Rudy Pankow

Rudy Pankow (/ˈpɑːnkoʊ/;^[1] born August 12, 1998^[2]) is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role as JJ Maybank on the Netflix^[3] teen drama series Outer Banks.^[4]

Rudy Pankow
Pankow on the set of Outer Banks in 2019
Born	(1998-08-12) August 12, 1998 (age 26) Ketchikan, Alaska, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2016–present
Notable work	Outer Banks
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Partner	Elaine Siemek (2020–present)

Early life

Rudy Pankow was born and raised in Ketchikan, Alaska.^[2] He has two brothers, one older and one younger.^{[citation needed]} He began his interest in acting and production in middle school via YouTube.^{[citation needed]} He attended Ketchikan High School.^{[citation needed]} Although he considered joining culinary school, Pankow decided to become an actor and joined the Michael Woolson Studio to improve his skills.^{[citation needed]}

After completion of the acting course, he started performing in theatre to gain more experience.^[5] During his time in theatre, he played roles in The Nutcracker, Mary Poppins and Oliver Twist.^{[citation needed]}

Career

In 2020, Pankow began playing JJ Maybank on Netflix's mystery teen drama television series Outer Banks.^[6] The series is set in a community in the Outer Banks of North Carolina and follows the conflict between two groups of teenagers in search of a lost treasure.^[7] Although it takes place in Outer Banks, the series was filmed in Charleston, South Carolina.^{[citation needed]} The show has been an international success for Netflix. In March 2023, Forbes magazine reported that all three seasons made Netflix's global top 10 weekly list, with season three attracting 99 million hours viewed, while the second and first seasons garnered 27.7 million hours and 34 million hours viewed, according to Netflix data.^[8]

In 2024, he starred as Romeo in the American Repertory Theatre’s Romeo and Juliet.^[9]

Personal life

Since 2020, Pankow has been in a relationship with Elaine Siemek, who has also been working on Outer Banks since the start of its production.^[10]

Filmography

Key

†	Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2017	Sunny Family Cult	Aaron	Short
	Nobody Knows	Abe	Short
	11:47	Jesse	Short
	Do Good Things[11]	Mike	Short
2018	Not Me	Ashton	Short
	Last Summer	Dylan	Short
	Deviant	Marcel	Short
	Muse: Thought Contagion	Lead Guy	Music Video
2021	Lift Off	Danny	Short
	Virgo-proof of concept	Lead	Short
2022	Uncharted	Sam Drake
	Space Waves	Joey
2023	Accidental Texan	Erwin	Main Role
	The Crusades	Leo	Main Role
2024	5lbs of Pressure	Jimmy
2026	Reminders of Him	TBA	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2017	Sunny Family Cult	Aaron	Episode: "Origins"
2019	The Politician[12]	Other Kid	Episode: "The Voter"
	Solved	Freddy / Robert	2 episodes
2020–2024	Outer Banks[13]	JJ Maybank	Main Role, 40 episodes