Carlacia Grant is limitless. The Haitian-Jamaican-American actress caught the acting bug several years ago at a summer theatre camp that she was pushed to attend by her grandmother, where she was cast the lead in the Robert Louis Stevenson Play “Treasure Island.” She has since cut her teeth in the industry landing several series guest roles, and in 2021 she landed the role of the badass Bahamian, Cleo, in the Netflix sensation Outer Banks. This is the role that would put her on the map as an actress to watch in Hollywood.
Like her character Cleo, Grant is fearless. Not realizing how much of a success the show already was when she joined in season two, she’s wholeheartedly encapsulated her character, so much that the creators have trusted her guide Cleo’s progression in the series, even so much to change details of the script that feel more authentic to her character. In season 3, we are quickly introduced to the budding romance between her and Pope Heyward, played by Jonathan Daviss. And the kiss they shared at the end of the season, which arguably was the turning point in their relationship – that wasn’t originally in the script, but a product of Grant and Daviss’ feeling like it was the right moment in time for their characters.
1883 Magazine’s Rachel Martin sits down with Carlacia Grant to chat about her badass Outer Banks character, Cleo’s personal playlist (featuring Rihanna!) and her dream of landing a role in a future summer blockbuster.
Now that Outer Banks season 3 has been out for a couple months, how does it feel to have seen all of the fan reactions to this season?
It’s amazing! It’s always really great. Like kind of when we’re doing it, we’re just like in the moment and we just never really know how it’s gonna be perceived. But it’s always great, like actually getting to see the fan’s reactions and the fan videos and the general excitement around what we did. It’s such a great feeling.
What originally drew you to the role of Cleo?
I just thought she was so fun and a total badass. The first time I read the script, it was like– here she is standing on the wall, spinning a knife, and she just didn’t take anything from anyone. So I loved that she’s strong and she’s so tough. I think that her toughness was something that really attracted me.
I completely agree. And for a show that has an audience that spans multiple generations, I feel like there are just as many adults as teens that watch. She’s someone that young girls could really look up to and learn something from!
Yeah, I definitely think that she’s pretty cool, and she’s pretty dope. She has a lot of wisdom.
Do you find that you and Cleo are somewhat similar in any way?
I feel like we definitely go after what we want, for sure. Like, I definitely pull that from Cleo. We go after what we want. We also have an undeniable love for our friends.
She definitely does! I love that about her. Did you get to bring any of your own ideas and personalities into the character?
Yeah, honestly, they were really open in collaborating with me and kind of getting my perspective. The show creators were like, “we really like what you did through the audition process and we really trust you to bring something to the character.” More specifically, this year, like the scene where Cleo gets her own room, that was really something that I talked to the creators about because I had a conversation with my parents. My parents are from the Caribbean, so a lot of them are immigrants, similar to Cleo, and have a lot of the same stories. My mom talked to me about the experience of having her own room and how big of a moment that was. I talked to the creators about it and that’s how that scene actually made it!
Outer Banks season 1 was obviously a huge success. Before auditioning, had you watched season 1 / did you know what you were getting yourself into?
Nope! [Laughs]
Wow!
I think that’s probably what made it so great– I didn’t have any of the pressures. Like I’d never watched the show. One of my friends was like “this is a really huge audition and honestly a really big show.” I was like, “oh, ok,” but I didn’t watch it, so I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I really just kind of went in, just blinded, so it was cool! I wasn’t even nervous. I was just cool. I was just so attracted to the character.
I feel like that’s the best way to approach it, really.
It is. I’m so happy that I didn’t know anything because sometimes if you know too much, you kind of psych yourself out and you kind of overthink things. But because I didn’t know anything, I could just go in like and be free within the character.
I’m sure it gave you the opportunity to really perform your best and you didn’t have a predetermined bias.
Exactly.
I know a lot of actors curate playlists for their characters before and during filming. Did you create a playlist for Cleo? If so, what were some of the songs / artists on the playlist?
