are glad Badgley decided to commit to the role after all, as there's no other actor who could've filled in the role of Joe quite like Badgley.
Victoria Pedretti Originally Auditioned For Beck
Before Pedretti was ultimately cast as Love - in a role she was pitch-perfect in - the actress was seriously considered to play season one love interest Beck. Pedretti was disappointed when the role went to Elizabeth Lail, but the downtime allowed her to take part in the horror series The Haunting Of Hill House.
After Badgley read with Pedretti, he wasn't aware her character would turn out to be charming but murderous like him. When Berlanti and Gamble told him, he recognized that she was dimensional and well-suited for the role.
The Series Was Originally Pitched in 2015
Time-and-place is everything in Hollywood, and few shows have been more of a testament to that than You, which was originally pitched to Showtime in 2015. Showtime optioned the Caroline Kepnes novel of the same name and Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble were on board to develop, but the series ultimately fell through.
It took more trial-and-error on Lifetime before the series eventually landed right where it belonged on Netflix, who had the target demographic needed to make the series explode in popularity.
Joe's Book Store Is A Real-Life Popular Set
The infamous location from season one, Mooney's Bookstore, is a real-life Manhattan specialty bookstore called Logos. This isn't the first time Logos has been used for a big-time Hollywood production, as the interior of the bookstore was also used in Melissa McCarthy's critically acclaimed 2018 film Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Fans of the series will be happy to know that they can visit the real-life location of Joe's favorite bookstore if they ever find themselves strolling around the Upper East Side.
The Show Was Canceled After The First Season
Many fans of the series are unaware that You was created by Lifetime, and the first season aired on traditional cable television. While Lifetime had high hopes for the series and renewed it before Season One aired, the cable channel had a change of heart and canceled the series after it failed to capture a significant audience and returned disappointing ratings.
Netflix - who was already signed onto the project for international distribution - still saw potential and took the series under its own umbrella to renew it. The team at Netflix is glad they did because the series has had tremendous success since.