'OUTERBANKS' JONATHAN DAVISS ON PLAYING POPE, ADVENTURES, AND WORKING EXTRA HARDER

INTERVIEW BY IRVIN RIVERA

Newcomer actor JONATHAN DAVISS plays the smart, quiet and reserved Pope in the Netflix show OUTERBANKS. Outerbanks is the new Netflix teen adventure mystery drama sprinkled with vibes of eternal sunset and sunkissed teenagers. The show was created by Josh Pate, Jonas Pate and Shannon Burke and is about a group of teenages in the Outer Banks of North Carolina called the “Pogues.” Their adventure was sparked by uncovering the mysteries of the death of a character’s dad, hidden treasures, and dealing with drugs, love, teen drama, friendships, and loyalty.

In this exclusive interview, DAVISS shared to us the joys and the challenges of playing his character Pope, the importance of Pope’s character and story arc in the whole narrative of the series, his dreams and aspirations, and how far would he go for an adventure with his friends.

How are you coping during this this time of the pandemic?

I just stay with my family. We’re pretty tight. Me, my siblings and my parents all get along pretty well and we keep each other safe.

How would you describe the show?

It’s like a more grown-up, edgier version of Goonies, in a sense.  It was a bit of Ozark meets O.C., kind of vibe. There’s that suspenseful vibe that is a thread throughout the show. But it’s still fun and the characters are very real.  

Why should people watch the show?

It’s that realness. You got these outdoor fantasies of the treasure-hunt, there’s a lot of dramas going on, but at the heart of it, it’s very real. Most of the characters in the show have driven the show. You see their characters change. A lot of the characters go to big character arcs, especially the lead character. You see them struggle and deal with things that real kids have to deal with. I think that’s the draw.

What’s the craziest adventure that you’ve ever experienced in your life?

I’ve had a lot of crazy things. I grew up in North Houston, Texas. Sometimes I’ll be right out front the city’s rural areas. There’s a lot of roads and dirt trails. I remember as a kid, with a couple of my neighborhood friends, we would take this bike to a neighborhood around where I live with a golf-course.

In the golf-course was a huge gator. There’s this huge gator that was reportedly been spotted but nobody has ever messed with it. So a couple of days after the summer we will just go out there and try to find it.

Did you find it?

We did see it one day. We did not go nowhere near close enough. I remember a couple of days later it came out in the paper. There’s pictures of it just walking on the golf course.

That’s pretty crazy.

Speaking of adventures, how far would you go to embark on any adventure with your friends?

I love figuring stuff out adventure-wise. I think everybody have this fantasy to go on in adventures with friends. I’d go pretty far if I have the opportunity.

What’s your favorite episode from the show?

I got to say episode 6 is probably my favorite.

Episode 8-10 to me is one huge mega event episode. But episode 6 can stand on its own. It’s when all the best parts of all the best characters come together. I really really love that episode.

How did you manage to rise from the challenges that you encountered from this whole experience?

We were very close and supportive of each other. There were good days and the bad days. The good days really outweighs the bad. If the physical toll would really get into somebody, it felt like a team. We come get each other and pick each other up. And that extends to the crew too. It extends beyond the cast. The crew is an amazing group of people.

Would you say the physical environment really pushed you all?

Oh yeah. There’s a plenty of physically demanding activities that we all do. We didn’t use the stunt people a lot. The stunts are great by the way. They really lifted the scenes. They inspired us to want to do more. We would work with them constantly over and over again. Always making us ask How can I do this in the best way possible?

A lot of the swimming stuff, we trained for that. We trained for swimming and we learned surfing as much as we could. We all tried to make everything as authentic as we possibly could to the actual Outer Banks.

We filmed it in Charleston. It’s such a lovely city and we tried to match the Outer Banks as much as we possibly could to sow the outmost respect for the area.

And you guys did a great job in the show. Now let’s talk about your character Pope. What’s the best part about playing him?

It was fun doing his arc. I tried as much as I can. I talk to the directors about his part.

He’s very reserved. He will do the fun action stuff but he’s more cautious about it.  And then there’s a flip that happened later in the season. I had so much fun letting go and being the exact opposite of everything that he was but still try to remain true that character. The way Pope would flip out in the end is different in the way I would do it. I wanted to make sure that he was Pope but also he wasn’t the same person.

If you get your 100Mil, how are you gonna spend it?

Pope will definitely spend it on school and books. He will possibly help out his family. He would try to further his education into autopsy school and study cadavers. I think that’s what Pope would do.

I, personally, I would probably be more reckless about the money. (laughs) I mean I will try to be smart with it.  

Each character have their own different struggles in the show. But how important do you think is Pope’s narrative throughout the entire show?

He comes from a different perspective in such a way that he has a way out already. All the characters are just trying to find their way out of their financial or class status. That’s probably what they want. Kiara shows that she’s someone who’s already been out and wants to come back. John B and especially JJ, who thinks that the world has given up on them, thinks that here is no way out for them. But Pope, is living in the world with John B and JJ but he has his way out. He has his scholarship.  He has his smarts. And it showed that despite the fact that he’s one of the smartest kids on the island, and that he’s obviously gifted, he still has to work even harder and do so much more than anybody who is already rich. That’s his only way out (his scholarship). If he loses it, it’s over for him. That’s why it’s important to show that and the other side of the kids who may come from a class that have to work so much harder than you think they do.

I’m a black kid from Texas. Acting wasn’t really a career choice that seems viable. When I have to come out and try to figure out how to do this, I have to do a lot more than kids who maybe are already in Los Angeles, or have the money to do this. We didn’t have a lot of money in Texas. My parents supported my dream and they did whatever they could to make sure that I have the same amount of opportunity from anybody who is living in Los Angeles, or someone from Austin who have money who can afford the classes.

I could definitely relate to him in that way. We have so much pressure in our shoulders to succeed especially when your parents and the world is expecting you to rise.

If you were a book, what book would you be and why?

I think I will be the Miles Morales Spiderman comic book. I am super nerdy.

The (Spiderman and the multiverse…) movie that came out reminds me of myself, and how I was growing up as a kid who is in this double sided world and wanted more to do more. There’s a lot of big expectations and you’re just trying to fulfill them. You just try to go for your passion and be the best version of yourself that you can be- that is where I am. Trying to be the best version of myself and trying hard as I can on the things that I have to do.

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OUTERBANKS is now streaming on NETFLIX