Jonathan Daviss leans back, throws his hands in front of him, and tilts his body. “I JoJo pose all the time,” he says while contorting his frame in a pair of dark-blue baggy jeans and a crisp denim jacket to mimic one of his favorite anime characters (and one he shares a name with): Jonathan “JoJo” Joestar of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.
Daviss—who goes by JD—has been an anime fan for well over a decade. It started when he was assigned mandatory reading in high school and picked up Naruto. Immediately, he became obsessed. “I went to Barnes & Noble and started buying the volumes,” he says while lounging on a couch in a red T-shirt in the green room of StyleCaster’s studio in New York City. “By buying, I mean, I would sit in Barnes & Noble and read them because I didn’t have money. This is the time where they weren’t checking.”
Daviss has come a long way since he was reading manga for free at Barnes & Noble. For the past four years, he’s starred as Pope Heyward, the brains of a ragtag team of treasure hunters and best friends on the coast of North Caroline, in Netflix’s teen drama series, Outer Banks. The series—which premiered the first part of its fourth season on October 10 and is set to return with its second part on November 7—was the catalyst that catapulted Daviss, along with the rest of the cast, from unknown actors to Gen Z royalty. Still, after four seasons at the number one on Netflix’s top shows list and millions of social media followers later, Daviss isn’t taking anything for granted.
“My life changed after I booked the part because all of a sudden I was shooting a TV show for Netflix in South Carolina,” he says. “That was the whole goal in the first place. The show doing well, that changed my life in a different way. But in terms of the thing I had been looking for, once I was on that film set, I was working. I was enveloped in making something come to life. That was the true goal.”
Does it feel weird to look back on what your life was like during that first season?
I was 19, so I was basically a kid. It was a big transition for me. I never had a lead part before. We didn’t know what this show could be like and the reach it would have. Every season since then, we’ve been making it with a mindset of, “No people are actually gonna, watch.” Before then, there were no expectations.
What was your life like at the time before the show?
I was doing the artist struggle. I was working two jobs. I worked at Saks Off 5th Avenue in the women’s shoe department. I was also charging Bird scooters on the side for extra cash, sleeping on couches, just trying to make it happen. That hunger definitely helped with the audition. I remember thinking to myself after the first audition like, “I don’t know who else they would get if they don’t choose me. It would be crazy if they cast anybody else.”
My life changed after I booked the part.
Outer Banks is now in Season 4. How does this season feel different from past seasons?
It was us trying to make it a return to form and connect with what audiences liked in the first place. A lot of it was making sure we paid homage and respect to this friendship that was so important in the first season.
When the Season 4 trailer came out, there were a lot of comments from fans about how the Pogues spent the first three seasons looking for the treasure only to blow it all the next season. What was your reaction when you read that in the script?
We were trying to figure out how to make them poor again, and when people watch the show, they’ll understand how it got to that point. There are definitely some decisions that get made in that first episode. But I have to constantly have to remind myself that these kids are like 17. They’re not like 24 year olds who have made and lost money. As far as I’m concerned, if MC Hammer can lose all that money, these kids can lose all that money.
Season 4 also started with all six of the Pogues in relationships. How do you think Pope and Cleo are different than John B. and Sarah, and JJ and Kiara?
I feel like Pope and Cleo’s relationship is different in the way Pope didn’t necessarily want a girlfriend at the time. I don’t think he wanted to be with anybody. He was still pretty hurt about the whole Kiara situation, and he had to learn to warm up to Cleo, and vice versa. Season 3 was about him getting over his first crush, and now he’s with somebody who genuinely cares for him and has seen him through some really hard times, who’s loyal and consistent. Honestly, he wishes he could be more like Cleo, who’s confident and very sure in herself. I think he really admires that about her. This is his first serious relationship and the first girlfriend he’s ever had. He’s still learning how to have a girlfriend, and she’s still learning how to have a boyfriend who isn’t trying to steal from her. It’s very cute. They’re in a very different type of relationship than the other two couples.
Do you think they’re endgame?
Absolutely. They’re my personal endgame.
There was a huge death in Season 4 with Terrance. What was your reaction when you first read that in the script?
It was insane. I didn’t know he would die so quick, but it definitely pushes Cleo’s character into this place for the rest of the show where she’s on a revenge quest. That’s her father in a lot of ways. It makes it a real personal journey for Cleo. And because of that, it makes it a real personal journey for Pope. This isn’t like one of the other father deaths, where you can’t really do anything about it. There’s a real revenge aspect to this one.
