As the final season of Netflix’s hit drama Outer Banks makes its global premiere, star Chase Stokes is opening up about the severe, hidden physical toll the show took on his body behind the scenes. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, the 33-year-old actor revealed that maintaining his character’s youthful, sun-drenched physique led to a terrifying health crisis that nearly cost him everything.
Reflecting on the rigorous physical demands of playing teenage leader John B for over six years, Stokes admitted that trying to maintain the lean look established when he was 27 became increasingly dangerous over time.
“Hindsight is 20/20, but I probably, unfortunately, wouldn’t have been around much longer if I didn’t take care of my body, which is a really jarring thought. At 33, playing a 19-, 20-year-old kid who’s been who he is, I needed to go find myself. I’ve been John B more than I’ve been Chase.”
The actor revealed that by the time production wrapped on the series, his internal health had suffered catastrophic breakdowns from extreme physical conditioning, relentless filming schedules, and chronic stress.
“I left that show… My liver was failing, my kidney was failing. I had so many health issues that I had to figure out, and my brain was all out of whack.”
Medical testing further revealed “alarmingly low” testosterone levels for a man in his early thirties, requiring Stokes to undergo specialized treatments, including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) therapy, to restore his neurological and physical baseline.
“It’s been a lot of work to get back to baseline, and it was definitely scary for a little bit. It was a really important time for me to get my bearings right versus just go back into work and mask it.”
With the final episodes of Outer Banks currently streaming on Netflix, Stokes is prioritizing total recovery, self-discovery, and long-term health before stepping into his next Hollywood chapter—serving as a powerful reminder of the human cost behind television’s biggest hit shows.
