Madelyn Cline Talks Outer Banks Season 3, Personal Style, and Her ...

Madelyn Cline says Outer Banks season 3 is the best one yet. For those die-hard OBX fans that have been planning their own treasure hunt since 2020, that might be hard to believe. 

The show premiered its first season on Netflix while many watchers were stuck at home, so a small, yet rowdy cult-like following emerged following the teen action series. Whether you relished in the thought of spending your days running from bad guys alongside the pogues or hiding away in country clubs with the kooks, Outer Banks built a loyal fandom that is still going strong. So strong, the show was renewed for a season 4 ahead of the season 3 premiere.

Outer Banks in part follows Madelyn Cline’s character Sarah Cameron in all the expected teenage angst that comes with finding your first real love, while also simultaneously evading the police, leaving the country, and relentlessly following a killer lump sum of gold. All in the days work for an average 16-year-old in the Outer Banks. Alongside Sarah Cameron in her P4L (Pogue 4 Life) allegiance is John B (played by Chase Stokes), JJ (Rudy Pankow), Kiara (Madison Bailey), Pope (Jonathan Daviss) and Cleo (Carlacia Grant). In season 3 we meet the Pogues on “Poguelandia” while they figure out life on a deserted island — and decide if it’s worth going back to their lives on the Outer Banks.

“This one felt really, really intense,” Madelyn tells Teen Vogue. “And I think it's because the action and the adventure has ramped up. There was this energy to the season that the other two didn't quite have and I think it showed.”

Over three seasons, Madelyn has seen Sarah evolve immensely, mostly through an unsettling amount of trauma. This season, though, she says we should expect to see a different side of Sarah. Below, Teen Vogue caught up with Madelyn ahead of the OBX season 3 premiere and chatted about this new season, friendship, and who she really ships with Sarah Cameron. 

Teen Vogue: Three seasons of Outer Banks**. This show has truly become a huge success. I'm a big fan, and I know it's a great show because my little brother who doesn't watch anything besides football is obsessed with it. What does it feel like to see so much community and support around** OBX**?**

Madelyn Cline: It's really cool. It's so funny. I find myself in awe all the time. We kind of had lightning in a bottle season 1, and I was so excited about the response to season 1, I just kept thinking like when is it going to end? Are we running out of luck? Are people going to get tired of it? And it hasn't happened yet. People still really love it. It means the world because this project means the world to us as the cast, but the other half of making a show is also putting it in front of people, and seeing how they receive it. To see that be such a positive response time and time again is just the most overwhelming and amazing thing to watch.

Madelyn Cline as Sarah Cameron in episode 306 of Outer BanksJACKSON LEE DAVIS/NETFLIX

TV: Sarah Cameron is a very intricate and powerful character. I feel like, especially now after I've watched a couple episodes of season three, she really is building a strong entity outside of the men that she's always been attached to, like her dad, Topper, and John B. From your perspective, how do you feel Sarah has grown as a character?

MC: I think Sarah has grown up a lot and she's gone through a lot. She's gone through things, in my opinion, that have caused her to have to grow up quickly. She chose maybe a route that wasn't going to have the same kind of comfortable life. She was going to have to speak her mind, even though it was going to cause her and her family to clash. And she chose her chosen family over her real family because of what she believed in. 

TV: Are there any costars you wish you had more moments on screen with as your respective characters on the show?

MC: Okay, listen I don't love Rafe. Rafe is psychopathic, but I like Drew, he’s such a good actor and he's so fun. I just wish that he would stop being such a psycho and he and Sarah could team up and they could be like Cameron siblings and be like the buddy cop type together. You know? I just feel like it would be so much fun. But I know that won't happen. He's too far gone.

TV: When I first saw the show, I was very excited because I'm from South Carolina. I remember being like, oh my god, I love the Outer Banks. It's such a dope thing. I know you're also from the South, too. How do you feel like having that experience growing up in a southern town helped you explore how you wanted to exist in the OBX universe?

MC: At least for me, some of my job on the day, besides bringing my work that I've done at home with me, is feeling my surroundings. Your surroundings can be very, very informative and there's a physicality to like each role. There was already a sense of home about shooting in South Carolina because it is home. And so I feel like that was kind of already ingrained. It all felt very familiar. Also, two of our showrunners, they have kids that are about the Pogues and Kooks age. And so I think for them in the writing it was already on the page for us. But I think for me, personally, I already had that sense built in. It all came kind of natural for me.

