“They belong here more than we.” That sentiment, as intoned by the French scientist Claude Lacombe at the end of the 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind, changed the country’s outlook on aliens. What were once intergalactic plunderers were now seen as intuitive and gentle beings. Perhaps, people thought, if there is an alien race out there, we might treat them with grace and respect.

Perhaps, we may one day need an alien ambassador.

Perhaps it will be Madison Bailey.

Madison Bailey has never actually had a close encounter with aliens, but she’d like the record to state that if we were making a short list of who should represent the human race (should the time come to send someone to space as they did in Spielberg’s film), she should definitely be on there. “I’m the perfect candidate,” Bailey contends. The 25-year-old actor seems to take matters of the extraterrestrial very seriously. “I’d have so many questions and gather the best intel because I’d hear them out entirely.”

As for her beloved character Kiara, who she plays on Netflix’s hit series Outer Banks? How would she fare? “Kiara would do her best,” Bailey laughs. “I think she would have fun and bring a good energy, but I don’t think she would make it very far. On the other hand, Pope would be incredible. If I had to send a Pogue, I would definitely send Pope.”

FLAUNT last caught up with Bailey in 2021, on the cusp of Outer Banks’ second season. This time around, the actor returns for our 194th issue, Zooming in from an undisclosed part of England where she’s filming her next project. And while she can’t divulge the details of that undertaking, she can talk about the two other projects that are set to release this year—the aforementioned Outer Banks, which follows an enviably good-looking friend group as they pursue treasure and adventure, and Time Cut, the equally thrilling sci-fi, which she stars alongside fellow FLAUNT alum, Antonia Gentry (more on that later).

The former, which is set to release this fall for its fourth season, is what Bailey and her costars are affectionately calling their “senior year.” The new season of Outer Banks picks up directly where the previous had left off, following the Pogues as they embark on yet another quest. Last year, we left them in North Carolina as they returned home with a cache of gold from the mythical city of El Dorado. As the crew had narrowly escaped death, they pledged to lead an easy life moving forward, similar to the one they had in Poguelandia. 

“I can’t wait for fans to see this season,” Bailey beams. “In the previous season, we spent a lot of time separated, working on our own parts of the adventure. But with this season, we spent the majority of the time together, which made for a really fun filming experience. Storywise, seasons one, two, and three take place over a couple of weeks—there’s not a lot of actual time that occurs. However, with this season and the 18-month jump that occurs at the beginning, we get to see the Pogues at a different age and with a newfound maturity.” 

During this 18-month jump, Bailey’s character Kiara works at a turtle rehabilitation center, JJ (Rudy Pankow) charters a boat, Pope (Jonathan Daviss) goes away to school, and John B. (Chase Stokes) and Sarah (Madelyn Cline) run a surf shop together. All is seemingly going to plan until, in the last ten minutes of season three, a man approaches the group, asking if they’d look at some documents. Among these artifacts he presents is a captain’s log from 1718 that belonged to the legendary pirate Blackbeard, who—as the story goes—had left a $12.5 million treasure somewhere on Ocracoke before his death.

As someone who grew up in the Carolinas, Bailey says there was a “huge emphasis on learning about pirates” in school and that Blackbeard—the 18th century pirate known for mercilessly ransacking ships off the banks of North Carolina—was always at the center of those histories. Like the previous seasons, which saw the Pogues solve the myth of El Dorado, this season continues to blend fiction and nonfiction to deliver unmatched entertainment.

“Growing with [Outer Banks] has been the most amazing experience,” Bailey says of the last few years. “I feel so lucky to be a part of such a great cast and crew. We’ve been filming the series for almost five years, but everything feels the same as when it started. I’m still very much in love with what I do and the people I do it with.”

As Bailey continues to grow with the show, so too does her relationship with social media and the internet. Being a young actor navigating the industry is hard enough, but starring in a show as popular as Outer Banks takes on its own set of challenges. With the progression of social media on top of the regular exposure actors already face, fame is so often equated with giving away pieces of yourself while fans and viewers have grown to hold unrealistic expectations of access.

