Armando Bacot on the ‘Outer Banks’? UNC basketball star acts in Netflix series
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Read more Netflix ‘Outer Banks’ coverage
The hit Netflix series isn’t filmed in North Carolina, but it’s set on our Outer Banks and that makes us happy. Read all of our OBX coverage here.
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There might not be a ferry from Chapel Hill to the Outer Banks, but one UNC basketball star isn’t letting that keep him from living the Pogue life.
According to reports on social media and from Inside Carolina, star Tar Heel big man Armando Bacot will be featured in the third season of Netflix’s “Outer Banks.”
According to posts on his Instagram account Wednesday, Bacot was in Charleston, South Carolina, on set of the hit show. He posted photos and videos with Chase Stokes, who plays main character John B in the show, Rudy Pankow, who plays JJ, and Josh Pate, one of the show’s creators.
Inside Carolina reported Wednesday that Bacot will play a character named Mando in the upcoming season, and that he will appear in “a few” episodes. Bacot told Inside Carolina that he could not reveal any other details about his involvement with the show.
“Outer Banks” is an action-adventure and mystery show, largely geared towards teenagers, set in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The show generally focuses on two groups of teenagers, the upper-class Kooks and the lower-class Pogues, and the conflicts between them as they search for treasure.
The first season premiered in April 2020, and quickly became a hit during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The show, which streams on Netflix, has since been renewed for two more seasons. The second season premiered in July 2021, and the show was renewed for the upcoming third season in December 2021.
The show’s creators have deep ties to both North Carolina and UNC-Chapel Hill. Show creators Jonas and Josh Pate, who are twins, were born in the state and grew up in Raeford. Josh Pate attended UNC-Chapel Hill, where he studied English and graduated in 1992. The third show creator, Shannon Burke, grew up in Illinois, but attended UNC-Chapel Hill for college.
Jonas Pate lives in Wilmington and currently serves on Gov. Roy Cooper’s Advisory Council on Film, Television, and Digital Streaming.
Although the show is set in North Carolina, it is not filmed in the state. Netflix opted in 2019 to film the series in neighboring South Carolina, citing remnants of the state’s controversial House Bill 2 law, which required people to use the bathroom corresponding to their sex at birth, instead of their gender, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The show caught heat and inspired several jokes on social media from North Carolina viewers early on, as a scene in the first season seemed to imply that John B and another main character, Sarah Cameron, took a ferry from the Outer Banks to Chapel Hill to visit the university’s library. Jonas Pate later told McClatchy News that the error was an editing oversight.
Josh Pate is a noted UNC basketball fan, with photos of him and his family posing with former player Tyler Hansbrough on his Instagram page, as well as a photo of Armando Bacot and Caleb Love during the Tar Heels’ most recent season — one that ended with the Tar Heels playing in the title game for the NCAA national championship, where they lost to Kansas.
This story was originally published May 4, 2022 at 2:33 PM with the headline "Armando Bacot on the ‘Outer Banks’? UNC basketball star acts in Netflix series."
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