Fiona Palomo says it was ‘terrifying’ to join Outer Banks as Drew Starkey’s boyfriend (Exclusive)

Fiona Palomo could feel some nerves coming together close distribution of Outer Banks — and it didn’t help that she was coming in as a love interest for one of the show’s thirstiest characters.

Palomo, 26, was first introduced as Sofia in season 3 from the Netflix series (before being passed over to regular series for season 4), and she tells PEOPLE that it was “terrifying” to think how fans would react to her character’s blossoming romance with Rafe Cameron (Drew Starkey).

“It’s like, ‘I’m pissing off a lot of women out there,'” she jokes. “But it’s great. It’s incredible to be on a project … where people are so invested in the characters and what’s going on.”

“It’s cool to say, ‘Oh my God, I don’t know how this character is going to be received, because it’s like this character and it’s this actor and it’s all these little things,'” she adds. “But I think that just speaks to how big a thing (Outer Banks) is and I am so happy that people have been kind to me (so far).

She even told Starkey, 30, who isn’t as oblivious to the internet’s thirst for him as he might seem. She recalls, “We sat down on set, I’d be like, ‘I know when he comes out, he’s going to be like, ‘Stay away from him!’ And we would laugh about it. He tells us, “Yes, probably.”

While it was “a little daunting to see how (Sofia) was going to be received” ahead of the Oct. 10 premiere of season 4 part 1, Palomo says, “I feel like the love — or kindness — that I brought to Sofia, and making sure -me that that character worked well and everything, he’s impressed and he feels very welcome and very loved and he’s very nice, I’m very, very grateful.”

It shows her how “invested” the fans are, she says, before adding: “I’ve just seen very, very kind things and they really like her and they’re really standing up for her and saying, ‘Sofia, you deserve it. better.’ I say, “What’s going on?”

Palomo has nothing but good things to say about working with Starkey – who played the angry and violent older brother. Madelyn Cline’s Sarah Cameron since Season 1 – as she describes him as “so kind, professional and welcoming.”

He couldn’t be more different from his character, she says. “I guess I was flown to Charleston to do a little chemistry reading with him, and that’s when I met him. And I remember — you have this daunting image of Rafe, and obviously you know he’s an actor — but he was just really nice.”

That just says “how amazing an actor he is,” she says.

“He cares so much about his craft, and so do I, so it was really nice to be able to have someone who cares so much to sit down and make sense of these characters and feel like he’s been through all that . time together that you never see on screen.”

Building Rafe and Sofia’s backstory together was a big part of their preparation for Season 4, Palomo says, as the new installment sees their relationship progress to the point where Rafe makes promises about their future together.

She also knows that just looking at Sofia, a ‘Pogue’ with a working-class family, “You just want to sit and say, ‘Sofia, we need to talk about this.’

But he sees some nuance in the bad boy, good girl cliche of it all, especially given Sofia’s family’s cultural background. She shares, “(She’s) very warm and it’s very easy (for her) to lean towards people and trust them and want to take care of them. So I think she really thinks that (being with Rafe) is not intimidating to her. I think she’s very ready to embrace all parts of him and all that he is.”

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“It’s really incredible that through kindness and love, a person could be more in touch with themselves,” she says of how Sofia could change Rafe, who has been “through such events crazy,” including his father’s death. , Ward Cameron (Charles Esten) in season 3.

As for the rumors that Starkey is perhaps the furthest from the cast?

“I’m aware of it, but I also watch my cast mates talk about how oblivious he is to his cell phone in general. Like, period,” she says. “But this is great. He’s like a nineties cool kid. He just says, “I don’t know where I left my phone. It could be anywhere on the set.” And that’s great, He just lives.”

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Part 1 of Outer Banks Season 4 is now streaming on Netflix, with Part 2 premiering on November 7.