The Real Life Ages Of Outer Banks Cast Members Differ Greatly From Their Characters'

"Outer Banks" hits a lot of the established hallmarks of popular teen drama TV shows, but arguably its most classic trope is one that's decidedly behind-the-scenes: none of the numerous teenagers that feature on the show are played by, well, actual teenagers. Every single member of the friend group that make up the core Pogues hasn't reached 20 as of "Outer Banks" Season 3, yet all of their respective actors are well above that age, and some are even in their 30s.

With just how dramatic the age discrepancies can get between actor and character on "Outer Banks," fans may be curious just how old certain members of the cast are compared to their respective Pogue or Kook. With the exception of Charles Esten's Ward Cameron, here's how old every "Outer Banks" star is compared to their role — both when they initially joined the series and as of the recently released Season 3.

Chase Stokes spearheads the cast of "Outer Banks" as John B., the adventurous leader of the Pogues. At the start of the series, John B. is just a teenager, but that doesn't stop him from dealing with all sorts of heavy, harrowing stuff, such as the disappearance of his father. What may be most surprising about the character, however, is how different in age he is compared to his actor.

At the start of "Outer Banks," John B. is roughly around the age of 17. Stokes was 27 at the time of the first season, giving him a round decade-long difference from his character. That age gap has only been exacerbated as the series has gone along. As of the end of Season 3, John B. is 18. Meanwhile, Stokes is now 30, putting 12 years between the real-life actor and the fictional character.

Joining Chase Stokes' John B. as one of the biggest headliners on "Outer Banks" is Madelyn Cline's Sarah Cameron, a girl hailing from the Kook lifestyle and the former's love interest. Through a number of twists and turns, Sarah often finds herself aligned with the Pogues, much to the chagrin of her family. Cline and Sarah aren't as far apart in age as Stokes and John B., but there are still a decent few years between them.

In "Outer Banks" Season 1, Sarah sits somewhere around 16. At the time that initial slate of episodes debuted, Cline was about 23, giving the pair an age difference of seven years. Unlike the widening margin between Stokes and John B., the duo have roughly traveled along at the same pace. In Season 3, Sarah is 18, while Cline is 25 in real life.

Next up on the list is Madison Bailey's Kiara "Kie" Carrera. Just like Madelyn Cline's Sarah, Kie is a Kook by heritage, but nonetheless ends up finding her true community with the Pogues and enjoying a heartwarming romance with JJ (Rudy Pankow). The similarities with Sarah don't end there, as Kie is around the same age throughout the series.

Within the initial chapters of "Outer Banks," Kie is solidly 16. That fact notably gave Bailey a smaller age gap with her character than both Chase Stokes and Cline. She was just 21 at the time of Season 1, so she was only five years older than her character at the time. The gap has ever so slightly widened as time has gone on, as Kie is 18 in "Outer Banks" Season 3 while Bailey is now 24, putting six years of distance between them.

Keeping with the trend of narrowing age gaps between actor and character in "Outer Banks," there's Jonathan Daviss as Pope Heyward. Just like the characters mentioned thus far, Pope is a loyal member of the Pogues and stands as the most intellectually-minded of the group. It's his tactfulness and strategy that keep the team from derailing too hard when it comes to their adventures. As suggested prior, Pope and Daviss also have the smallest age gap so far.

Just like most of his friends, Pope is 16 years old in "Outer Banks" Season 1. At that time, Daviss had just exited his own real life teenage years, as he had only recently turned 20, giving them a minor age difference of four years. In keeping with the general trend, the two are now slightly further apart in age — five years, to be specific. By the ending of "Outer Banks" Season 3, Pope is 18, while Daviss is currently 23.

Finishing out the original group of Pogues on "Outer Banks" is none other than Rudy Pankow's JJ Maybank. JJ is John B.'s best friend, Kie's love interest, and altogether the biggest wild card of the entire group. Of course, he's also got a thoroughly tragic backstory, adding a darker edge to his overall cocky, lighthearted demeanor. Pankow and JJ have a similar age gap to several of the Pogue actors, though not as small as that of Pope and Jonathan Daviss.

JJ starts out in "Outer Banks" as a 16-year-old, while Pankow was roughly 22 at the time of the first season, giving them a six year difference. Just like Madelyn Cline and Sarah, though, the gap between actor and character has stayed roughly the same over time. JJ is 18 by the time of "Outer Banks" Season 3, while Pankow is now 24 himself.

Finally, we come to one of the main antagonists of "Outer Banks": Austin North's Topper Thornton. A Kook through and through, Topper has a romantic history with Sarah. Nonetheless, his affections for her don't stop him from being a massive thorn in the Pogues' side, as he often goes to extreme and disrespectful lengths to oppose them. The rivalry between Topper and the Pogues is emphasized by the fact that he's around the same age as most of them as well, though his actor is a fair bit older.

From the outset of "Outer Banks," Topper is 16, matching most of the Pogues. Notably, North was around the age of 23 back then, making him an entire seven years older than his on-screen counterpart. The two are even further apart in age now. Topper is 18 in "Outer Banks" Season 3, while North is 26, putting eight years of distance between them.

Jumping from antagonist to antagonist, up next is Drew Starkey as Rafe Cameron. Rafe is Sarah's misguided and troubled older brother, thanks to the psychological manipulation he suffers at the hands of their father. Despite having a somewhat sympathetic origin, however, he does some pretty unforgivable things to the Pogues and is set to become a full-on villain in "Outer Banks" Season 4. To make matters more interesting, he's also their senior by a few years.

"Outer Banks" Season 1 places Rafe around the age of 18 — a solid few years older than most of the main cast. Starkey was 26 at the time, putting them eight years apart from one another. These days, the "Outer Banks" star and his character have nearly a decade between them. Season 3 has Rafe at 20 years old, while Starkey is 29 in real life. Funnily enough, Chase Stokes is actually older than Starkey in real life, despite the opposite being true of their characters.

Closing out the list is one of the more recent additions to the main cast of "Outer Banks," that being Carlacia Grant as Cleo. First appearing in Season 2, Cleo is a good-natured member of the crew for Captain Terrance's (Terence Rosemore). A chance meeting with John B. and Sarah eventually leads to Cleo joining up with the Pogues as a full-fledged member of the group. Grant's Cleo is notably the oldest of the bunch, both in terms of the character and the actor.

When audiences first meet Cleo in "Outer Banks" Season 2, she's somewhere on the older end of 17. That's quite the distance from Grant's real age at the time, as she was about 30 during the era of Season 2, giving them an age difference of a whopping 13 years. In Season 3, Cleo is 19, narrowly beating out John B. as the eldest Pogue. Grant is now 32, maintaining the 13-year gap between her and her character.