Always remember your humble beginnings or, in the case of former Gossip Girl co-stars Penn Badgley and Leighton Meester, reminiscence about a horror movie you did a year before getting the roles that changed your lives and admit you’ve never seen it.
There is a new Stitcher Podcast called Podcrushed set to premiere on May 18, 2022, and it’s hosted by Penn Badgley, Nava Kavelin, and Sophie Ansari. It’s described as “exploring the awkwardness, anxiety, heartbreaker, and self-discovery that defines adolescence.” The first episode sets up a Gossip Girl reunion with Leighton Meester appearing as a guest and the duo talk meeting on the set of a horror film neither of them has fully seen about a year before landing their signature roles as Upper East Siders.
The movie in question is called Drive Thru but Badgley jokingly remembers it differently by saying, “I don’t think about it hardly ever but then I’m like, oh, Hella-Burger! Well, actually it’s called Drive Thru.” Meester then adds, “I was wondering which title you were gonna shout. I’m really glad that was the one.”
Badgley then went on to explain that he and Meester did “a real B-grade horror together” about a year before meeting again on Gossip Girl. Meester revealed that she doesn’t know if she’s ever seen it, but Badgley admits he has seen clips, particularly one involving his grisly death. Badgley said, “I’m cut in the middle, in half. I’m cut in fully half. And then my body, torso slides off my legs.”
According to the plot description on IMDB, “Horror gets Super Sized when Horny The Clown, the demonic mascot of ‘Hella-Burger,’ starts slashing Orange County teenagers with his meat cleaver from Hell.” This either sounds like the dumbest movie ever or it’s right up my alley and I need to find it ASAP! If you’re only interested in watching Penn Badgley and Leighton Meester’s scenes so you don’t have to commit to the full 83-minute film, the internet did you a favor and made a compilation of their scenes.
I’m kind of curious where Drive Thru ranks against the 2009 The Stepfather remake, starring Badgley which wasn’t very good, or Meester’s 2011 college thriller The Roommate, also not very good. If Drive Thru is at all better than those films, we’re kind of in business.
Have YOU seen Drive Thru?