What happens when you close the chapter on a beloved TV series that spanned five seasons? For Outer Banks star Madelyn Cline, saying goodbye meant turning into “emotional soup.” 

The actor, who plays Kook-turned-Pogue Sarah Cameron, recalls the whole gang dissolving into tears while filming the show’s final scene at the Chateau, which finds her character and John B (Chase Stokes) tying the knot. “The Chateau holds so many amazing Season 1 memories, so going back there felt really emotionally loaded for everyone,” Cline says during her episode of Outer Banks: The Official Podcast. It wasn’t all tears, though. “I was just smiling ear to ear because I was so happy and proud,” she tells host Ria Ciuffo. 

Cline, who slept in her car and lived in shoddy apartments during her early acting days, landed the role of Sarah after stints on Vice Principals, The Originals, and Stranger Things. When Outer Banks premiered in 2020, the previously little-known actor was catapulted to fame — a reality that became crystal clear to the star during her very first fan encounter. While sitting in a park with a friend, Cline noticed a car driving by over and over again. Sketched out, she started grabbing her stuff to go. 

“These boys come out of their car and walk toward us. They hand me a White Claw, and they’re like, ‘Can we have a picture? You’re from that show!’ And then it hit me,” she recalls. “That was the first time that had ever happened. I took the White Claw and I took the picture.”

The series debuted during the pandemic, providing fans a thrilling escape and new fictional friends amid dark days. “That’s when we all needed and wanted to feel friendship and connection most,” Cline says. “At its core — for the people watching and for us shooting it — that’s what it has always been about.” 

The fan base continued to grow for the juggernaut series, with hundreds flocking to the Battery in Charleston, SC, to watch the actors in action. Behind the scenes, Cline roomed with Madison Bailey (who plays Kiara Carrera) during the first month of filming, and the cast developed a tight bond, born from their surreal shared experience. “We’ve come up together, we’ve all gone through the same things, that’s really helpful and lovely,” Cline says.  (When asked who makes her laugh the most on set, Bailey and Carlacia Grant (who plays Cleo) are joint winners.) 

Outer Banks presented Cline with the unique chance to hone her craft. “One thing that I am forever grateful for, besides the memories and the family, is the fact that this show truly was a boot camp for me,” the actor tells Ciuffo. “It has taught me everything I know; it has given me endless amounts of knowledge and confidence that is so priceless.”

When Cline first moved to LA, she heard that nabbing a role in an episodic series was the way to go for a newbie performer. “Everyone said, ‘It’s some of the best work you can do because the pace is so fast, and you have to learn quickly,’” she says. But it also represented so much more than that. “I saw YA shows blow up and always thought, ‘Wow, it must be so cool for those actors to be able to live with their characters for so long and have their TV family.’” 

Jonas Pate, Outer Banks’ co-showrunner, tells Tudum he got to see Cline form those familial bonds firsthand. “Madelyn was a child actor and had been homeschooled,” he says. “It was really fun to watch her find a family on set because she didn’t go to college, she didn’t really go to high school, so she had this fast group of friends.”

Continues Pate, “After the first season, her star rose quickly, and she’s had all these other opportunities. She’s managed them beautifully.”

Over the course of five seasons, Cline grew up with Sarah, finding her voice and sense of self along the way. “As the cast changed and matured and became stronger and more opinionated and more confident, our characters have too,” she says. “The Pogues are the same Pogues, but they are more resilient, maybe even more sensitive or in touch with their emotions.”

As she prepares to bid a final farewell to Outer Banks, Cline is feeling a whirlwind of emotions — happy, bittersweet, and reflective. She also has an important message for the devout fans who have been on this journey with her for seven years. 

“I hope Sarah stays being a comfort character,” Cline says. “I hope people are able to go back and rewatch and still laugh and cry with us. Sarah always moved with the best intentions and the purest of hearts, and let the rest be. Stay sensitive. Stay soft but strong. You can be both.”

Watch all five seasons of Outer Banks on Netflix now.

Watch The Outer Banks Cast Look Back on 5 Seasons of BTS Photos