I should’ve done the show: Jameela Jamil recalls turning down ‘You’ audition

Actor said no because of intimate scenes only to find out that Penn Badgley had asked creators to reduce them in S4

Actor Jameela Jamil revealed that she was supposed to audition for Joe Goldberg’s love interest in the latest season of the hit Netflix series You but she had to turn it down due to the possibility of performing sex scenes. The Good Place star revealed that she is “not comfortable with objectifying herself” and has a deep history of childhood sexual trauma, making such scenes impossible for her.

During an interview on the Podcrushed podcast hosted by Penn Badgley, Nava Kavelin, and Sophie Ansari, Jamil said, “I don’t think I’ve ever been someone who would have enjoyed objectifying myself, personally. But that’s also because I have so much deep, like, childhood sexual trauma stuff. So, I think that was never in the cards for me. You know, I still wear the… like, the little skirt or the busty top, but like, occasionally. But generally, I feel quite protective of myself in that way. Like, I don’t do sex scenes.”

Jamil further revealed that she was supposed to co-star with Badgley in the show’s latest season, where her character was supposed to be “quite sexy”, but she ultimately turned down the audition. “In fact, I was supposed to audition for the most recent season of your show. My character was supposed to be quite sexy, and I pulled out of the audition because I am so shy about anything sexy that I can’t,” she explained.

She further added how she later found out that the Gossip Girl alum had previously asked the show’s creator, Sera Gamble, to reduce intimate scenes for Season 4, citing his real-life marriage as one of the reasons he was opting not to do more sex scenes. “And then you f***ing came out and was like, ‘yeah, I’m not doing sex scenes anymore’. And I was like, I didn’t even know that was a boundary that we could draw. But then I was like, I should have gone and done the f***ing show,” she said with a hinge of regret.

Jamil is known for standing up for what she believes in and has been vocal about her opinions on body image, mental health, and social justice issues. She currently hosts the podcast Bad Dates and has previously spoken about her own struggles with mental health and eating disorders.

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