“I try not to put too much pressure on myself,” she confesses. “If I want to post something, I’ll do it. I don’t think about whether people will like it or not. If people resonate with it, that’s great. If they don’t, then that’s ok too.” Bailey admits that toeing the line between her public and private life is a constant struggle, and yet she continues to do so with grace. Since entering the public eye, she’s been incredibly gracious with her platform, sharing candidly about her diagnosis of borderline personality disorder as well as her pansexuality.

So, what’s on her FYP these days? “Babies and Poguecore,” she laughs. “Also some fashion. Recently, I’ve been loving the videos that are like, ‘Wearing clothes versus styling clothes.’ I still do love social media because I love connecting with new people. There are pros and cons, for sure, but especially in the queer space, I think it’s powerful to be able to connect with other members of the community. But my screen time is crazy; we’re not even going to talk about that.”

And like most of her generation, Bailey holds her fair share of appreciation for supernatural ordinances. Lately, she’s been carrying around crystals (“It can be very grounding for a person”) and tapping into the way of the cosmos via astrology and birth charts (“You can’t argue with the stars”). “I think astrology is really fun,” she adds, her head resting in her hands. “I love how you can break down people in a specific way, but you can also take it with a grain of salt.” This innate desire to uncover the intimate depths that make up a person seeps into her practice as an actor—and is what got her into acting in the first place. When she was younger, she loved taking on new characters and exploring what made them tick.

“Every time I play a new character, I come away with a new perspective,” she shares of her creative process. “I think there are pieces of a character that live with you, and there are pieces of yourself that are revealed in the character. There are so many layers to me personally, and I love that I get to tap into different bits of myself through the roles I take on.”

Shortly after the success of Outer Banks’ first season, the then 22-year-old was plucked for another film, Time Cut. Part sci-fi thriller, part visual homage to the early aughts, she plays opposite Antonia Gentry and Griffin Gluck on a rousing journey that rips through the space-time continuum. It is a heartfelt performance, so tenderly familiar yet mesmerizing and enthralling. It feels—as her work so often does—as if she’s carved out a new genre of the protagonist, one that doesn’t just exhibit one dimension but their multitudes.

“We’ve been sitting on this one for so long, so I’m thrilled it’s finally coming out,” she adds. “We first started filming in 2021, after I filmed Outer Banks and American Horror Story. Getting this opportunity to work with Toni and Griffin was so fun. We shot in Winnipeg, Canada, and created our own bubble. It was amazing.” If there’s a through line in Bailey’s work, it’s how her characters have an unwavering desire to help their family and friends—no matter the cost. On-screen, she has an affinity for harrowing roles, which she infuses with robust vibrancy, wit, and unexpected lightness. In real life, Bailey has a similar warm, inviting disposition, an ephemeral quality that can be likened to reconnecting with an old friend.

“With every project I take on, I want to do something new and fun,” she says. “I always look for a character different from the last one. With Time Cut, I was drawn to the sister love story. I have three sisters myself, so the love I have for them was nice to pull into the film.”

Directed by Hannah Macpherson, Time Cut centers around a teenage girl named Lucy, who travels back in time to the early 2000s to stop a killer from murdering her sister. Lucy must contend with saving her sister (at the risk of disrupting her own timeline) or letting the murders unfold the way they did.

“I was attracted to Lucy immediately,” Bailey shares. “To be in the shadow of someone else is a hard way to live, yet she continues to make good decisions. I can always be proud of a character who makes good decisions.”

As Time Cut gears up for its release later this year, has all this talk of time traveling intrigued the actress to give it a try herself? Of course. So what message would she deliver to her younger self if she could? “If I could go back in time to when I just started acting, I’d tell my 15-year-old self that her goals, her ambitions, and her dreams are so much more attainable than she thinks. There’s so much more out there for her,” she smiles. “Even with the new projects I approach today, I’m invigorated for the future. We’re definitely just getting started.”

While it may be some time before we rocket her into space as humanity’s representative, Bailey seems to be just fine—she’s already shooting for the stars, all on her own.

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Photographed by Andi Elloway

Styled by Kyle Kagamida

Written by Kala Herh

Hair: Rena Calhoun at A-Frame Agency

Makeup: Adam Burrell at A-Frame Agency

Flaunt Film: Timothy Shin

Set Design: Destiny

Location: Fourteen Studios