Penn Badgley has revealed he came close to landing a role in one of the most critically-acclaimed TV shows of the 21st century.
The US actor originally rose to fame as part of the teen show Gossip Girl, and has since gone on to enjoy success playing the fictional serial killer Joe Goldberg in You.
However, before the Netflix drama came calling, Penn was almost cast as Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad, which went on to become a break-out role for Aaron Paul.
Speaking to BuzzFeed, Penn shared that there have been a “bunch” of shows he auditioned for but didn’t end up being cast in before You.
“One I got close on was Breaking Bad,” he recalled. “It was between me and Aaron Paul, we tested. And actually that was the best television script I’d read at that point. That was the one that got away.”
For his work in Breaking Bad, Aaron went on to land five Emmy nominations in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series category, winning in 2010, 2012 and 2014.
Meanwhile, Penn is currently starring in the fourth season of You, the first half of which is now streaming on Netflix.
The new batch of episodes sees his character Joe moving overseas to London, where he finds the tables have been turned on him.
You will return for the second half of season four on 9 March, with Penn making his directorial debut in an upcoming episode.
Watch his BuzzFeed interview in full below: