As the fifth and final season of Outer Banks approaches, the actor looks back on her "once-in-a-lifetime" journey and ahead to her next chapter in music.

PHOTOGRAPHY Yasmine Diba
STYLED BY Chris Kim

Madison Bailey doesn’t know her 20s without Outer Banks. Since 2020, the actor, 27, has portrayed the fiercely loyal Kiara “Kie” Carrera on the Netflix phenomenon, which turned Bailey and her fellow Pogues—Madelyn Cline, Chase Stokes, Rudy Pankow, and Jonathan Daviss—into breakout stars virtually overnight. Heading into the show’s fifth and final season, Bailey is acutely aware that she’s closing the chapter that changed her life—and defined her early adulthood. “It was lightning in a bottle, and I’m very conscious of that,” she says. “I will always respect it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
It was important that Kiara got the ending she deserved. “I wanted to give everything that I could to this character for the last time,” says Bailey. “We wanted fans to feel like their favorite characters’ stories were tied up. And I think we finished strong.” She’s especially grateful to have spent her formative years playing a character audiences deeply connected with. “I’ve loved getting to portray this fearless, hyper-independent, and badass teenage girl—one who’s maybe a little too sure of herself sometimes, but someone a lot of people see themselves in.” 
Growing up in Kernersville, North Carolina, Bailey looked up to “smart, feminine characters,” from Selena Gomez’s rebellious Alex Russo on Wizards of Waverly Place to Reese Witherspoon’s sharply self-assured Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. “I’ve always been drawn to characters where it’s like, whatever your perception of this girl is, it’s not true.”

Madison Bailey. L'Officiel USA's July/August Issue.

Although she’ll miss Kiara, Bailey is excited about the future. “I’m always manifesting more,” she says. High on her vision board: collaborating with filmmaker Jordan Peele, taking on challenging roles, and eventually tapping into the rom-com genre. She’s also pursuing another lifelong passion: music. “I’ve been singing since I could talk—long before I started acting at 15,” she says, citing Rihanna, Beyoncé, and Frank Ocean among her biggest inspirations. 
What began as a hobby has since evolved into a serious creative endeavor. “I’m putting together a little project that I’m starting to feel very proud of. With acting, the connective tissue is finding myself in a character—but with music, the pen is in my hand. I’m writing my true experience for what it is, so it’s entirely me, which makes it scary.”&nbsp;

Authenticity, to Bailey, is nonnegotiable across the board. “I never wanted to give the illusion that I’m more put-together than I am,” she says. “Also, I act for a living; I don’t want to act as a real person. I want to be authentic. If you’re not yourself, how can you find your people?” 
That candidness has become central to the community she’s built online, where she’s opened up about everything from her Borderline Personality Disorder diagnosis as a teen to her pansexuality, which she shared in a TikTok video shortly after&nbsp;Outer Banks premiered. “For me, coming out was never a thought,” she says. “The show premiered, and I was like, By the way, here’s me. It wasn’t a separate thing.”
The response, she says, has been overwhelmingly meaningful. “I’ve had a lot of people thank me for being honest—often about mental health, but a lot from the queer community, too,” she says. “Being told that people became more comfortable with themselves just because I was being myself? That’s the most rewarding shit to hear.”&nbsp;
Those moments outweigh the darker side of fame, including the inevitable internet trolls. Bailey takes it all in stride. “If you wouldn’t trust their advice, don’t trust their criticism,” she says. Fortunately, she has a built-in support system to keep her grounded. “I have six siblings on standby to humble me whenever I need it,” she laughs. “And sometimes I do need to just go home and touch some grass.”

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