Madelyn Cline has now established herself as one of the most sought-after actresses in Hollywood. She achieved a lot of success with Outer Banks and has things relatively easy in the business now.
But it wasn't always the case. She had to face lots of rejections when she was first starting as an actress. And things were especially difficult as she had to go against her parents' wishes to pursue acting full-time.
They eventually came around, though.
Madelyn Cline Moved to LA without Parents' Approval
Cline first realized she wanted to do acting when she was in college. But she had dabbled in entertainment before that, too.
She first got the taste of the business when she started going to New York for commercial print work at just 10. Not only did that make her realize she loved being on sets and with other creative people, but it also helped her save for college.
Madelyn Cline went against her parents' wishes to go to LA and start acting. (Photo: Madelyn Cline/Instagram)
Cline carried her love for commercial work and cinema to college and worked on shows such as The Originals and Stranger Things. But her trips back and forth from the sets of these meant she was missing college.
The actress knew she wanted to be in LA and not in college. And she realized she was "completely miserable," splitting time between acting and studying.
So, one day, realizing she had enough money to move out, she took a leap of faith. At this point, she knew her parents were against the idea of her dropping out.
But Cline still went with it, called her mother, and said, "You know what? I know this is what you guys want me to do, but it's not what I want to do, so I'm going to drop out and I'm going to move out to LA."
"I don't need help, but I just would wish for your support," she confessed, telling her mother (via Glamour). Her mother promised to handle her father, and that was that.
A few months later, she was on her way to LA with a couple of roommates she found. "It was difficult, but we wouldn't be sitting here right now had I not followed my gut," she told Glamour.
But it would not be easy breaking out in the industry, and she learned that the hard way.
Madelyn Cline's Parents Helped Her Get through Rejections
Cline had little acting experience when she first got to LA from South Carolina. She started doing auditions everywhere, but nothing panned out for the Outer Banks star for a while.
"When I first got out here, I was barely getting into any rooms," she said. "I had roommates and friends who were getting into a lot of rooms, they were getting a lot of director sessions and call backs, and they were booking things."
This made her doubt herself and her abilities. Not having an agent didn't make things easier, either.
Things even got to a point where she started questioning herself if she had made a mistake. With no money to move back home and her parents' disapproval still roaming in the back of her mind, she was scared.
She even lived out of her car for a while because she got bedbugs, and to add to the misery, she was not getting auditions.
But Cline rode all these out, remembering what her parents taught her growing up. Her mom and dad's saying was — "If you ain't wrecking, you ain't racing."
She told herself, "You can't have those amazing highs if you don't have those lows," and held the view that it wasn't an authentic LA experience if things don't go horribly for you at least once.
When Outer Banks brought her back home to South Carolina, she returned a different person.
"The person I am now versus the person that I left behind, I love a lot more," she told Hero magazine in July 2021. The lack of a support system in LA forced her to grow up quickly.
But the grind also got her to where she is, crushing it in Hollywood.
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