Male Stars Are Getting Vulnerable

High-profile men are fighting toxic masculinity by speaking out about their mental health and insecurities

- ISABEL MOHAN

Penn Badgley

Toxic masculinity is having a long moment, and the dark misogynistic subculture of “the manosphere” — covered brilliantly (and heartbreakingly) in the Netflix hit Adolescence — seems to garner new headlines every day. But here at Us, we're hopeful that dangerous so-called male role models like Andrew Tate won’t win out: Whether by design or coincidence, a growing group of famous men are demonstrating emotional vulnerability, and showing boys it’s good to talk, hug and be in touch with their feelings.

Adolescence's Jamie (Owen Cooper) and his court-mandated therapist, Briony (Erin Doherty)

Take Penn Badgley. Sure, his character in You is the ultimate toxic male (he literally stalks and murders women he claims to love), but off-screen, the actor isn’t afraid to talk openly about his mental health, including a topic few celebrity men have spoken about publicly: past body dysmorphia. “I know that I hated my body and simply wanted a different one,” the Gossip Girl alum recently told