THE RUNDOWN
- Actress Madelyn Cline broke out on Netflix’s Outer Banks and has since starred in films like I Know What You Did Last Summer, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, and The Map That Leads to You.
- Cline is currently publicly single but has dated stars like her Outer Banks co-star Chase Stokes and Pete Davidson in the past.
- The star has been open about her career aspirations and dream of producing one day.
Madelyn Cline became a breakout star as Sarah Cameron on Netflix’s hit series Outer Banks. Since then, she’s built a career that stretches well beyond her first major role.
Cline has starred in Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, joined the ensemble of the horror franchise I Know What You Did Last Summer, and played the lead in the romantic drama The Map That Leads to You alongside KJ Apa. She’s also set to star in the upcoming film Day Drinker and has fronted campaigns for brands like Stella McCartney, Revlon, and Tommy Hilfiger. With Outer Banks wrapping after its fifth and final season, Cline is now entering the next phase of her career.
Get to know the star.
Cline is originally from South Carolina, where Outer Banks is filmed.
Cline was a natural fit for the world of Outer Banks from the start. She was born in Charleston, South Carolina, where the North Carolina-set series is filmed. Cline left the coastal state at age 19 to pursue a career in acting, returning only to film the show. “I think personally, I fell back in love with where I’m from, Charleston,” Cline told V Magazine about filming Outer Banks in her hometown. “Shooting a show and a love story in that whole ecosystem with the most amazing people, our cast and our crew, I fell back in love with that area because I was so in love with the project.”
She has thoughts on Sarah’s arc for season 2.
In the twisty season 1 finale of Outer Banks, Sarah chooses to run away with John B (Chase Stokes) instead of sticking by her fractured family members and ex-boyfriend Topper (Austin North).
According to the actress, she had some input in where her character’s allegiance would ultimately lie. “I remember there was a point when [a writer] asked me, ‘Do you think you, as Sarah Cameron, would choose your family or John B.?’ I remember thinking on it and telling her, ‘I wholeheartedly believe Sarah is 100 percent absolutely head over heels for John B., and I think she absolutely would get on that boat with him,’” Cline told Glamour. “There’s one part in the show when John B. tells Sarah, ‘You’re all I have.’ I told the writer that at that point John B. is also all Sarah has. Her world just crumbled around her, so it’s a no-brainer that she would have gotten on that boat with him and risked everything.”
As for where that relationship is headed after the couple survives a tropical storm mid-boat ride? “In my mind, what I see is this Blue Lagoon or Cast Away scenario where they get to the Bahamas and have the gold bars, and they live in this really romantic, Bonnie and Clyde-type Blue Lagoon world,” Cline explained to Glamour. “They’re just in this honeymoon phase of ‘We’ve run away from home, we’re in love, we’re in this beautiful place, and there are no problems.’” She added, “I would really love to see everything they’ve been running from catch up to them. I think they might have to go back to the Outer Banks because of the Pogues and confront all the things they’ve been running from.”
She quarantined with the cast of Outer Banks.
The cast had plenty of time to circulate ideas, as several of them actually quarantined together. When asked about sheltering at home by ELLE Canada, Cline said that some of the cast had been quarantined together for more than a month. “At the very beginning, when stay-at-home orders were first issued, we all decided, ‘Why not just quarantine together?’ We have each other’s company instead of just staying home completely isolated,” she told the outlet. “We gave each other the time [away] as far as the initial incubation period is concerned, so we’re all safe and healthy.”
Apparently, the cast filled their time like the rest of us, tackling their Netflix queue and binging TV shows. Among the ensemble’s watchlist is Jersey Shore and New Girl, Cline told Elle Canada.
Cline has appeared in other teen-centered projects.
Although Cline herself hasn’t been a teenager in a few years, she often plays one on-screen. Her past work includes Boy Erased, the 2018 drama starring Lucas Hedges and Nicole Kidman, appearances in Stranger Things season 2, and episodes of the CW series The Originals.
Cline has taken on film roles beyond Outer Banks.
Cline shared that she filmed I Know What You Did Last Summer in Australia. “It was good, I love the cast, I love the original movies, they’re incredible. It was just such a quick shoot. It was six weeks. We shot almost everything in a six-week period, and we have like two weeks of re-shoots here,” she said on a March 2025 episode of Jake Shane’s Therapuss podcast.
In addition to the horror franchise, she joined the cast of the upcoming movie Day Drinker, and headlined the romantic drama The Map That Leads to You opposite KJ Apa. “They say opposites attract, and together Heather and Jack form one very complete Venn diagram,” Cline explained to Cosmopolitan in an August 2025 interview.