TV: A part of OBX that really made me excited was the dynamic with the friend group. When I was in high school, I would do absolutely anything and everything for my friends. Have you had any friendships throughout your life that you’ve looked to for guidance when you were thinking about the dynamic within the friend group that you have on the show?

MC: Yeah, I would always look to the mom of the group. The person who gives the best advice and has the most soothing energy, someone I know I could trust with anything and everything — no judgement. I feel like in the show it’s probably Pope. And also like, in real life I would go to JD (Jonathan Daviss) and talk to him about anything.

(L to R) Chase Stokes as John B, Madelyn Cline as Sarah Cameron, Carlacia Grant as Cleo, Jonathan Daviss as Pope, Rudy Pankow as JJ in episode 301 of Outer BanksJACKSON LEE DAVIS/NETFLIX

TV: I feel like in a lot of teen shows, especially where there's action, the parents are like, never around. With OBX, it's so different. The parents are so ingrained into the show versus what we’re all used to. What is it like not only having a show where the parents are actually trying to ground you from leaving the house, but also just having that dynamic working with the actors?

MC: It is nice to have that little bit of reality mixed in there because I always think about that for characters, like other teenagers in books or shows. I think the parents are around, but they're more like accessories. It's not like they're actually doing functional parent activities. It’s nice to have that little touch of grounding, pun intended. But, I love working with all of the parent actors. We don't always get to see them like we see each other so anytime we do get to see the parent actors on set, it's really fun and exciting. Like even if we're not shooting we'll go up to set and say hi, because they're just so cool. 

TV: Without giving anything away about season 3, were there any specific moments while filming the show that you like are ingrained into your mind?

MC: Probably some of our locations, we've had some really crazy locations and experiences. While filming we saw the biggest centipede I've ever seen, we were knees deep in mud. I'm talking like mud mud like the kind of mud you lose a shoe in. We were in ice cold water sometimes. Some of the action adventure stuff we've done has just been ingrained in my mind forever. Like filthy hot tubs after we were in really, really cold water.

(L to R) Carlacia Grant as Cleo, Madelyn Cline as Sarah Cameron in episode 302 of Outer BanksJACKSON LEE DAVIS/NETFLIX

TV: What would be one sentence that you use to describe season 3?

MC: Best season yet.

TV: What are you most excited for fans to see this season, whether that's like a dynamic or a specific moment?

MC: I'm really excited for Sarah's emotional journey this year, and her arc gets a little bit more inward. We kind of see her do some emotional recall from everything that she's been through in the past two seasons. I think that was much needed because her life has been flipped upside down. We haven't really seen her process that and kind of like mourn the loss of you know, the things that she's lost, and the confusion and desperation, all these things that she just hasn't taken a moment to feel yet. We see some of that this year.

TV: If there weren't any limitations or rules or parameters, what would you love to see happen in Outer Banks season 4?

MC: I really have been saying this for so long. I really want to see Sarah have a job like at a smoothie shack or like at a sandwich shop. I want to see her try to make smoothies and do them all wrong or like not put the top on the blender. Kind of like Rachel Green when she works at Central Perk. I want to see something like that, I think it'd be funny.

TV: I know you mentioned that your style is so different from Sarah, so what do you feel are the biggest differences between your character and you in real life?

MC: Style for sure. I prefer neutrals, more understated or just straight up baggy sweatpants. My main goal is always comfort. Hm, what else? We're different ages for sure. Hmm. What else? Murderous father? I don't have one of those. Or a murderous brother. I don't have a brother. I'm an only child. Oh, yes, I probably wouldn't risk my life for a relationship I got in just a few weeks ago, like I'd probably take a raincheck. Tell him: “Like I support you, but yeah, I think I'm good.” That's just me personally.

(L to R) Madelyn Cline as Sarah Cameron, Rudy Pankow as JJ in episode 302 of Outer BanksJACKSON LEE DAVIS/NETFLIX

TV: After three seasons, what has been the biggest takeaway from being a part of OBX?

MC: I've just learned so much about myself and my character, and because they've kind of informed each other it's been a really cool journey. I've learned so much as an actor. I'm so grateful that I have become so much more confident. I've met some amazing people along the way.

TV: I’m always on Tik Tok and the OBX fans are always OTP you with different people. Cut out Topper and John B, who else do you think could be a good partner for Sarah?

MC: Kiara, I can see Kiara and Sarah.