Joe Goldberg

Joe Goldberg
You character
Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg.
First appearance
  • Novel:
  • You (2013)
  • Television:
  • "Pilot" (September 9, 2018)
Created by
Portrayed by
  • Penn Badgley (seasons 1–4)
  • Ed Speleers (season 4)
  • Gianni Ciardiello (teenager)
  • Aidan Wallace (child)
  • Jack Fisher (child)
In-universe information
Full nameJoseph Goldberg
AliasJeff Pevensey
Nathan Herzog
Spencer Hewitt
Paul Brown
Dan Fox
Will Bettelheim
Nick Jones
Jonathan Moore
OccupationFormer bookstore manager
Former bookstore clerk
Former librarian
Former literature professor
Bookstore owner
FamilyRaphael Passero (biological father)
Sandy Goldberg (biological mom)
Ivan Mooney (adoptive father)
Henry Goldberg (son)
SpouseLove Quinn (first wife)
Kate Lockwood (second wife)
Significant others
OriginJewish
NationalityAmerican

Joe Goldberg is a fictional character and protagonist of the You book series, written by Caroline Kepnes, as well as the television adaptation of the same name, where he is portrayed by American actor Penn Badgley, by Gianni Ciardiello, Aidan Wallace and Jack Fisher as a youth, and as his inner self by Ed Speleers. Joe is a serial killer, stalker and former bookstore manager who, upon meeting Guinevere Beck at his workplace in New York, develops an extreme, toxic and delusional obsession with her. After moving to Los Angeles to escape his sordid past, he meets avid chef Love Quinn and falls into his old habits of obsession and violence in order to avoid the fate of his past romantic endeavors. As his troubled marriage with Love falls apart, he abandons his life in the United States and moves to London where he begins tracking down the Eat-the-Rich killer, while managing an infatuation with Kate Lockwood.