Fans of Netflix’s seminal series You have always basked in the general creepiness of the psychotic lead Joe Goldberg, a man who has a knack for reading books, stalking women, stealing their underwear and wielding his killer hands. Played effortlessly by Penn Badgley, you would, however, be surprised to know that another You actor almost bagged the role of Goldberg.
Dylan Arnold, who plays Theo Engler in the third season, had initially auditioned for the role of Goldberg before it was handed ver to Badgely.
Arnold plays a nineteen-year-old college boy who is Joe and, his equally psychotic and murderous partner, Love Quinn’s neighbour. The main conflict of the season rises when Joe flirts with Theo’s father’s wife, causing a jealous Love to murder her in cold blood. The duo then teams up to hide their tracks. Love makes use of Theo’s crush on her and soon goes down the rabbit hole of infidelity where they fall in love with one another.
Before he bagged the role of Theo, the 27-year-old star had initially auditioned as Goldberg. Instead of Badgley, it could have been him who would have been married to Victoria Pedretti’s Love Quinn.
Arnold said, “So I auditioned for Joe for season one, and then I auditioned for Forty for season two, and now, third time’s the charm, I got Theo in season three.”
It seems like Arnold really had an affinity for the show. Had he not been Love’s lover, he could have very well played her brother Forty in the second season, a character who continued to haunt Love even after his death.
While talking about his third audition, Arnold spoke of how he binge-watched the show. “I went back and was like, OK, let me watch the second season and get the tone of the show,” he explained.
“I wound up bingeing the entire second season in two and a half days, which I’ve never done with another show I’ve auditioned for.” Arnold said that being a “huge fan”, he felt “very lucky to be a part of the third season”.
Similarly, Pedretti had missed out on the opportunity to play Beck in the first season before bagging the role of Love.
Theo and Love have a pretty intense relationship that you can stream on Netflix right now.
