Penn Badgley and his wife, Domino Kirke, are preparing to welcome not just one but two new additions to their family.
“Babies #3 and #4 coming this Summer! Talk about a PLOT TWIST!” Kirke, 41, shared via Instagram on Friday, February 28. The post featured a photo of her, Badgley, and their 4-year-old son, James. “Spontaneous twins are beyond magical.”
The couple, who tied the knot in 2017, are already parents to James. Kirke also has an older son, Cassius, from a previous relationship.
Penn Badgley and Domino Kirke’s Relationship Journey
In a 2019 interview, Kirke spoke about Badgley’s role as a stepfather, saying, “He’s a really good stepdad. He doesn’t have to be ‘dad’ so he can have more fun with him. It’s really nice.
The stepparent thing is definitely uncharted territory for me ’cause I didn’t grow up with one, but … he takes care of him really well.”
She also reflected on Cassius’ growth, noting, “Boys at 10 have the same amount of testosterone as they will have when they’re 18, so there’s a sass.
But when I speak to him on the phone, he’ll be like, ‘Hey mom, you sound tired. You should go to bed.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, OK, thanks.’ Like, ‘Whoa, who am I talking to?’”
Penn Badgley and Domino Kirke
Badgley’s Experience with Fatherhood
Badgley, 38, has opened up about his experience as a stepfather and a biological father.
“I was curious [how] my new fatherhood would influence my experience with Joe and acting with him,” he told Access Hollywood in 2021, referring to his role on You.
“But sometimes, it was almost not helpful because I was having such a light and joyful experience [and] still am, and Joe was, like, so petrified and so scared.
Of course, I can identify with the fear, but he’s just so morbid in his obsessive self-preservation and primal instinct that sometimes I almost found it harder.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Badgley reflected on fatherhood, telling, “It’s just been us, my wife and I, taking care of him. And as a result, in some ways, we’re thrilled.
There’s a beautiful joy and lightness to our connection with him. He seems to reflect that. And at the same time, it’s so hard.”
Parenthood and Acting
While filming season 3 of You, Badgley found parallels between his character’s experience and his own journey as a new father.
“I certainly had the great bounty of drawing on my own experience, becoming a new biological parent, and that was quite natural,” he told in October 2021.
“There are some definitely sweet moments where I was able to do that, but I think by and large, [Joe’s] paternal instinct is at best primal. I think to be a good father or a parent, you need to really rise several orders above primal, but he’s at least primal, I guess.”
