Nate Bynum joined Outer Banks expecting to play Demp for a single episode. What began as a guest appearance grew into six episodes by the end of Season Four — and even a filmed death scene did not mark the end of his character’s journey. Producers ultimately decided to bring the mysterious groundskeeper back for Season Five, deepening his relationship with the Pogues and turning what was meant to be a brief job into another unexpected chapter in a career that has rarely followed a straight line.
In an interview with Luca Moreira, Bynum discusses disappearing into a character almost completely unlike himself, working on a production of Outer Banks’ scale, and watching young lead actors perform professionally many of the things he teaches his own students. An actor, university professor, and screenwriter, he also reflects on how those three sides of his career continue to shape one another — and on the rejection that helped build the confidence he carries today: “I’ve come to believe that failure is part of success — perhaps even the most important part.”
You had a recurring role across the two most recent seasons of Outer Banks, but relatively little has been publicly shared about your part. To begin, who do you play, and how does your character fit into the world of the series?
The character’s name is Demp, a mysterious groundskeeper the Pogues encounter in Season Four. He has information that can provide some of the answers they need in their search for treasure. At the end of Season Four, it was assumed that Demp had been killed, but he returns in Season Five with an even greater understanding of the danger the Pogues are facing.
Outer Banks already had a very established identity, audience, and set of character relationships when you joined the cast. What was it like finding your place within such an established production while still bringing something personal to the role?
That’s the life of an actor who guest stars on television. You have to enter an established world and make it seem as though you’ve always been part of these characters’ lives or their story. I’ve done that throughout my career, so fitting into an established production wasn’t difficult for me.
The greater challenge with Outer Banks was personal because Demp is so different from the characters I normally play, and so different from me. He’s an uneducated laborer, a heavy drinker, unshaven and unkempt, with a drooping eye and a limp. None of that describes me. So I built him from personal observations of people I’ve known or encountered over the years. I was given the opportunity to disappear into someone who was almost the complete opposite of myself, and I enjoyed that.
