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Like each and every flower in the midst of a hopeful spring, we can either choose to bloom or to wither. So how do we reach our greatest potential? As time advances, many of us have bits of our past we wish we could keep not just in our hearts, but in our pocket, to take with us wherever we go, to sprinkle atop our new experiences and encourage a continuous blooming. For 22-year-old actor Rudy Pankow, it’s that period before he relocated to Los Angeles—time spent as a kayak guide in his hometown of oceanside Ketchikan, Alaska—that nurtures each new iteration of himself. In those expansive moments were hoped for, but very rare and surreal, exchanges between man and whale. Pankow shares that to truly experience a creature of such magnitude in its natural environment is something indescribably humbling and grounding. He shakes his head and remarks on the experience, “You can’t ask for it. It just happens.”

Pankow’s lighthearted demeanor radiates through the computer screen for our interview as the sun outside nears its daily peak. The actor is inside his Los Angeles home, posted up in front of his bedroom shelves, which are stocked with a record player and various records and books. He remarks that he’s immersing in a recent phase of calm in his world, “We have been getting ‘organized’, as I would like to put it.” Indeed, a time of recuperation is warranted and deserved following Pankow’s completion of filming the sophomore season of Netflix’s massive coming-of-age success, Outer Banks.

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1_175 Flaunt Magazine In The Garden Issue_flaunt.com_web_DIGITAL COVER Rudy Pankow.jpg

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The ten-episode Netflix original—co-created and executive produced by Shannon Burke and Jonas and Josh Pate—follows a tight-knit group of friends on a journey of adventure and mystery (and a buried treasure pursuit, naturally) along the North Carolina coast. Pankow plays the quick-witted and often mischievous JJ, one-fourth of the infamous Pogue quartet. At first read, JJ is the always-ready comedic relief, easy going and carefree. As the drama unfolds, however, the layers of his persona melt, and in turn, expose a truly raw, complex, and empathetic character layered beneath the playful quips and outlandish persona.

Outer Banks debuted in mid-April 2020, amidst the bewildering onset of the global pandemic. Nothing, not even an unprecedented halt of the planet, could stop the show from becoming a viral phenomenon. It reached #1 on Netflix hastily after its premiere and amassed a fervid following. On the series’ success, Pankow confesses, “I think, for me, it was always escapism. It really clicked with people in terms of freedom.” This makes a lot of sense, as every episode has viewers holding their breath, watching secrets unfold as the adventure increasingly intensifies. Pankow hopes the show’s steely attitude and bravery may inspire and dare viewers to do what they have always wanted to accomplish when called to do so, encouraging, “Do it. Do whatever that is.”

Like many artists, Pankow takes a mimetic approach—where art imitates life—as he discovers his own sense of escape and affinity for adventure. He notes how challenging it can be—when overwhelmed with what’s happening in the outside world—to mind what’s going on with ourselves on the inside. Instead of becoming lost in the clutter, the actor turns towards the outdoors for introspection and healing. “We need to take it in and just really digest,” he shares on how nature has helped him pilot this strange period, “I would say that I am now more connected with people, and also the outside world.” He adds that he wakes up every morning and partakes in a new conversation within himself, citing that this calibrated inner monologue has helped him with problem-solving and understanding his own psyche. “Sometimes we are so busy with the outside world and not thinking about what problems we can solve inside,” he shares. “Doing so can really give you a new opportunity, a new perspective to help yourself.”

It is in this same way that Pankow approaches a role. Inspired by the inner mechanisms of a character, Pankow—who performed in a number of short films and handful of television roles before landing his lead opportunity on Outer Banks—embodies his role from the inside out. The actor attests, “I just think I came to realize I enjoyed working out the problems of who this person was—and what they want.” He begins with shadow work first, immersing himself in the specific psychology, trying to find a way to bridge his thoughts into the behaviors of his subject. “Just doing the character study,” he continues. “Every artist is detailed in a certain sense. It is easy to see the broader picture, but it’s all about getting to the minute little details.”

Pankow continues to nourish the vines that connect to inner workings he has yet to discover. “I think acting is a way to really digest who you are,” he shares. “You are giving so much of yourself to other people. Actors go places where people don’t want to express themselves.” He nods in agreement when we quip that even as the springtime bears beautiful flowers and renewal, there are still shadows that lurk beneath the loveliest of trees. “I feel a responsibility to give a part of myself to that,” he says of the darker and more vulnerable sides of human portrayal, “to be as raw and honest as I possibly can.”

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Picture Pankow on a sea kayak far up along the Alaskan coast, out in the dark sea amongst the planet’s great unknowns. Does he see it as intimidating? Something to fear? Not a chance. Instead, like acting, the great unknown is the true space of self-exploration. “I find it freeing,” he remarks on what lies beyond the horizon. “Right now is a time where the goal is to feel the freedom to try. Wherever you are, you are able to try new things, find out who you are. That’s the goal.”

This spring, as the doors of normalcy slowly become ajar—ushering in a new era of hope, rebuilding, and growth—Pankow proceeds from a newly-formed vantage point. Here, he is “finding different perspectives on art and planting that seed.” He invites not just fans of Outer Banks, or Netflix subscribers, but everyone to plant one’s own trees and to “trust that you can plant it,” because you won’t find what you’re truly looking for outside of yourself. The actor affirms with a smile, “Time will tell you what’s going to grow, what it’s going to be like.” And while we can not move the hands of time any faster than their natural progression, one thing remains certain: we will bloom again.