Yes, of course! It keeps changing, but for now it has a lot of reggae music. It has a bit of Shenseea, some Fadda Fox, and some Popcaan. It, of course, has some Rihanna because I do pull a little bit from Rihanna. So stuff like that, like “Rude Boy” is on my playlist, “Bitch Better Have My Money” is on that playlist. This is really a playlist of songs that bring out that inner”I’m gonna get whatever I want.” Songs that just bring out the utmost confidence, which I think that Cleo has.
It’s funny because when I thought about asking you this question, one of the artists that came to mind was Rihanna! Her music is very bold, which fits Cleo perfectly. When Cleo was first introduced in season 2, I found her to be extremely bold and somewhat feisty. While she’s still those things, in season 3 she shows a more vulnerable side to her. How do you feel like she’s grown throughout the series?
I think that with season 2, it was more of her kind of showing an outer strength, like, I’m tough, don’t get near me, I don’t let people close to me, that’s my defense. But then we come back with season 3 where it’s like, if she doesn’t let people in, then she won’t be able to survive. She’s no longer in these streets, she has people who genuinely care about her and genuinely love her. I think that’s something she wanted from day one, but now she has it. It’s like trying to navigate the fear of being loved and the space of, okay, I have people here now in my life and I’d like it. So how do I not push it away? So I think this season we really see her struggle a little bit, but I think more surrendered to the feeling of like, to love and to be loved.
Although they had a rocky start, we see the relationship between Cleo and Pope flourish throughout season 3. What do you think drew Cleo to Pope, and vice versa?
I think what she loves about Pope is I think Pope just brings out a softness in her and he challenges her. As much as it makes her crazy, I think she likes that he doesn’t really back down from her. He’s comfortable like, I guess in his own skin where he kind of would argue with her and they bicker back and forth. But I think at the end of the day, he knows that sometimes she’s right. So I think they just make a good pairing and I think what Pope loves about Cleo is the fact that she is this well-traveled and she does bring that much wisdom into the relationship because Pope is usually the smartest guy. So now he has a person who brings in more of a street smart. Them together is street smart meets book smart. I think they make an unstoppable couple.
They really learn a lot from each other.
Exactly. So I think that’s what makes them a good pair.
About halfway through the season, you convince Pope not to kill Rafe after he destroyed his invaluable family gold cross — it was quite emotional. What was it like filming that scene? Was there anything specific you did to get into character for a scene that heavy?
Yeah, that scene was really heavy to film, I think for both of us because for me, what I brought to Cleo was trying to find that space of feeling like, you do kind of want Rafe to get what he deserves. It’s not like Cleo hasn’t been around and seen like all the messed up things he did. So to have a little bit of that space of like, the karma for him has got to come eventually. Cleo always thinks like a bigger picture, you know, so you do this and you hurt your family. You lose more than you would gain by doing this moment. So I think just kind of like having the spirit of, or trying to, craft the spirit of like, “okay, this is not what I want him to do and this is not what’s best for this moment.” Sometimes you just have to let things go because the bigger picture is being a family. I think that’s what Cleo really does adore about Pope too, because I think he gives her family. Here she is, now she has parents, and the Heywards are the best parents on the show, or even just in general. So, you’re there with a good family, and I think the amount of admiration and love she has for the Heywards, I think that also impacted her decision.
Yeah, I agree, it’s less about looking out for Rafe, and more about looking out for Pope and making sure he doesn’t ruin his life, and then in turn she doesn’t lose him.
Exactly.
One of my favorite scenes in the season is when Cleo decides to quit the ‘No Love Club’ and shares a kiss with Pope. Where do you hope to see their relationship go as the series continues?
I do hope that Cleo and Pope stay together, but I hope that they just continue to grow and build on their relationship. I think that they just make a really great pairing so I hope that we just go further in those relationships. I guess Lord only knows what trouble we might get into season 4, so I hope that we continue to build upon the skills that we really have and, you know, maybe we have a time jump that happens. So I definitely wanna know what happened in their relationship in the time jump.
That brings me to my next question– What do you think Cleo did in that 18 month time jump?
