Chase Stokes, 28, spends his days as John B. on the set of "Outer Banks," but during the pandemic, he's also had a chance to bond with his castmates in quarantine and even fall in love.
He sat down with TMRW x TODAY for a Q&A on Tuesday as part of his partnership with Sweet Earth Foods and opened up about his career, love life and everything in between.
Here are five things we learned!
1. Initially, he turned down the role of John B. in” Outer Banks”
Stokes explained that when he initially got the breakdown for his character, he thought it sounded too much like a “Goonies” reboot.
“I was always so hesitant about trying to jump into the space of something that had already been done and potentially butchering it,” he said. “It just didn’t feel like the right fit.”
But the casting director reached out to Stokes and said he absolutely had to take a look at the part.
“She was like, ‘You gotta do it, it’s not the “Goonies,” I’ll send you the first script,’” he said. “So I read it and immediately I was like, ‘Uh oh. I made a mistake over the last two months putting this off."
He went on to say that working on the show has been the “best experience of (his) life.”
2. He didn't start dating co-star Madelyn Cline until after their show wrapped
Stokes said he didn’t realize he had a connection with his now-girlfriend Madelyn Cline, who plays Sarah Cameron in the show, until after they’d wrapped the first season.
“We all were so hyper-focused on the show during the filming process,” he said. “We were so scared of screwing up or not making it right or getting this opportunity presented to us and just falling flat on our face that the idea of relationships or anything beyond what we were doing at work was not even in the forefront of our minds.”
3. He and his “Outer Banks” co-stars quarantined together
“We had this crazy quarantine experience where the majority of us were locked in a one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles, which isn’t the most spacious environment,” Stokes laughed, adding that once he and Cline realized they should be together, things blossomed quickly.
“It’s been just an absolute joy (to quarantine) with somebody that you really love and care about.”
4. Stokes has love advice for couples and singletons ahead of Valentine’s Day
To be fair, we asked him for his best romance tips, but we loved his answers!
For couples who work together, Stokes said he and Cline’s “secret sauce” is setting aside personal stuff in the workplace and pushing each other to do their best.
“It’s all out of a place of love and wanting each other to be better for one another and most importantly, for ourselves, because we’ve always believed that if you’re not willing to be better for yourself, you can’t be better for your partner,” he said.
As for singles looking down the barrel of the Valentine’s Day gun, Stokes’ advice is not to sweat it.
“I think be patient. Love comes when you’re not looking for it,” he said. “I think if you force it too hard, it sort of finds its way of avoiding you.”
“I think just being present with yourself just being the best version of yourself is the best way to kind of go about it and then it just organically comes,” he added. “The universe has a weird way of just throwing things in our lap.”
5. Why he doesn’t consider himself a heartthrob
It might be a surprise to know Stokes doesn’t like to be called one of Hollywood’s heartthrobs.
“I try not to put myself in that category, I just try to do really good work,” he explained, adding that for him, it’s all about the fans.
“To be validated is so rewarding,” he said. “You get more rejection than you do satisfaction (in Hollywood) so for people to take this show into their homes and be so loving has been so sweet and such a blessing.”
