Outer Banks came to an end on Thursday, August 20 when its fifth and final season premiered on Netflix. And as it came to an end, its star Chase Stokes, 33, revealed a frightening health update he went through during filming.
Chase, who starred as John B. on the teen drama, shared in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter: "I had so much [expletive] wrong."
"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," he continued. "It was a really important time for me to get my bearings right versus just go back into work and mask it.
© Getty ImagesThe actor worked with an internal medicine doctor, underwent blood tests every other week, and did transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy. "It's been a lot of work to get back to baseline, and it was definitely scary for a little bit," Chase said.
The 33-year-old wished he would have focused on his health a little earlier. "Hindsight is 2020, 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," he admitted.
© Getty ImagesBut, after diving into therapy and working with his doctors, Chase was officially ready to leave John B. behind him and pursue new work in Hollywood.
"I think one of the most important things for me always in playing John B. is accepting that flaws are part of the human experience," Chase shared with HELLO!. "I love the fact that I played a young kid who struggled with his sense of self, who struggled with understanding what love was like and struggled with understanding his purpose and his intention in the world, and all through that, he's growing and finding himself as the audience is growing up with him and finding theirselves."
© Getty ImagesWhat is Chase Stokes doing now?
With Outer Banks behind him, Chase is excited for audiences to see him take on something different ahead. His directorial debut, I Told the Sunset About You, is set to be released soon. And he landed a leading role in AMC’s upcoming NASCAR series Thunder Road, alongside Dennis Quaid.
But through it all, Chase will take John B. with him.
"I think sometimes you play a character for so long that people sort of lose sight of the difference, and that it is a character, and that it is my job to bring John B. to life," he told HELLO!. "And so I think, for me, having this chapter end and diving into something very different is exciting. It's going to challenge me, and I think, as human beings, we need challenge in life, and we need to be tested. And so it'll be nice to have a chapter that allows me to dive into something different."
