Outer Banks star Chase Stokes has revealed on-set injuries have left him with short-term memory loss.
The 33-year-old has played John B. Routledge on the hit Netflix series, which just aired its fifth and final season, since 2020.
Stokes claimed that he poured ‘blood, sweat, and tears’ into the role, and he’s not exaggerating.
The star has suffered three concussions while making the show, the most recent of which happened during season 3 while filming an action sequence on a plane.
Unfortunately, while filming, one of his co-stars pushed open a door, and when it swung back, it hit Stokes on the head, knocking him unconscious.
Unsurprisingly, Stokes said this has had an impact on his memory.
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‘This is a show that I’ve quite literally poured my blood, sweat, and tears into over the years,’ he told Men’s Health.
‘I wouldn’t have traded those blood, sweat, and tears to make that character come alive for anything.
‘The last two years, I’ve started to notice memory retention issues becoming a little bit more prominent.
‘I’ve had days where I’ve looked at my materials the night before, and I’m feeling pretty good about it, but then I’ll get in the car and go to work, and I’ll be like, “S***, I don’t remember the chunk of dialogue from last night”.’
Stokes also admitted that when people tell him things, he forgets them very quickly.
‘It’s almost like a short-term memory loss type of situation. It’s scary,’ he said.
To deal with the issue, Stokes said he’s working on ways to remap and train his brain,noting that Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) has helped him ‘tremendously’.
According to the NHS, TMS is a ‘non-invasive procedure that uses magnetic fields to stimulate specific areas of the brain’, which is used to treat various mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, and certain neurological disorders.
Stokes is also doing fewer stunts; aside from the concussions, he’s also ‘popped a shoulder out of place, dislocated my finger, and gotten stitches.’
Outer Banks is streaming now on Netflix.