thea on cast members.
(& vice versa)
outer banks cast | 17-19

❥

OUTER BANKS CO-STARS

Madison Bailey.
"ugh, i just love bailey. she's actually so funny, cracks me up. but she's also so real, like, if there's drama or something and i need unfiltered, unbiased advice i'll call her and she'll give it to me straight. girl is brutally honest but it's good—it's a good thing."

Madelyn Cline.
"my most favorite person ever i love her so much. the most girls girl there ever was. there's not a single day that goes by where we don't text or facetime. she knows literally everything. if you've ever wronged me, maddie knows and doesn't like you. big sis forever."

Rudy Pankow.
"fun fact: half of jj and max's back and forth banter on the show isn't even acting. it's improv but it's also literally just rudy and i going back and forth because our dynamic in real life is the same as max and jj's in the show. we tease each other nonstop but he's my bestie."

Jonathan Daviss.
"i trust jd with my life. he's who i'd want on my team if there was ever a zombie apocalypse, or purge. he's incredibly smart, and gives the absolute best advice."

Chase Stokes.
"my friendship with chase is a lot like mine and rudy's in the sense where we act like we hate each other but i promise we do not. he's hilarious and always keeps the energy up on set, definitely makes us all laugh on the longest days. but he's also someone i know i can call if i just need someone who will listen, if i need a ride or to get out of a situation. i've literally called him at two am before to pick me up from a party and he drove an hour both ways in the pouring rain to get me, no questions asked."

Drew Starkey.
"i don't have a ton of scenes with drew so i really only got to know him through the others... like when i lived with cline during quarantine and he would come over all the time. but now he's probably one of my closest friends of the cast in the sense that he's one of the ones i talk to and see the most. i call him with all my drama and he probably wishes he could block me when i do that, but he can't 'cause he knows i'm secretly his favorite."

obx cast when asked about theadora.
(I = interviewer)

Madison Bailey.
I: as a cast you've all known each other for over five years now. your youngest co-star, theadora james, was just thirteen years old when you started filming season one. what has that been like, watching her grow up on set?

M: yeah, it's so weird. she was just a baby and now she's, like, driving and shit. i'm the youngest of seven, so i've always been the one everyone gushes about growing up. i've never had someone i'm like that about...but thea is, like, the closest i've ever had to a little sister. it's been so fun. i've always been the guinea pig for my older sisters, and now i'm finally the one playing dress up, doing her makeup and stuff. but i also feel so protective over her. it's insane. anyone who messes with thee needs to watch the fuck out.

I: we've seen some of your protection of her over social media, but have you ever had a moment where you actually had to defend theadora in public?

M: once. it was more of some fans just being ignorant and rude and she never sticks up for herself, so [the cast] had to step in. i think she was mortified, but i'd do it again.

Madelyn Cline.
I: we recently spoke with your on-screen frenemy theadora james, and she spent a good few minutes gushing over you and your friendship.

M: stop it! did she really?!

I: she sure did! she revealed you "literally know everything", and if anyone's ever wronged her, you know and don't like them.

M: *giggles* yeah, that checks out. i just love her so much. little sis for life.

I: i love how close you are off screen, as in the show your characters don't seem to get along right away.

M: yeah. thea plays maxine, who's a runaway that has centered her entire life around one big lie, and she sorta feels threatened by my sarah, who's kind of living the life max ran away from.

I: was it difficult to film those scenes where she's so mean to your character seeing how close you actually are? was it hard pretending to be at odds so often?

M: no, i don't think so. i mean, thea is such an incredible actor; she's insanely talented. we lived together during filming so we'd often rehearse our scenes together and she'd start yelling or, like, sobbing and sometimes i'd have to pause to ask, are you okay? is this still acting? and she'd immediately just morph back into thea, wipe her face and look totally normal. she'd be like, yeah, i was getting into character, and you just fucked up the scene.

Rudy Pankow.
I: we've heard a lot of the comedic lines from the show were actually improv moments. can you share a few lines you remember being improv?

R: yeah, most of my characters interactions with max, who's played by thea james, were improved. we just play off of each other so well; it's honestly barely even acting because the back and forth banter...that's just us. that's me and thea all the time—she's annoying, but she's the best. i tease her all the time; i think that's where most of jj's insults for max come from—just me teasing thea.

Jonathan Daviss.
I: your outer banks co-star, theadora james, says she'd want you on her team during a zombie apocalypse. would you pick her for your team?

J: uh....yeah. for sure.

I: you don't sound very sure.

J: look, i love theadora to death...but she tried bringing a rat home this season because she felt bad it was 'forced to work'. i'd be worried she'd feel bad for a zombie and let it inside and we'd all get eaten. she's just too nice, if that's possible. which is good, but... it's a blessing and a curse.

Chase Stokes.
I: we've recently spoken with one of your outer banks costars, Theadora James. she shared with us a time when she called you at two am to pick her up from a party.

C: oh, god. yep—i recall.

I: she says you drove an hour in the rain to get her, no questions asked. were there really no questions asked?

C: oh, no. there were lots of questions asked. but i'll always have thea's back, and she knows that, so it's cool. i'm glad she called me, and she knows she can always do it again, and i know she probably will.

I: can you elaborate?

C: i could, but i'd probably get a very colorful text from a very angry teenager if i did.

I: theadora also told us you are the entertainment on set, keeping the energy high and making everyone laugh. but it sounds like she's more the entertainer.

C: she said it was me? *scoffs* thea is constantly on the move. there's a rope swing on one of the trees at base, and she's always swinging or climbing it. *laughs* or cartwheeling. it got pretty cold some days this season, and thea would cartwheel across set over and over to stay warm. or becoming literal snow white — there was a scene in part one we shot at the beach, and thea spent a solid hour catching birds.

Drew Starkey.
I: we recently caught up with your outer banks co-star, Theadora James, and she mentioned how you wish you could block her when she calls you with all of her "boy drama". Any truth to that statement?

D: yeah, maybe a little. *laughs* she bugs the shit out of me. i have two little sisters, though, so i feel like i'm kinda immune to teenage girl drama at this point but, you know, it's all love.

I: you're one of the oldest members of the main cast. would you say you feel protective over your younger cast mates?

D: oh, for sure. especially thea, because she's so much younger than all of us. when we started [the show] she was only thirteen and we were all in our twenties so i think we all sort of felt, like, a sense of protection over her. she's become somewhat of a little sister to me... that whole cast is family now, really.