One of my least cherished memories from high school: the daunting task of reciting a Shakespearean monologue before the entire class. A truly humiliating experience. Very few of us grasped the meaning behind the words we decreed—we were merely striving to pronounce them correctly and secure a decent grade. After hopping on a Zoom call with actor Rudy Pankow, for the first time ever, I want to go back to school to try and actually make sense of those complicated, canonized words. “The beautiful thing about Shakespeare is that if you trust him,” Pankow says through a smile, “the words will do all the work.”

The soon-to-be 26-year-old actor, who shot to fame with the roaringly successful series, Outer Banks, is entering a new era. We can now watch Pankow live—no cuts, no retakes—as he embraces his theater debut this fall as Romeo in the timeless classic Romeo and Juliet. So far, Pankow isn’t scared to be raw, embracing the unpredictability and authenticity that only live theater can offer. “You can feel a huge difference in the tension in the room,” he recalls of nailing a scene with an audience in one of his theater acting classes. “The moment where the audience laughs, the moment when the audience breathes with you. You get to be on the ride with them.”

Pankow will star alongside Emilia Suárez (Up Here, A Good Person) as the title characters in the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University. Launching the theater’s 2024-2025 season, the production is directed by Tony Award-winning Diane Paulus (Jagged Little Pill, Waitress, Pippin), who is reuniting with two-time Olivier-winning director and choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (Jagged Little Pill, Babel(words), Puz/zle) to stage the classic tragedy.

On our call, Pankow is back in his hometown of Ketchikan, Alaska, enjoying a brief respite from his bustling schedule. He’s filling up his summer days wakeboarding with friends and resting up. However, it’s evident that he’s eagerly anticipating his trip to Boston next week to start rehearsals. “I’ve always wanted to do Shakespeare. It’s the golden standard of theater,” he reflects. His stage coach Larry Moss always thought he’d make a good Romeo, so landing the role is a full-circle moment.

The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet may seem like an out-of-touch ancient story, but Pankow convinces us that its themes of love, conflict, and personal responsibility are more relevant today than one might think. “You have a world around you that you can pay attention to, which is important, right?” Pankow says, referring to the message he hopes to convey, “But then it’s very important to really focus on how to control your own world.”

While Romeo marks a significant new phase for the actor, fans are more familiar with Pankow’s portrayal of JJ in the aforementioned Outer Banks. On the sun-drenched beaches of North Carolina, JJ’s adventures are filled with action, camaraderie, and the relentless pursuit of treasure. In the latest third season, JJ and the Pogues continue their quest for the fictional Cross of Santo Domingo, facing dangerous adversaries and uncovering hidden secrets.

Outer Banks has been huge for Netflix, with all three seasons consistently appearing in the streamer’s Global Top 10 weekly list. The series has won multiple People’s Choice and MTV Movie & TV Awards, one of which was given to Pankow for “Best Kiss” in 2023. To the delight of many fans, Pankow has just wrapped up filming the fourth season. Though he keeps details under wraps, he teases with a hint of what’s to come: “The crank only turns one way, so it’s bigger, it’s more intense, more twists are coming.”

Playing JJ is special for Pankow; there’s no other way to put it.“What’s so great about building a character is that you get to chef up new things,” he says. JJ’s spirit is both inspiring and endearing, not only to the audience, but to the actor as well. In a way, JJ was a sort of teacher for Pankow. “He’s never shy of taking matters into his own hands,” he says with a laugh. “I think he’s taught me that it’s just like, ‘Hey, take the bull by the horns and try to hang on as long as possible.’”

With the new season creeping up, Pankow reflects on the journey his character has taken over the last three seasons. JJ starts off as a bit of a delinquent, dreaming only of living on the beach in Yucatán and avoiding the complexities of life. However, the adventures and challenges of the Pogues force him to grow up and take responsibility, transforming him into a determined and dependable character. “At this point, I think he wants to build his future; he wants to be accountable for himself, and that’s his growth,” he explains.

Pankow follows a golden rule, one that perhaps we should all adopt: understanding that mistakes will be made. He’s not just talking about occasional mishaps; he insists that mistakes are inevitable—the crucial part is how we handle them. “I think as long as you understand that golden rule, you should be okay,” he shares. “I hold myself to that because I know I’m not perfect, but I also know that I want to do a good job in all aspects of my life.” There is no way to box up Pankow. He is not a “romance” actor or a “comedy” actor—he’s a dynamic actor. He previously appeared in the Sony film Uncharted alongside Mark Wahlberg and Tom Holland, which grossed over $400 million worldwide. He also starred as the lead in the Roadside Attractions independent film Accidental Texan opposite Thomas Haden Church, which won the 2024 Texas Independent Film Award from the Houston Film Critics Society. Additionally, he appeared in Lionsgate’s 5lbs of Pressure with Luke Evans, Alex Pettyfer, and Rory Culkin.

Quite the resume. When asked how he handles the diverse dynamics of each set, Pankow delves into an analogy, “No matter how different each project is,” he says, “the most important thing to remember is that you are a small part of the whole picture, a gear in the machine. In order for the wheel to turn, everyone needs to work together, listen, understand and collaborate.” He continues, “It’s such a beautiful thing when everyone is working toward a common goal, and I’ve been lucky to see that first hand. The whole is truly greater than the sum of its parts.”

Pankow understands that creating a tapestry of emotions and experiences that resonate deeply with audiences is a question of harmony. But how does that harmony come to be? What makes the machine’s cogs spin? Communication. He explains, “If you’re hesitating or you’re having thoughts that don’t really get you anywhere, you need to communicate those thoughts, and that’s when we all start spinning.”

This confidence to communicate speaks to an internal sort of compass within Pankow—to not only use his voice when necessary, when needing to navigate reluctance or fear—but to listen. “I would like to learn as much as I possibly can,” he remarks of where he sees his journey going. “I would like to know what works and what doesn’t work. From learning about really big sets to then learning how an indie film travels far if the team is, you know, spinning the wheels.”

As Pankow embarks on his voyage to embodying Romeo, his process reminds us that, much like Shakespeare’s enduring prose, the magic of storytelling lies in its ability to connect the pieces of life’s puzzle. And perhaps, like me, when the “trust” required when reading Shakespeare channels through someone so firmly wedged into the modern cultural zeitgeist, you’ll find yourself wanting to revisit those once-daunting monologues with a newfound appreciation for the always romantic, always comical Bard. 

Photographed by: Michael Muller

Styled by: John Tan

Written by: Eloisa de Farias

Grooming: Jessica Ortiz at Kalpana

Flaunt Film: Tyler Rabin and Elaine Siemek

Flaunt Film Editor: Isaac Dektor

Producer: Selah Tennberg

Location: The Bowery Hotel

‍