She has spoken openly about body image.
Cline has addressed how her appearance has shifted across Outer Banks seasons. “People love to pay attention to weight specifically. It’s very bizarre to me,” she told Allure in a July 2025 interview. “From season to season on Outer Banks, my appearance has changed with lots of factors: stress, breakups, healthy or unhealthy habits with food. It’s normal life. But the camera, swear to God, picks up everything. Like, damn. Can I not be on my period? Can I not have a beer the night before?”
She admitted the scrutiny has triggered moments of doubt. “I have these crazy anxieties, and I get freaked out, and I do have impostor syndrome. And that’s just very human, but also, I can do it. I’ve gotten this far.”
Cline prefers to keep her romantic relationships private.
Cline has had public romances with Chase Stokes and Pete Davidson and has been linked to other actors and musicians. Still, she draws a line between her private and public life. “There are parts of my life that only me or one other person are entitled to,” she told TODAY in February 2023. “I prefer it that way. It also just makes things more special. That’s usually how relationships are.”
When asked about her approach to love, she told People in August 2025: “Best love advice? I dunno. Fall in love, don’t be afraid of it. Look, historically, I haven’t been, like, the most successful [at love], so don’t take advice from me until I figure it out.”
Cline has ambitions behind the camera.
Cline has spoken about wanting to broaden her career beyond acting. “I would love to produce and find new women-centric stories, as well,” she told L’Officiel in her November 2024 cover story, citing Margot Robbie’s production company, LuckyChap, as inspiration.
She’s candid about her anxieties.
Cline has been open about managing self-doubt while balancing fame and a heavy workload. “Being an actor can be a bit of a mindfuck,” she told Cosmopolitan. “People always say, ‘Don’t compare yourself to others,’ and ‘Don’t base your self-worth on things that you can’t control.’ But ultimately, we do base our self-worth on our work because that’s our calling card, that’s our paycheck.”
She tries to keep perspective: “I can’t think too hard about it because then I’ll get really existential and treat myself badly,” she admitted to Allure. “The only thing that can smooth the friction is time.”
She has described navigating fame as complicated.
Cline told L’Officiel that becoming a household name came with mixed feelings. “It’s crazy to think about how long we’ve been on this journey, and also how much we’ve all grown up,” she said of Outer Banks.
She added, “Sarah is 19 this year, and I feel like I’m seen as a 19-year-old girl, but I’m 26. People forget that. And I do feel like it is different for men than it is for women.”
She has also said she’s learning not to let insecurities define her. “I was so violently insecure when I was a teenager,” she told the outlet. “I remember my insecurities almost feeling like my voice was trapped in my throat.…When I think about the artists and actors I admire, all they do is embrace being different and the things that make them stand out. I wish I could impart that upon my younger self. Like, be a weirdo.”
Cline has opened up about feeling like an outsider early in her career.
In a 2023 profile with Who What Wear, Cline reflected on moving to Los Angeles after dropping out of college. “It was like throwing the noodle against the wall to see if it’ll stick,” she said. “I remember thinking, ‘My life is in shambles. Why did I leave? Why did I leave college? Why did I leave my home? Why did I leave my family?’ But it all ended up being very serendipitous.”
She admitted to battling impostor syndrome while filming Glass Onion. “I had an [impostor syndrome] flare-up with Glass Onion because I was surrounded by the likes of Daniel Craig, Kate Hudson, Leslie Odom Jr., Janelle Monáe, and Kathryn Hahn. It was like you were in a locker room. You walk in and don’t even know where to look,” she said.
She has a strong bond with her Outer Banks cast despite past romantic relationships.
Cline and Stokes dated from 2020 to 2021 before splitting, but she has emphasized that they’ve remained professional. “We’re both professionals. We always have been since day one,” she told W magazine in August 2022. “Outer Banks is a big family, and at the end of the day, we show up, we’re professional, and we do our jobs.”
She wrapped filming on Outer Banks’ fifth and final season.
On a March 2025 episode of Therapuss, Cline reflected on closing the chapter on the Netflix series that launched her career. “I know it’s not going to hit me until it happens,” she said. “Because for the past five, six years now it’s always been something we’ve gone back to. It’s always been something to fall back on, this family that we all just go back to. And I think it’s only going to hit me when I come back to L.A. afterwards. I think reading the last script will be emotional. I have no idea what happens in it; I just know I’m pregnant.”
