Penn Badgley.Photo: Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images

Penn Badgley attends the 36th Annual Tibet House US Benefit Concert & Gala After Party

Penn Badgleyis opening up about his role as a stepfather.

While appearing on the New York Times’Modern Lovepodcast, theYouactor, 37, read an essay about a father who had to be vulnerable around his sons, prompting the star to share how vulnerable he is around his own kids. Badgley shares his son, 3½, with wifeDomino Kirke, 40, and is also stepdad to Kirke’s son Cassius, 15.

“I have an interesting situation where I have a biological son and a stepson,” Badgley began. “And my stepson…his father is very much in his life, so his father is his father, and I’m something else. So I have two different kind of parental roles.”

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Penn Badgley with his son.Domino Kirke Instagram

Penn Badgley with his son

Domino Kirke Instagram

“And then my biological son is only 3½. So, that’s a very different thing, too. I’m going to need to be able to more consciously show him my vulnerability as he gets older in those years, you know?”

Later in the discussion, Badgley elaborated on the differences between his two sons, saying that he recently found a way to bond with his teenager. Noting that Cassius is older and “doesn’t want to spend that much time with us anyway,” the actor said he and his son watchedThe Edge of Tomorrowtogether.

“And it was one of those very male — we didn’t talk that much because it was super late,” he said. “But I just knew it was important. It was like the stars had aligned so that my wife and my youngest son were asleep, and I was just like, this is a good time to do this. You’re not going to play video games now. We’re going to do this.”

“He loved it,” Badgley shared. “And you want to talk about Modern Love? One of the ways you got to do that is watch things with people.”

Penn Badgley and Domino Kirke attend the 36th Annual Tibet House US Benefit Concert & Gala After Party.Ilya S. Savenok/Getty

Penn Badgley and Domino Kirke attend the 36th Annual Tibet House US Benefit Concert & Gala After Party

Ilya S. Savenok/Getty

While appearing onThe Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallonlast year, Badgleyrecounted a sticky situation with his toddler sonwhen he almost saw his dad inYou.

During the interview, Fallon asked if Badgley’s son “knows his daddy plays a serial killer,” which prompted theGossip Girlalum to share his story.

“And he was like, ‘Daddy!’ while I started to race around because the next thing he was going to see was something really crazy.”

source: people.com