Outer Banks' Plane Crash Scene Was A Struggle For Madison Bailey
At times, it can feel like "Outer Banks" only gets more and more over-the-top with each successive episode. Season 3 of the Netflix teen drama series certainly follows the trend, with its teenage lead characters engaging in all manner of death-defying stunts. In fact, the premiere episode features the cast in what is arguably their most ambitious and intense action sequence yet.
Having been finally rescued from their stint on a deserted island starting at the end of "Outer Banks" Season 2, the group of Pogue castaways soon find themselves in new situation that's somehow even more dangerous. A scuffle with the suspicious pilot who picked them up from the island leads to their plane crashing down in open water, and it's just as action-packed of a sequence as one might hope. But while it may make for some entertaining television, shooting this particular scene proved to be a major challenge for Madison Bailey, the cast member behind Kiara.
The plane scene was all too real for Bailey
The "Outer Banks" plane crash scene may be fictional, but it was still frighteningly real in many ways for Madison Bailey. In an interview with Netflix TUDUM, Carlacia Grant and Bailey were asked about which "Outer Banks" Season 3 stunt they felt was the most challenging to pull off. While Grant referenced the elevator shaft scene in Episode 2, Bailey suggested the plane crash scene for how involved a shooting process it was. "They put the plane in the real ocean," the actress explained. "We were in the ocean and it wasn't close to the shore."
Treading water off the coast of Barbados (where "Outer Banks" is filmed) is already quite the taxing task for the show's cast, especially when factoring in the time spent getting everything set up for filming. However, Bailey in particular had an even more physically demanding role for these scenes than many of the other actors. Speaking of the sequence where she rescues an unconscious Jimmy (Kraig Dane) from the wreckage of the plane, Bailey recalled: "I had to, like, swim with a grown man on my side."
Interestingly enough, the cast of "Outer Banks" does have stunt doubles for more demanding scenes, but it seems the main actors ended up handling this intense sequence themselves. Perceived quality of "Outer Banks" aside, it's hard to deny that the show's team puts a substantial amount of effort into its big set pieces.