Updated
- The first part of the fourth season of “Outer Banks” dropped on Netflix on October 10.
- The show focuses on two groups of teenagers, Pogues and Kooks, engaged in class warfare.
- Even though almost everyone in the cast is supposed to be a teenager, no one is under 24 years old.
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The Netflix original series “Outer Banks” almost immediately became a phenomenon upon its premiere in April 2020. After the first two seasons, the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau told People that visitorship was “significantly up” and that “the show no doubt contributed to a higher visibility for the destination.”
The cast also became stars overnight, each with over 1 million followers on Instagram — some with up to 12 million — and they have secured partnerships with brands like Armani, American Eagle, and Revlon, among others. The show even inspired a music festival, Poguelandia, which was held in Huntington Beach, California, in February 2023.
But while the cast has become famous for playing teenagers, they’re actually much older in real life. The youngest member of the main cast is 24, and the oldest is 33.
Here’s how the ages of the cast compare with their treasure-hunting characters.
The main character of “Outer Banks” is John B., a 19-year-old living on his own after the death of his father.
The disappearance of John B.’s dad is what sets him on the path to the Bahamas in search of buried treasure.
Chase Stokes, who plays John B., is actually 32.
He’s more than a decade older than his teenage character.
Since “Outer Banks” began, Stokes has appeared in projects like the Netflix adaptation of the YA novel “Uglies” and the Prime Video series “Tell Me Your Secrets.”
Stokes is currently dating country singer Kelsea Ballerini.
John B.’s main love interest is 19-year-old Sarah Cameron. She’s known as a “Kook,” or a rich person in the Outer Banks.
While Sarah’s family may be elitist and, in some cases, downright evil, Sarah is able to escape all that to find love with John B. and his friends, the “Pogues.”
In actuality, Madelyn Cline, who plays Sarah, is 26.
Cline and her on-screen love interest, played by Stokes, dated for over a year in real life before breaking up in November 2022.
In between seasons of “OBX,” Cline starred in “Glass Onion,” the second “Knives Out” film. She’s also set to star in the upcoming revival of the “I Know What You Did Last Summer” franchise.
Kiara, or Kie, used to be the only female member of John B.’s group of friends, known as the “Pogues.” She’s 19, too.
Kiara’s parents own a restaurant in the Outer Banks, which sometimes means that she gets dragged to Kook events, like the Midsummer party in episode five of season one.
The actor who plays Kiara, Madison Bailey, is 25 in real life.
Bailey also had a recurring role on the CW show “Black Lightning” as part of the villainous group, the Masters of Disaster.
Eighteen-year-old Pope is another member of the Pogues.
Pope is easily the smartest member of the Pogues and has the closest relationship to the gold everyone was searching for in seasons one and two. He’s a descendant of Denmark Tanny, who smuggled the gold in after a shipwreck in the 1800s.
Jonathan Daviss, aka Pope, turned 24 this year.
Daviss had a starring role in the 2022 Netflix film “Do Revenge.”
Rounding out the Pogues is 19-year-old JJ.
JJ, who comes from an abusive household, is the hothead of the group — though, over the last three seasons, he’s been making some progress on that front. He even finally told Kiara he loved her at the end of season three.
JJ is played by 26-year-old Rudy Pankow.
Pankow hails from Alaska, a far cry from the islands of North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
Just before the fourth season of “OBX” premiered, Pankow wrapped up his time as Romeo in “Romeo and Juliet” at Boston’s American Repertory Theater. He’s also appeared in films such as “Uncharted,” “The Crusades,” and “Accidental Texan.”
Sarah starts the show dating Topper, a fellow 18-year-old Kook.
Perhaps you remember when the audio of Sarah telling Topper, “No, you don’t, Topper. You love the idea of me, you love being seen with me, but you don’t love me,” went viral on TikTok.
In real life, Topper is played by 28-year-old Austin North.
North got his start on Disney Channel, starring in a show called “I Didn’t Do It” from 2014 to 2015. In 2024, he appeared in the film “One Last Move.”
Sarah’s unstable older brother is named Rafe, who’s around 21 years old.
Rafe is set up as a college dropout and general thorn in the side of the rest of the Cameron family — throughout the show he’s grown increasingly more volatile, with the season four trailer teasing more troubling behavior from Rafe.
Drew Starkey, who plays Rafe, is actually 30.
You may recognize Starkey as the police officer from “The Hate U Give,” his recurring role in “Scream: Resurrection,” or his roles in “The Devil All the Time, “Love, Simon,” or “The Other Zoey.”
This fall, he’s costarring with Daniel Craig in the film “Queer,” directed by Luca Guadagnino — it’s sure to be a star-making performance.
Cleo joined the cast in season two. She’s around the same age as the Pogues.
John B. and Sarah met Cleo when the ship she was working on rescued them from a shipwreck at the beginning of season two. After allying herself with them and the rest of their friends, Cleo is now a full-blown Pogue.
She’s played by Carlacia Grant, who is actually 33.
Grant has a strong Bahamian accent in the show, but in real life, Grant has an American accent.
Disclosure: Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Business Insider’s parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member.
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