1. Chase Stokes actually passed on the show at first because it was being pitched as a Goonies reboot. But then, when he got the script, he realized it was completely different.
Netflix
Chase passed originally because he didn’t want to “be the guy responsible for destroying a cult-classic film.” Then he read the script and realized it wasn’t just Goonies 2.0.
2. In fact, Chase ended up reading for the role of Topper months after passing on the project — eventually, the casting director talked to creator Jonas Pate about Chase playing John B.
Netflix
3. Chase and Madelyn Cline’s first interaction was when Chase randomly asked her to “walk on his back” in the production office and he had no idea who she was.
Netflix
Chase had just gotten off a red-eye flight and while Madelyn was on his back, she said, “I probably should’ve told you this before, I’m Madelyn Cline. I’m playing Sarah Cameron.”
4. Rudy Pankow wanted to play JJ from the beginning, but the producers wanted him for John B. originally — he thought he was going to play John B. until he flew to Charleston after his last audition.
Curtis Baker / Netflix
Rudy also read for the role of Rafe at one point.
5. In fact, Jonathan “J.D.” Daviss, who plays Pope, helped Rudy come up with the version of JJ you see onscreen in Season 1 — they worked through Rudy’s JJ scenes that he later performed opposite Chase for their chemistry read.
Jackson Davis / Netflix
6. While the Outer Banks is actually in North Carolina, the show filmed in South Carolina due to North Carolina’s anti-LGBTQ laws that were in effect when production began — North Carolina has since repealed the “bathroom bill.”
Netflix
7. When John B. used the scuba gear to investigate Scooter’s boat, it was actually the first time Chase had gone scuba diving in his life — he went through a quick training course right before filming began.
Netflix
Also, Chase still doesn’t have his official scuba certification.
8. And, while John B. had to swim pretty deep underwater during this moment, Chase was actually only a foot below the surface — he was floating in the water next to the boat during the entire scene.
Netflix
He explained, “I literally bobbed under the surface, maybe a foot.”
9. Also, all of the underwater shots were filmed at a cop training facility for scuba divers — no green screen was used and it took them 16 hours to sink the boat.
Netflix
10. Most of the stunts were done by the cast, and they had to go through a few weeks of boating, diving, swimming, surfing, and some boxing training before filming began.
Netflix
Also, Madison Bailey had to go through a few ukulele lessons.
11. In order to film the boat scenes, a camera crew was stationed on an exact replica of the Pogue — they would start pretty far out to get a wide shot and then slowly push in to close-ups of each character.
Netflix
12. A lot of the crew — including the showrunners, directors, and camera operators — were friends growing up.
Netflix
It made the cast and crew feel like a family.
13. The cast had “a lot of freedom” while filming scenes and there’s actually a ton of improv featured on Outer Banks.
Netflix
14. In fact, Rudy improvised some of JJ’s speech when he talked about his dad to Pope and Kie while he was in the hot tub.
Netflix
Rudy elaborated, saying, “I realized that I need to go to where all of this heartbreak and pain is coming from, and there’s some of that written, but I wanted to add a little bit of it in there myself.”
15. Originally, John B. and Sarah’s kiss wasn’t meant to be filmed in the rain. However, it started raining IRL and the cast and crew decided to go for it “full Notebook” style.
Netflix
Madelyn talked about filming the scene, saying, “We just dedicated the entire day to making sure we did that scene justice.”
16. The first scene Chase filmed on Outer Banks was when Sheriff Peterkin came to talk to John B. after the beach incident.
Netflix
He said it was like being thrown “to the wolves” and suddenly his first scene was acting opposite “Adina Porter, who is obviously an Emmy-nominated actress and one of the most amazing people I got to work with on the show.”
17. Madison Bailey and J.D. filmed several different versions of the scene when Pope tells Kie he has feelings for her — some versions were light and funny, while others were more serious.
Netflix
18. Director Valerie Weiss, Madelyn, and Chase were the ones who came to the decision to cut John B. and Sarah’s sex scene short — they wanted there to be a clear distinction between this moment and the one with Sarah and Topper.
Netflix
Madelyn explained, saying, “I told [Valerie] I really wanted it to be really sweet. I wanted Sarah to be the one driving it so that we see that difference.”
19. J.D. got all of the Pogues a wrap gift, which was a bracelet that said “Pogues for Life” on it, but he accidentally spelled “Pogues” wrong.
Netflix
20. Rudy and Chase lived together while filming because they wanted JJ and John B.’s friendship to be as authentic as possible onscreen — living together helped them bond.
Netflix
21. Recently, Madelyn, Chase, Rudy, and Drew Starkey were actually quarantining together for about a month and a half — they even built a giant fort in their living room and cooked meals together.
Curtis Baker / Netflix
22. They actually filmed a couple of different versions of the Season 1 ending before settling on the one that made the final cut.
Netflix
23. And finally, the creators and writers have already begun working on scripts for a potential Season 2.
Jackson Davis / Netflix
Creator Jonas Pate said, “Before [Season 1] even came out, Netflix had green-lit us to write some [Season 2] scripts, so we’ve been working on that for a few months now.”
