Photo Source: Jackson Lee Davis/Netflix
Good news, “Outer Banks” fans: Netflix officially renewed the teen mystery drama for a fifth season. The series became an instant hit when it premiered at the height of the pandemic, launching the careers of its young stars Chase Stokes, Madelyn Cline, and Madison Bailey.
If you’re interested in getting cast on the series, read this guide that covers everything you need to know about joining the Pogues or the Kooks.
What is “Outer Banks” about?
“Outer Banks” is a mystery-drama set in the Outer Banks region of North Carolina. The sun-drenched series follows two rival cliques: the working-class Pogues (John B, JJ, Pope, Kiara, and Sarah) and the wealthy Kooks (Rafe, Wheezie, Topper, Kelce, Anna, and Mike).
At the start of the series, the Pogues set out to search for answers surrounding the sudden disappearance of John B’s father—and the buried treasure at the heart of the mystery. Their next adventure will find them on the hunt for the infamous pirate Blackbeard’s haul.
Sibling filmmakers Josh and Jonas Pate created the show alongside Shannon Burke. They also serve as executive producers. “Outer Banks” began filming in May 2019 in Charleston and premiered on Netflix in April 2020.
Who is in the cast of “Outer Banks”?
Here are the new and returning stars of Season 4:
Chase Stokes as John B. Routledge
Madelyn Cline as Sarah Cameron
Madison Bailey as Kiara “Kie” Carrera
Jonathan Daviss as Pope Heyward
Rudy Pankow as JJ Maybank
Carlacia Grant as Cleo
Austin North as Topper Thornton
Drew Starkey as Rafe Cameron
Fiona Palomo as Sofia
J. Anthony Crane as Chandler Groff
Pollyanna McIntosh as Dalia
Brianna Brown as Hollis Robinson
Rigo Sanchez as Lightner
Mia Challis as Ruthie
Who are the casting directors for “Outer Banks”?
Carrie Audino, Laura Schiff, and Craig and Lisa Mae Fincannon served as the primary casting directors for Seasons 1 and 2 of “Outer Banks”; Kimberly Wistedt took over in 2023.
Audino and Schiff cast all six seasons of AMC’s Emmy-winning “Mad Men.” They also worked on hit series “Fear the Walking Dead” and “Bosch.” The Fincannons, the husband-and-wife team behind the Atlanta-based Fincannon & Associates, are known for casting “Fear the Walking Dead: Dead in the Water,” “Looper,” and “The Liberator.” Wistedt, meanwhile, put together the ensembles of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” and “Robbie Ain’t Right No More.”
When it came to casting the leads on “Outer Banks,” the creators wanted to find actors who shared a true rapport. And despite the fact that the core cast have Abercrombie & Fitch–ready looks, appearance wasn’t a priority for them.
Cline, who plays John B’s love interest, Sarah, told Refinery29 that “[Pate] wanted people who were honest—real human beings who could portray the type of experiences that were going on in ‘Outer Banks.’ So he cast a majority of the show based on not social media presence. He immediately was X-ing out people who weren’t able to bring the performance and was looking at their social media like: Are they taking a bunch of selfies? What’s their MO?”
Rudy Pankow told Entertainment Weekly that chemistry was key. “I met Bailey on the plane [on the way] to the chemistry read. Immediately when she got on the plane, I was like, Oh, that’s Kiara. Then we started acting in the room, and boom—it was instantaneous.”
How does the casting process work for “Outer Banks”?
Pankow told Us Weekly that he didn’t originally audition for the role of JJ. “The first chemistry read, I was John B. I actually read through Rafe, JJ, and John B within, like, two weeks. They were not sure which character [they wanted me to play]. And they flew me out to Charleston saying, ‘You’re going to be one of these characters’; but I didn’t know which one.
“The last audition I did in L.A. was John B, so I flew to Charleston thinking, like, Alright, they want me as John B,” he continued. But that wasn’t how things turned out. “Basically, I screwed up John B. and I was like, ‘Alright, I can come in as JJ!’ They sent me three new scenes, and I was kind of stressed out just a little bit.”
