Pogues don’t mack on Pogues.
But what do the actors who play J.J. and Kiara think of the campaign to see them get together?
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY:Outer Bankscame out almost a month ago now, but interest in the show keeps climbing.
NETFLIX
RUDY PANKOW:It’s blown me away.
MADISON BAILEY:I’m so excited with the response.
When we were filming, we knew we were making something special.
CURTIS BAKER/NETFLIX
To see it actually do very well, it’s really fulfilling.
Or you feel like an outsider because it feels like an inside joke almost.
What do you think of all the memes and videos fans are postingon social media?
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PANKOW:I love it.
It’s so creative.
I’m like, hell yeah!
It’s so fun to see fans doing that.
I was so happy to see that because it’s like every character is getting some sort of love.
Why do you think fans are focusing so much on that relationship, considering they’re just friends?
BAILEY:I think people want what they don’t have, in a way.
PANKOW:I agree.
I was like, “Yeah, I never saw that.”
I never thought that that was something that everybody would latch on to.
Do you want to see J.J. and Kiara become more than friends on the show?
PANKOW:I think we leave it up to the writers.
It’d just be a little fast turnaround with all the characters.
I don’t know, Bailey, what do you feel about that?
BAILEY:Yeah, I mean I obviously trust the writers to make the best story possible.
What do you think about how that could potentially influence where the characters go?
PANKOW:I think it’s totally fair.
I think everybody should be listened to, and if that’s what the fans want, who knows?
We don’t even know what the writers want to do.
I haven’t even seen writing yet.
Bailey, have you seen like maybe a little bit of season 2 writing?
[Laughs]
PANKOW:Yeah, very top-secret.
I probably would have spent more time emailing and making fan pages forGossip Girlwhen I was a kid.
What’s your friendship like in real life?
Has it helped you find that bond on screen?
PANKOW:We all had super-good chemistry right from the get-go.
I met Bailey on the plane literally to the chemistry read.
Then we started acting in the room, and boom, it was like instantaneous.
“She’s going to be Kiara.
The chemistry is so clear in the room right now.”
That was so special and helped the friendship from there.
John B. kissed her earlier in the season, and then Kiara kissed Pope in the finale.
Where is her headspace at when it comes to all her guy friends?
BAILEY:I wish I could tell you.
[Laughs] I know Kiara loves Pope.
She was the one who was most adamant about “Pogues don’t mack on Pogues.”
She really wanted to keep that friendship.
The Pogues are the only people that Kiara has ever found that she really, really connects with.
It’s either like, have the boys as her friends or have no one, you know?
Watching J.J. deal with his abusive father throughout the first season was so heartbreaking.
How did you approach playing such a heavy story line like that?
PANKOW:It was heavy.
Heavy story lines, heavy time trying to get in that headspace.
What do you want to see in season 2 for your characters?
BAILEY:I just want to see more of the same.
We lost a lot of our happy moments.
So I just want more happiness in season 2.
’s alive, it’s going to be so pivotal.
I want to see that too.
I want to see the Pogues go from really broken to really happy again.
Outer Banksseason 1 is nowstreaming on Netflix.
