Noah Centineo, the Internet’s Boyfriend, Is Now Kicking A** – Hollywood Reporter
Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood ReporterSubscribe for full access to The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood Reporter’s newest “Person of Interest” is the 28-year-old rom-com lead turned action star, back with season two of his hit Netflix show, ‘The Recruit.’
By
Nicole Fell
In The Recruit, Netflix’s high-octane CIA drama, Noah Centineo plays a lawyer turned unlikely protagonist. But being an action star was never something the 28-year-old sought out. For most of his still slightly nascent career, he’s been in a different box.
“The rom-com, romantic interest archetype was pretty much the only thing that I got booked doing from age 15 until To All the Boys and Perfect Date and Sierra Burgess [Is a Loser],” Centineo tells The Hollywood Reporter.
The actor spent the bulk of his 20s playing different iterations of the internet’s boyfriend in those Netflix films before pivoting for The Recruit — a move he says wasn’t actually intentional. Set to receive SCAD TVfest’s distinguished performance award on Feb. 6, Centineo is eager to expand his horizons as an actor and producer under his production banner, Arkhum Productions.
Related Stories
TV
‘Drive to Survive’ Season 7 Lands Release Date as Netflix Follows F1’s Most Entertaining Title Fight in Years
TV
Gia Kim on Hoping Her ‘XO, Kitty’ Character Is Shown “Some Grace” and Manifesting Dark Comedy Roles
Below, he reflects to THR on what led him to The Recruit, Peter Kavinsky’s viral return to TV screens in XO, Kitty season two, how he unplugs after action-packed filming days and more.
What was your experience like making season two of The Recruit? You had really great chemistry with Teo Yoo (who plays Jang Kyun Kim) as a new friend and foe.
I feel really great about season two. We moved from Montreal and shot it in Vancouver, where I shot the To All The Boys movies, so I knew a good amount of the crew. Reuniting with the cast on a personal level was just so good. They’re amazing people. We like each other, we love each other, we hang out with each other off set all the time. It created this propulsive element to the second season. The season moves fast. It’s action-packed, and Teo comes in and just elevates the series. It felt really, really good to do, and Korea is incredible. It adds such a wonderful layer to the show, new colors and it’s a vibrant city, and it really shows in the second season.
In The Recruit, you start at 100 and you don’t let off the gas most of the season. From an acting standpoint, what is that experience like when you’re also giving small emotional moments? Do you find it difficult to balance?
That’s a really good question because it’s true. You would need an arc, you need somewhere for a character to go. They need to develop. A lot of [my character] Owen’s arc in this is experiential for his job and his ability, but it’s also a descending into the worst version of himself by virtue of trying to survive in this heinous world that he’s found himself in. Alexi [Hawley, creator] really gave those opportunities, and so I think the answer is no. I don’t think it was something we had to look for or find that wasn’t there. I think he provided it. I just show up and try to do what he writes as best I can.
In a show that’s so action-packed, it does feel very grounded in terms of what’s happening between people.
I think those characters move in pretty grounded ways. The world is hyperreality, or seems like hyperreality. Although, even in the first season, a lot of the situations that you watch, you’d be surprised how much of it is actually truth in reality, and how it’s stranger than fiction. I’d say the show’s still pretty grounded.
When you decided to take on The Recruit, you were at a pretty interesting point in your career. You had done successful movies with Netflix. You had almost built your niche as a rom-com lead, and had a lot of success doing that. The Recruit was a bit of a pivot. Why did you feel like that was the right thing for you at the time? Do you still feel like it’s the right thing for you?
I love that. The rom-com, romantic interest archetype was pretty much the only thing that I got booked doing from 15 until To All The Boys and Perfect Date and Sierra Burgess and all of that. I think 99.9 percent, that’s just what I booked. By the time I was like 24, I was like, “I just want to try something else and see if I can do something else.” But it wasn’t a calculated, “Oh, I need to step out of the rom-com.” “Oh, I need to try to not box myself in.” That wasn’t why.
I read the pilot [of The Recruit]. Doug Liman was attached to direct and he was producing. It was at E1 at the time. For me it was just, here’s a pilot episode written by Alexi Hawley, and it read to me [as] interesting and funny and action-packed and dramatic. It threaded this needle that I thought was fun and I thought that I could do it, and I wanted to do it. That was really the impetus. Netflix was such an incredible home to me, and supporter already of projects for me, so I was able to take it to them. They asked for a second episode; Alexi wrote a second episode and then they bought the show. I was really captivated by the world that Alexi wrote and wanted to explore in that world.