It wasn’t until Pankow met Stokes and Jonathan Daviss that it all began to make sense. “When I met Chase [at] the following chemistry read, it was crazy, because I even saw it,” Pankow said. “[Daviss], the guy that plays Pope, helped me find JJ the day before; and I [landed on] the version of JJ that’s in the show today thanks to JD.”
Carlacia Grant, who plays Cleo, told us that the first leg of tryouts took place via self-tape. “My agent first emailed me the audition and asked if I wanted to put it on tape. I sent them self-tapes, and then I didn’t hear anything—absolutely nothing. But I saw that they kept recasting and repackaging the roles, so I just kind of thought I didn’t get the part.
“And then I was meeting with my manager about another role that I was in consideration for, and she was like, ‘They’re still looking for that role on that show that you wanted,’ ” she continued. “So we’re like, ‘Let’s just send the tape again,’ and we sent the same exact tape again. And this is probably a month, maybe five weeks later, and we sent the same pages. Then less than a week later, I got an email about doing a chemistry read.”
Is “Outer Banks” currently filming?
Season 4 of “Outer Banks” is currently airing on Netflix. The hit series also was renewed for a fifth and final season. While we don’t have any filming updates at this moment, we plan to update this piece when news becomes available.
Where can you find “Outer Banks” casting calls and auditions?
While the series isn’t currently casting, the casting team has turned to Backstage in the past, calling for actors to play background and stand-in roles on Season 3. Pay was $132–$168 for 12 hours of work, with a $50 COVID-19 testing stipend.
CDs Taylor Woodell and Jocabed Aragón of TW Cast & Recruit also posted notices for Seasons 1 and 2 on Facebook. If you’re looking to land a role on the series, it’s a good idea to bookmark the company’s page.
If you’re interested in learning what it takes to audition for Netflix, check out our guide for more advice. And if you want to build up your résumé in the meantime, apply to one of these projects that are similar to “Outer Banks.”
What are the best audition tips for landing a role on “Outer Banks”?
Don’t rule anything out. As perfect as Chase Stokes is as John B, he initially passed on the part. When his agent first emailed him about the project, it was pitched as “four friends on a treasure hunt” with a main character named John B, which Stokes says he found fishy.
When the script made its way back to him in February 2019, unemployment led him to reconsider. “I was like, I don’t even care at this point,” he said. But his first read didn’t go well. “[It was] arguably in the top 10 worst auditions I’ve ever had in my life,” he recalled.
Luckily, Lisa Mae Fincannon, who previously cast Stokes on “Daytime Divas,” was in the room. She saw his potential and urged him to read the pilot and reconsider taking the role.
You don’t need to live in Los Angeles to land gigs. “This was not a job booked out of L.A.; this was a job that was booked in Atlanta; this was Lisa Fincannon who got me this job,” Stokes told Decider. “So for the people who feel like there’s an obligatory need to come to L.A. and get their career jump-started and they feel like this is the only place that you can do it… Don’t question your worth. Don’t question your value. The Southeast is incredibly strong. Out of the cast, Madison Bailey, Madelyn Cline, Drew Starkey, and myself were all, at some point, based in the Southeast, and all of them have roots there. Drew booked the job as Rafe out of Atlanta.”
Getting rejected isn’t necessarily the end. You might not get the job you auditioned for—but a CD could remember you down the line and call you in to read for other parts. “I feel like that’s a huge portion of our job, to have a database of actors, either in our heads or in a computer,” Audino told us. “If [CDs] had to start from scratch—not remembering anyone, every episode, every pilot, or every movie—we would not be able to do our jobs. Our biggest tool is our memory of actors.”
Whether or not you get cast, remember that everything will be OK. When Grant auditioned for “Outer Banks,” she had no idea what her part would actually entail; but she still took a chance. “You’re not going to get everything; you’re not going to get every one. Sometimes you’re going to be the perfect person for the part, and it won’t work out,” she told us. “But as long as you’re doing your best and you’re having fun and you’re being yourself, the right role is going to come to you. It’s all gonna work out.”
