YOU star reveals keeping Holy Quran on bedside for reading

Renowned Hollywood actor Penn Badgley, best known for You and Gossip Girl, recently shared an unexpected and thoughtful glimpse into his spiritual life — one that includes reading the Quran and performing daily prayers.

In an interview with USA TODAY’s The Essentials, Badgley revealed the kind of books that keep him grounded, especially while portraying intense characters like Joe Goldberg.

“Honestly, on my nightstand I have the Quran, which sometimes I'll meditate on a passage from,” Badgley said.

 He also said that he reads Dracula. "It’s a good book.”

Aside from his nighttime reading, Badgley also finds peace each morning through a deeply meaningful prayer ritual rooted in the Baháʼí Faith.

“I have a comical, total bankruptcy of a morning routine because of children and work,” he says.
Still, one practice remains consistent.

“But here’s the one thing I have. If I get this, it’s worth all of the things,” he says. “There’s this particular prayer within the Baháʼí Writings,” says Badgley, who is part of the Baháʼí Faith, “called the long obligatory prayer. 

It takes about 15 minutes to say. I have it memorized, and I’ve had it memorized for years, because I love it. I timed it: If I say it extremely fast, I can say it in seven minutes. And then meditate like two minutes after, so I’ve gotten it down to a nine-minute routine if I blitz through it.”

He adds that when time allows, he extends the experience for a more meditative start to his day.

“I can take 15 to 20 minutes if I want to be a little more luxurious. If I can do that on any given day, any morning, it just makes such a difference, because it orients me to remember a bit more clearly the purpose and nature of life – or at least a fulfilling life, an enriching one.”