That’s a good question. I hope that she continues to grow as a human being, and as a partner. I’m hoping Cleo would be able to maintain a relationship because she’s just one of those people who fly with the wind. You know, she’s a pirate. So I’m hoping that she finds the space to kind of like be okay with where she is in her life, hopefully.
I agree. She’s definitely fiercely independent.
Exactly. So I wonder if Cleo can find a good balance between being fiercely independent or sometimes independent to a fault.
I read in a previous interview that you mentioned the kiss wasn’t a part of the script! How did the change come about? How does it feel that the writers trusted you with making that change?
I think this whole season as we were getting scripts, it was kind of a thing. We all kind of wondered, “well, what’s gonna happen? Are they going to kiss, are they not going to kiss?” These are questions that we had with each other. We’ve been building this up every single episode and we don’t wanna build it up and then have people watch the entire season and not feel like it ended in a good place. We would talk to the creators and they never thought it was the right time, or even suggested it could be pushed to next season. And finally we just came up with the idea to just do it (kiss) because we feel like we know our characters the best and we feel like our characters would be ready to. It just seems like a good idea to do it! So we just did it– had an actual kiss, when it was originally written as a cheek kiss. If they didn’t like it, they would just tell us to stop, but it’ll already be on camera. Then, literally right before filming, Jonas said “oh, script change! You guys are really kissing here.” And it was funny because we were already planning to do it!
I know it’s been a few weeks now – but this season was the first time Outer Banks had the chance to have an in-person premiere, along with the Poguelandia music festival! How did it feel to be able to celebrate in person with the fans and your castmates?
Oh man, it was one of those core memories, a moment I’ll remember for the rest of my life. Like, truthfully, it’s one of those moments that you just wish you could do again because it goes by so quickly. But it’s so amazing to actually meet people, and see their faces, talk to them, hear their voices– all of the amazing people support our show. It came out during the pandemic and everything was online, and to actually see Poguelandia come to life was incredible. It literally was like one of the coolest things that I’ve ever been to.
You guys had a full on music festival with a lot of people that showed up. I’m sure it was really cool to really gauge how big the show actually is!
Exactly! That really made me understand that, “oh, this is huge.” Like even pulling up to the premiere, there were hundreds of people lined up several blocks away. It was crazy!
It’s gotta feel good that what you guys are doing is making this big of an impact. I mean, this show has an audience that is as big as what Gossip Girl had or Riverdale when it first started. It’s huge!
Yeah. It’s definitely one of those things that you really feel like this is a special moment in time. It’s something that in 10 years from now or even 20 years from now, it’s something that’s just gonna live on. Like, it’s one of those shows that are a phenomenon.
Pivoting away from Outer Banks a little – how did you get your start in acting?
When I was 13, I went to a theatre camp just randomly. My grandma was like, “you’re just not gonna sit home all summer, you gotta go to camp.” I decided I’ll go to theatre camp. In that camp I just really fell in love with acting. I realized this is really something that I wanna do for the rest of my life. I can just remember the day that I was like, “oh my God, this is really fun,” that summer!
What sort of projects would you like to work on in the future?
I would love to do a romcom, or a romance, even a thriller would be great! Something with a lot of action. I would love to star in a summer blockbuster. I want to do a lot of different projects!
I mean, you started out Cleo with that scene holding the knife. I’m sure you could land something like that! Or even a superhero.
A superhero would be so cool!
What are some of your favourite romcoms?
I just saw A Ticket To Paradise and I thought that was cute. My cousin just put me on to Pretty Woman. I was like, “oh my God, that’s a great romcom.” Hitch is one of my favourites. I’ve seen that way too many times.
We all have that one that we watch over and over again!
What’s yours?
The Holiday – my all time favourite.
Oh my God, that one is a good one.
It’s so timeless. I try to save it for around the holidays because it definitely feels like a Christmas movie to me, but it’s my comfort movie. I watch it any time I’m feeling any sort of way and it just makes me feel good.
Yeah, that’s how I feel about a good romcom. It’s like you never reach the end of it not feeling better.
I completely agree. So yeah, go land a good romcom for us all please. We need it!
I will!
Outer Banks season 3 is streaming now on Netflix.
Interview Rachel Martin
