Madelyn Cline feels like a friend — my friend, your friend, the internet’s friend. A really, really cool friend.
It’s easy to describe the scene at Cline’s winter cover shoot with TODAY.com, because when she enters the room, all eyes are on her. The crew’s excitement doesn’t seem to faze her, though. She heads straight to the snacks, then greets everyone with a smile and hug. The star of one of Netflix’s biggest shows of all time is sans makeup and wearing a black Nike zip-up jacket, leggings and Ugg mini platform boots. Her arrival instantly makes the set feel less like a photo shoot, more like a slumber party.
Once Cline settles into the hair and makeup chair, she bops along to songs by ABBA (her request) and shimmies as Britney Spears pumps through the speakers. "Wait — why is this so much fun?" she asks on multiple occasions between sips of Champagne (also her request). It’s fitting for the 2023 version of a Hollywood starlet, a Gen Zer who represents a new kind of celebrity, one who’s managed to rise to fame through a pandemic, connect with millions of social media followers and navigate a very public relationship.
The vibe on set is a far cry from April 2020, when the world was stuck indoors a few weeks into a global pandemic. Back then, many TV viewers passed the time by binge-watching “Outer Banks,” an action-adventure drama about a group of working-class kids called the Pogues who embark on a dangerous treasure hunt. Cline portrays the fearless Sarah Cameron, known as the princess of the Outer Banks’ wealthy residents, the Kooks. Sarah comes from a reputable family and eventually falls for the Pogues’ ringleader, John B, played by Chase Stokes.
The combination of a missing-person mystery, class clashes and a “West Side Story”-esque romance made the series an instant hit. But it was Cline’s on-screen charm and depiction of Sarah’s courage and fierce loyalty — plus a signature pout and perfectly tousled beach hair — that instantly made her the series’ breakout star.
Three months after “Outer Banks” dropped, the show was renewed for a second season; after its debut week, Nielsen reported “Outer Banks” delivered 2.1 billion minutes of viewing across both seasons. Only an “elite club” of shows have crossed the 2 billion mark in a single week, Deadline reported at the time. Now, a third season is on its way this month, with the stakes even higher for “the luckiest kids alive,” as Cline calls them.
At the TODAY.com cover shoot, Cline is worlds away from the beaming sun and muddy marshes of “Outer Banks.” In a production warehouse outside of Los Angeles that gives off 1960s Palm Springs vibes, Cline jumps on a bed in a designer nighty, gleefully receiving refills of bubbly in her glass as the camera clicks away. At one point, out of poses to try next, she playfully turns toward the camera and starts twerking.
"This is what TODAY needs: booty!" she yells out with a laugh. “It’s not the content TODAY asked for, but it’s the content you got!”
Fame came fast for this 25-year-old who, it’s safe to say, has quickly become Hollywood's It Girl. Before “Outer Banks,” she guest-starred on “The Vampire Diaries” spinoff “The Originals” and Netflix’s other prized hit “Stranger Things,” in addition to sharing the screen with Nicole Kidman in the 2018 film “Boy Erased.” Her star only shone brighter after appearing in Rian Johnson's 2022 “Knives Out” sequel, “Glass Onion,” co-starring alongside Hollywood heavyweights like Daniel Craig, Edward Norton and Kate Hudson. In a legendary cast, Cline held her own as Whiskey, the girlfriend of an influencer who, as viewers discover along the way, is much more than meets the eye.
“It’s not the content TODAY asked for, but it’s the content you got!”
“It’s been nuts. I can't believe how fast time flies,” Cline says of going from college dropout and LA newbie to a certified Netflix star in just three years.
“It kind of feels like a birthday, where the day of, everybody’s like, ‘How do you feel?’ And everyone answers, ‘The same as yesterday. A little older, a little wiser.’ But in this context, my answer feels more like, ‘A little older — and with a lot more cool experiences under my belt.’”
After a five-hour day shooting three looks for this cover story, Cline joins me in her dressing room. I immediately sit on the floor because the shaggy, light pink carpet looks comfortable and just feels right. When I offer Cline the seat across from me, her shoulders relax and she plops down next to me instead, crossing one leg in front of the other. "This works!"