I remember thinking after the first audition, ‘I don’t know who else they would get if they don’t choose me.’
Every season the Pogues get themselves into dangerous situations and they always seem to make it out alive. Do you think there’s a possibility a Pogue could ever die?
These kids are like superheroes. I’m pretty sure they could survive an atomic bomb like cockroaches. Like any show, you have hope [someone doesn’t die.] You love all these people, and you don’t want to see anything bad happen to them.
On that topic, Season 4, Part 1 ends on a cliffhanger where Pope and Sarah’s lives are at stake. What can you tease about how they survive?
I would say it gets more dangerous before it doesn’t.
Season 4, Part 1 also ends with a cliffhanger about JJ learning the identity of his real parents, specifically his dad. What can you say about how that plays out in Part 2?
It’s a more personal connection to this treasure they were doing to just pay their bills. Now all of a sudden, they’re implicated so heavily that they have no choice. It flips how JJ views the world. His dad’s not his dad. He didn’t have a great one to start with. Now, we don’t know who this guy is. We’re hoping we can all keep our crew together, and we don’t splinter off.
Have the creators talked about how long they see the show running for?
They always said it’s two trilogies, you know, they wanted to do another trilogy. But it really depends on how the fans react to each season as they come out and how many times you want to come back for it. We’d love to give the fans as much Outer Banks as they want.
How do you see the show ending?
I don’t think Pope’s getting that scholarship. I’m gonna be honest with you. I think that scholarship is long gone. I just hope they can all live happy lives. I hope they can all go into adulthood and become full-time treasure hunters as their occupation.
I read that you directed some commercials for Outer Banks Season 4. How did that come about?
It was just an idea I had with the director about JJ’s charter service, because they had a phone number. I was like, “It’d be funny if you do one of those commercials for it.” He was like, “You should pitch that to Netflix. I’m sure they’d let you do it.” So I wrote six commercials, and I condensed them to three, pitched them to Netflix with a pitch deck, we set our budget, and were like, “Hey, this would be really cool to do. I think the fans would enjoy something like this. It’s funny. It’s on-brand for the character.” They agreed. We shot that on a Sunday, got all the Pogues to read off their input on what would be funny, and went in and shot it. I was so happy with the end result. It was how I envisioned it. There’s something cathartic about writing something with your friends in mind and doing it just like you thought it.
[Pope and Cleo] are my personal endgame.
What was it like to direct your co-stars?
It wasn’t as much directing them, but giving them suggestions every once in a while. But they kind of knew. You act with people for so long, you know exactly what they’re going to do and you can plan around that. The first time they came on set, everybody was definitely like, “Oh, director!” because they’re your friend and they gotta give you a little bit. But the whole thing almost made me cry and tear up watching it happen. I want to direct and continue to do films and shorts.
Could you see yourself directing an episode in Season 5?
If they call me tomorrow, I’d do it. Even if they say no, I’m gonna let them know I want to.
Do you have any behind-the-scenes stories from doing stunts on the show?
There was one time that was really funny where we were in Barbados, and we’re on a little raft. Carlacia Grant, bless her heart, was a rookie—a freshman, as I called her at the time. She brought her phone with her on the raft, which is a big no-no for anybody who knows. You leave your phone on the main boat and come get it when you’re done. She was like, “No, I have a waterproof bag.” I told her to leave her phone. She did not, and so she dunks herself in the water like everyone else, but she goes too far, and she flips over into the water, and her phone falls out of her pocket and into the middle of the ocean. She’s like, “No!” She tried to jump in the water. We’re like, “Lacey…” What you don’t understand about water is, when you’re in a boat, if you drop something, it’s miles away before you even look up. She found it on her little app way out there in the middle of the ocean. But she lost it forever. That was her welcome to the OBX moment.
Are there any roles that people would be surprised you’ve auditioned for?
I was almost in Creed with Michael B Jordan. I read for the first Spider-Man movie. I read for Peter’s friend, Ned. I’ve been trying to wait for Miles Morales. They’re not doing Miles yet, I promise you. Because if they did, I would be at Sony headquarters in a heartbeat like, “Let me audition.” I wanted that Transformers movie that Anthony Ramos did. But other than that, you take what you’re given. You keep moving.
Outer Banks Season 4, Part 2 premieres on November 7, 2024.
Photographer: George Chinsee
Graphic Designer: Stephanie Cui
Stylist: Luca Kingston
Grooming: Jessica Smalls