We have to address your very fun XO, Kitty cameo this season. Fans were so excited. What a perfect intro to have Peter come back to Lauv’s “I Like Me Better.”
So good!
Have you seen the reaction online to you coming back?
I haven’t. What is it? You’re going to be the first person to tell me. Do they [like it]?
They love it. Fans are very excited. There’s been plenty of social media comments about people being back in their Peter Kavinsky era.
They’re back in their Peter Kavinsky era until they go on my Instagram and they’re like, “Who’s this shabby-looking dude?”
What was that experience like? Particularly getting to see Anna Cathcart, who you essentially watched grow up in the To All The Boys movies, to now leading her own show and being at the top of the call sheet.
Anna was always the most prepared actor on set. Lana [Condor] would kill me for saying that, though (laughs). But it is half a joke and half not a joke. Because she was. And so expressive and so talented. She had so many different ways to do the role of Kitty, and so it’s no surprise that she got her own show and spinoff. She does it with grace. She’s so young, she’s so hardworking. It’s a lot to carry the weight of a show. It’s a lot of responsibility. Not just as an actor, right? There’s a lot of responsibility as a person to ensure there’s a culture that provides people what it is they need. The human resources they need to do their best work, and you don’t have to do that, but it certainly helps to do that. And she does that. Seeing her in the second season of XO, Kitty, just shine. It was the first day, I think it was their first day back.
There’s nerves involved with that. You haven’t really gotten to fall back into the character yet because you’re on day one. It’s your first time putting Owen or Kitty back up on their feet, and she did it with such ease and such grace. It was a 10 out of 10 experience for me. She’s got so much going for her. I’m stoked for her, and it was an honor to come back and work with her again.
Looking at where you’re at in your career right now, do you feel that you saw this trajectory for yourself? Are you a person who has a very clear 10-year plan, or are you someone who takes projects as they come?
My way about working has altered in the last two years. Before it was very much, let’s see what comes and go with that. Now I think I’m leaning into mining and finding work, taking it upon myself to try to find filmmakers who I’m extremely inspired by and see if they’ll give me a job.
Kristoffer Borgli’s Dream Scenario is an example of that, where I’ve been following his short films for years, knew about Sick of Myself. Then my producing partner, Enzo [Marc], goes, “Kris is doing an A24 film, and Nic Cage is starring in it.” I’m immediately like, “Oh my God.” You call your team, “Please put me on a Zoom with Kristoffer.” They do, and then you sit there and you’re like, “Look dude, I will literally grip on your movie. I’ll do anything. I’ll PA on your movie. I’ll be a director’s assistant. I’m just a fan of you. Can I do anything to help? Is there anything I could do?” Fortunately, there was a role in it. That’s far more my current speed: finding people who inspire me that I think are incredible and wonderful. Then if there’s a good role that makes sense, trying to convince them to let me take it on.
When you’re working, particularly when you’re leading a show like The Recruit, how do you blow off steam?
You’re on set, you’re first in, last out. Your emotions are all over the place, and sometimes you’re jumping off of things or getting punched in the face. So you come home and you need to decompress a little bit. Once the day’s over, I take Joe, my dog, for a long hike or walk. I read in my off time. I go home and cook dinner if I’m off early enough. Just really simple things that we all do to try to create a sense of normalcy and decompression. In Vancouver for The Recruit, the whole cast would go to brunches every other week. We’d do yoga together. It was winter, so we would do ice plunges in the ocean together, too.
How do you handle being between jobs?
I hate not working. With the production company, I’m constantly reading scripts, so that’s nice. But it’s hard off set — I don’t think I’m ever really that comfortable.
At this point in your career, what is the next thing that you want to try that you haven’t yet?
Certainly, there are films on [my production company’s] slate that are different from anything I’ve done before. Those are still in the realm of film. I’ve done film before, but never those genres, never those characters. I’m certainly looking forward to doing those ideally this year, but I’d like to try my luck at going to do stage. Doing a play of some sort. It scares me and it’s completely different, but I love the world of it and I really want to do that.Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every daySend us a tip using our anonymous form.
