- - Chase Stokes Shares His Thoughts on “Outer Banks” Finale and Why the Cast Is Ready for the Show to Be 'Done' (Exclusive)

Michelle LeeDecember 28, 2025 at 12:30 AM

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Jackson Lee Davis/Netflix

Chase Stokes as John B, in 'Outer Banks' -

Chase Stokes opens up to PEOPLE about Outer Banks coming to a close

The actor has played John B. Routledge in the Netflix drama, which wrapped filming its final season this month, for almost a decade and says he's "never been more excited" about entering a new chapter of his career, which will see an upcoming directorial debut

Stokes also says the conclusion of the show is "ending exactly" how he was told when he joined the original cast in 2019

Chase Stokes is ready to see what's beyond the Pogues.

The actor has been a part of Outer Banks since joining the Netflix drama as John B. Routledge in 2019, and in the past seven years, he's watched it go from a "little tiny boat show...to a global phenomenon." With the series' fifth and final season slated for 2026, he says he and the cast are "thankful for the run, and we're ready for it to be done."

"We want the story to end on the right note versus [turning] four seasons into season nine and we're going after aliens or something," Stokes, 33, tells PEOPLE. "We want to cut the chord before we lose the plot."

Stokes, who recently wrapped up filming the blockbuster's last season in South Carolina, adds that he's had some time to sit with the series' conclusion all thanks to co-creator Jonas Pate sticking to the script. "It's beautiful to know that even though there's the highs and lows throughout all of the seasons, it's ending exactly how I was told when I started the show," he says.

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"Gratitude" is what Stokes feels when he reflects on his journey thus far.

"When I got thrown out here, I kind of accepted that this was probably my last shot at this industry and at this scale. I thought I'd bombed the audition with Jonas. And I sat on the curb of the front of the production office and I had a full mental breakdown, sobbing," the actor recalls. "He came out and he put his arm around me and he said, 'Hey, I don't know what you're going through. I don't know what you are feeling right now, but if you can bring this right here back into the room, I promise it's going to be magical.' "

"There's just so much gratitude because I was a kid who had a dream and no access to an industry, never really even knew what the process was," he says. "I've checked so many boxes that I thought it would span the course of the next 40 years of my career." And after all this time, he can say his crew and castmates have become "true family."

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The cast of 'Outer Banks' at the show's season 4 premiere in Charleston on October 08, 2024

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While it may be bittersweet, the ending of Outer Banks is just the beginning for Stokes, who has "never been more excited" about where his career's going next.

"I always reference Robert Pattinson after he finished Twilight and [the] Harry Potter [franchise] and how he took creative risks, but really challenged himself as an artist. That's the blueprint for me," he says. "I want to show people that the floppy-haired beach boy from the Netflix young adult show, is now 33 years old. And at the end of the day, all I want to do is challenge myself."

He's making his directorial debut next fall and so far, it's been "incredible" to put his idea on script. There's also "some very cool projects" that he's ready to "bring to life when the time is right."

While his journey on OBX has come to a close, he'll always call South Carolina home, especially since it's where he's become a first-time homeowner.

"I was in Los Angeles for about a decade and went back and forth, but never felt a sense of community like Charleston," he says. "It's been so magical for them to accept a show so beautifully. And then a lot of people, whether it's at the grocery store or if I'm walking my dog, even the kids in the neighborhood are like 'Hi, Mr. Stokes, how are you?' I'm like 'What in the small-town USA is going on?' It's so incredible."

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”