The best teen drama series have sustained in pop culture in part because of all the hormonal drama inherently built into that age demographic. (See: Riverdale's quad relationship.) Apparently, it's not uncommon for young stars' behind-the-scenes hijinks to resemble their onscreen counterparts. At least that's how it went down for Riverdale and Outer Banks stars KJ Apa and Madelyn Cline, who discussed the reality of co-stars making connections.
The co-stars of The Map That Leads to You (available with a Prime subscription) got honest about working on their respective hit shows, specifically talking to EW about how typical it is for these young casts to get close and, in turn, find themselves in complex situations on set. The I Know What You Did Last summer actress cheekily equated it to finding familial levels of closeness, saying:
- MADELYN CLINE: It's like a family, you know what I mean? You spend so much time with [them].
- KJ APA: It's like the family you never asked for. It's true, it's true — in a beautiful way.
I’m sure that kind of bond sprouts quickly for anyone spending as much time on set as it takes to bring a TV show together, and that closeness hopefully only grows the more episodes and seasons there are. The One Fast Move actor humorously but earnestly backed up Cline’s statement, with notes that even amongst the chaos, the connections are worth it.
The 27-year-old doubled down on her family metaphor, noting all the ins and outs of working with other young actors, with Apa capping off the lol-worthy BTS hookup conversation as humorously as it started by directly addressing the elephants making out in the room, metaphorically speaking.
- CLINE: You can't really ever ask for family, that's the whole point. So it really is like family, and of course, you spend that much time with people, and you love them, and—
- APA: You hook up with them. People hook up with each other.
It sounds like such a rollercoaster to be on a teen hit, having so much grey area. Of course there have been a handful of co-stars who dated in real life, including Madelyn Cline dating OB actor Chase Banks. But even a public relationship doesn’t come without its turmoil, fortunately for her, their romance ended amicably. As for KJ Apa, he had no official ties to any Riverdale peers while on air (but he alluded heavily to having hooked up with some).
Today, it seems that for both Apa and Cline, they are out of the thick of their YA dramas on screen and off (OB is likely to release in 2026 and currently filming). Hopefully future young stars take note from shows like Riverdale and Outer Banks that things can get messy fast among peers. Catch both staple shows with a Netflix subscription.
