What Is Joe Goldberg’s Zodiac Sign? Here’s Why Penn Badgley Was Destined to Star in “You”

By now you’ve probably seen each and every depraved episode of Netflix’s You, starring Penn Badgley. Because the protagonist is such a passionate, conflicting—and deadly—character, you might be wondering what Joe Goldberg’s zodiac sign from You might be. However, With Season 4 being released right around the corner on February 9, I want you to understand why this role was truly written in the stars by looking at the birth chart of Penn Badgley, because it explains why he understands this character so well.

In You, Badgley plays brilliant serial-killer and certified stalker, Joe Goldberg, a former bookseller and bibliophile who bounces from New York City to Los Angeles and is now headed to London in order to continue dodging his murder-filled past. The storyline continues to evolve down gorier, more twisted events, capitalizing on Joe’s troubled childhood and the traumatic experiences that led him into the life of a love-struck killer.

Each season the character development of Joe Goldberg gets deeper, more intense and ultimately more twisted. Spoiler alert for those who haven’t watched You: Joe shows his absolute mastery of being able to switch from charming to creepy, manipulating his love interests, and covering up the murders of over fifteen other characters in the last three seasons. In order to understand Joe Goldberg and how this character is so eerily believable, we had to look into Penn Badgley’s birth chart!

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What Is Joe Goldberg’s Zodiac Sign?

Penn Badgley’s birth chart shows us that the intensity, fixation and unwavering dedication to his character’s love interests (and their subsequent murders) is very easily channeled by Badgley. In astrology, there is a rare occurrence in birth charts called “stelliums”, meaning that three or more planets have grouped together in any one sign or house in someone’s chart and ultimately amplify that energy even further. Penn Badgley is not only a Scorpio sun, but he also has his moon, Mercury, Venus and Pluto placements all in Scorpio. And while this definitely doesn’t mean that being a Scorpio means you’re exactly like Joe Goldberg, it does explain why Penn Badgley understands the complexities of this role so well.

Penn Badgley Has a Scorpio Stellium

In astrology, the sun represents someone’s outward facing personality. The moon giving us insights into someone’s childhood as well as their inner emotional landscape. Mercury placements tell us how someone will communicate and network with others. Venus gives insight into how they love and want to be loved. Mars tells us how they take action and defend themselves. And Pluto holds the key to someone’s subconscious thoughts and desires. We can see that most of who Penn Badgley is as a person will be imprinted with passion, control and desire. The mirror effect between Badgley’s real-life birth chart and Joe Goldberg’s perplexing character are undeniable. 

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Scorpio is a fixed water sign and is also ruled by Pluto in modern astrology and Mars in traditional astrology. This unwavering, deeply emotional and somewhat psychic energy also feels wildly amplified with darkness, death and taboo topics when it is placed in someone’s eighth house. According to many sites (which place Badgley’s rising sign as “Aries”) all of these planetary placements in Scorpio are also in his natal eighth house. There is an inherent understanding into the dark and gorey parts of life when many personal placements fall into the eighth house. People who have their natal sun in the eighth house also typically feel established in their career with an ambitious and opportunistic personality. For Penn, creating an established career in acting by taking on a role as a serial killer makes all the more sense with sun, moon, Mercury, Venus and Pluto all in this intense and fixed water sign energy.

He Has Mars in Aquarius

Aquarius, the waterbearer, gets a bad reputation for being emotionally detached, but what better sign to have your Mars placement (the planet that is focused on your work style, aggression and overall forward movement) occupy if you’re going to play a serial killer? Aquarius Mars people have an insatiable need for freedom. Think about Joe’s inability to take accountability for his murderous actions and his necessity to evade legal justice for his victims. Joe’s constant desire  to escape from the boundaries of society is well-played by Penn’s Aquarius Mars placement and becomes all the more convincing season after season. 

He Has Jupiter in Pisces

Penn also has his natal Jupiter in dreamy and emotional Pisces. Jupiter in Pisces people tend to feel like they know others on a deep level regardless of how long they’ve known them. Think about how quickly and deeply Joe becomes hyper fixated on his love interests. There is a deeply poetic and overly romanticized view of the women that come into his life, and with Penn’s natal Jupiter placement, we wouldn’t doubt if he was this way in real life, too!

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He Has His South Node in Libra & North Node in Aries

Last but certainly not least, we can see that Penn Badgley has his South Node in the sign of Libra. In astrology, the South Node gives us an understanding of someone’s natural tendencies that they are tasked with outgrowing in this lifetime in order to achieve true balance and fulfillment. This placement can point to issues with codependency and relying too heavily on validation from partners for one’s sense of worth. This placement would also indicate to us that his North Node (the opposite sign to one’s South Node) is in Aries, a sign that values individuality and relationship to “Self”. This placement does well to understand compassion and empathy while still making sure that boundaries and self-preservation are at the forefront of all that they do.

Joe could take a few pointers from Penn’s birth chart, and we hope to see some healthy interdependence, accountability and self-prioritization show up for Joe when season 4 of You is released on Netflix as of February 9, 2023. And of course, we all know it will be expertly potrayed by the talented and emotionally-receptive Penn Badgley. 

Remi Bader. Design: Sasha Purdy / StyleCaster