LOS ANGELES – Noah Centineo became one of young Hollywood’s biggest stars after his breakout role in Netflix’s To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before franchise (2018 to 2021), the viral romantic comedies that led to him being crowned “the Internet’s boyfriend”.
But the American actor has graduated from romcom to be an action star – first in October 2022 with the superhero film Black Adam, in which he played Justice Society member Atom Smasher, and now with the Netflix spy adventure series The Recruit, which he also helped produce.
In the show, which has been on Netflix’s Top 10 lists in Singapore and globally in recent weeks, the 26-year-old plays Owen Hendricks, a rookie lawyer who starts working at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
But his boyish exuberance and naivete get him in trouble from his very first week on the job, when he decides to investigate a former CIA asset threatening to expose the agency’s secrets.
The Recruit is produced by Doug Liman, who directed spy blockbusters such as The Bourne Identity (2002) and Mr & Mrs Smith (2005), but Centineo’s character is in many ways the antithesis of hardened superspy Jason Bourne and is comically inept at times.
“He is a young man fresh out of law school who gets recruited by the CIA. It’s his first job, so he really wants to do well, but he is way out of his depth,”Centineo says at the show’s Los Angeles premiere.
The character does find his feet, but not before taking some hard knocks. “He’s always been someone who has thrived under pressure and, when push comes to shove, he’s ready to step up to the plate,” he adds.
Centineo was instrumental in getting this series off the ground too.
“I found this as a pilot. It was sent to me and I read (creator) Alexi Hawley’s wonderful writing and fell in love with the character. Because I’m fortunate to have a relationship with Netflix (because of To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before), I thought I could walk this into Netflix and, if they like it, we could do this,” he says. “And I guess that warranted an executive-producer credit.”
Stepping into that role was eye-opening for the heart-throb, who is dating American social media influencer and model Stassie Karanikolaou, 25.
“The best part was just being able to see behind the curtain of how they really make something like this,” says Centineo.
“It feels good to be able to pour yourself into something for seven months. And, if there are problems, you get to see how you overcome and work around them. I really got a master class.”
But Centineo downplays how much of an action hero he really is, even though his character does get into numerous physical scrapes. “I’m not an action star in this. I’m a lawyer,” he says.
And although he did hurt himself on set, it was not in a glamorous way.
“I put my back out once, but it was not a stunt. I was just walking and bent over and took a step, and my back was, like, ‘You’re done, sit down.’ And it was during the filming of some of the most vigorous action scenes we had, so I didn’t have to do all of it because the stuntman stepped in,” he says.
“So, yes, there was a lot of action in this, but I really just had to get good at getting my a** handed to me.”
Centineo is equally self-deprecating when asked what he would do if offered a chance to play British spy James Bond.
“That would be crazy. I don’t know if I could just say yes immediately – I don’t even know what the rules are for that. And I’m American, so I don’t know if that’s even within the realm of possibility. I feel like so many people would be so pi**ed about that,” he says.
“But it would be crazy if that opportunity came along – that’s the honest answer.”
The Recruit is available on Netflix.
