One of Hollywood’s favorite pastimes is casting actors well into their 20s (or 30s) as high school students. Eager to hop on the trend, Netflix’s fan-favorite teen drama, Outer Banks, features a handful of young adults trying their best to appear adolescent. The show follows two sets of kids—the wealthy Kooks and working-class Pogues—as they search for buried treasure in their North Carolina beach town. When they’re not channeling the Goonies in their pursuit of loot, these teens partake in summer flings, go boating, and indulge in a beer or two. Each character is said to be around 16, so the latter activity isn’t exactly above board.
None of the age differences between the actors and characters are as egregious as, say, Stockard Channing as Rizzo in Grease (34?!) or any number of the singing “teens” on Glee. Still, it’s interesting to unpack the age gap between the cast of Outer Banks and the characters they play. Ahead, a look at how old the ensemble is today.
Chase Stokes as John B
Age: 28
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Stokes is more than a decade older than his character, the leader of the Pogues. At the end of the first season, John B plays Romeo to Sarah Cameron’s Juliet, and their real-life actors (Stokes and Madelyn Cline) are still dating IRL.
Madelyn Cline as Sarah
Age: 23
The actress who plays the leader of the Kooks is more than five years older than her Carolinian counterpart. In the show, Sarah has a complicated relationship with her father (Charles Esten) and an even more complex love triangle with John B (Stokes) and Topper (Austin North). Cline previously appeared in the Nicole Kidman drama Boy Erased and season 2 of Stranger Things.
Madison Bailey as Kiara
Age: 22
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The hippie-lite Kiara, or “Kie,” is about six years younger than Bailey, who appeared on The CW show Black Lightning.
Jonathan Daviss as Pope
Age: 22
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Daviss, who plays the brainy and practical Pope, is also 22. He previously appeared on the NBC sci-fi series Revolution and indie Age of Summer.
Rudy Pankow as JJ
Age: 22
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JJ, an avid surfer and John B’s best friend, is played by a slightly older Pankow, whom you may remember from Netflix’s The Politician.
Austin North as Topper
Age: 24
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The final third of the John/Sarah/Topper love triangle has a secret heart of gold and nationally ranked surf skills. He’s played by North, who appeared on the Disney Channel series I Didn’t Do It.
Drew Starkey as Rafe
Age: 27
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Starkey plays the mysterious 19-year-old Rafe, a college dropout struggling with drug addiction. You might know him from roles in The Hate U Give and Love, Simon.
Julia Antonelli as Wheezie
Age: 18
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As the lone cast member who’s actually still a teenager, Antonelli plays the pre-teen sister of Sarah. The actress previously appeared on Showtime’s Billions and the Nickelodeon series Every Witch Way.
Carlacia Grant as Cleo
Age: 30
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New to the Outer Banks crew, Grant plays Cleo, a “confident and fearless Nassau girl whose world collides with the Pogues,” per Deadline. Grant previously appeared on the 2016 remake of Roots.
Savannah Walsh
Editorial Fellow
Savannah Walsh is an Editorial Fellow at ELLE.com.
Starr Savoy
Starr Savoy is a fellow at ELLE.com, where she writes about celebrity, culture, beauty, and fashion.
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