Madelyn Cline is a dog person. The day after our photoshoot in Los Angeles, I asked her about the golden, curly-haired pet she brought to set. Our art director had sent around a cute photo of her crouched at eye level with the pup, cupping its face in her hands and smiling widely. The expression softened the moody looks she’d been giving the camera, bringing out a youthful warmth. Our pets have a way of doing that.

Cline brings him to work whenever she can. She’s so used to having him on set that the crew will grow accustomed to him, too. Sometimes, she says, people are disappointed when he doesn’t tag along.

“I got him a couple years ago and I wasn’t really sure what I was getting into,” she says. “And then I realized I adopted an actual angel.”

She admits it may be even more enriching for her than it is for him. From the comfort of that everyday companionship, the conversation turns to what she hopes will last. She considers both the life she’s lived so far and the future she imagines for herself.

“I try to figure out what fulfillment means to me in each season of life, because it changes from year to year.”

Madelyn Cline

“When I think about my legacy, I think of a lasting impact, about what I’ve done and what I’ll be able to look back on when I’m older,” she says. “And when I eventually have kids, that will also be part of it.”

For Cline, legacy is already tangible in the family objects and traditions she holds close. Her nana’s engagement ring is the only piece of jewellery she wears that belonged to someone else. Her nana has also compiled a family cookbook along with a few other family members. They use it during the different holidays. Together, they give Cline a way to carry the women who came before her into the life she’s building.

She talks about this idea of legacy with her friends, too. The conversations tend to come back to the idea of fulfilment, she says, and how its meaning changes over time. What fulfils us in our twenties may look different from what matters in our forties. Priorities shift, families grow, relationships change, and new homes, friends, jobs, and interests shape the lives we’re building. It’s a familiar thought and one that brings her idea of legacy into the present: figuring out what makes a full life.

“I try to figure out what fulfillment means to me in each season of life, because it changes from year to year,” she says. “I think determining that is a really good place to start. It gives you a point to be able to look back on and—hopefully—be happy with what kind of legacy you’re building.”

Cline, 28, grew up in Goose Creek, South Carolina, just outside of Charleston. Her family is small. She doesn’t have siblings and says a Christmas gathering usually means about seven people around the table. Her mom travelled with her to New York during the summers when she was doing commercials as a kid, but working in Hollywood wasn’t always something that Cline imagined she’d do as a career.

“I don’t think I really thought of acting as real ambition until I chose to leave college and move to LA to pursue it full-time,” she says. “I didn’t have a backup plan if it failed.”

Before she left school, Cline talked with the dean, who was supportive, and then phoned her mom with the news. Her response: let me handle your dad.

“I’m her madeover,” she says. “I’m so stubborn, I think she just knew that there was nothing she could say to change my mind.”

Cline drove west, mapping out her route around stops where she could try local restaurants and different foods. Somewhere past Arkansas, as the landscape opened up, she remembered realizing how much of the country she’d never seen—and how much of it looked like a perfect stock photo. The cross-country drive was exciting, but LA didn’t immediately feel like home. She describes the first three years as being really challenging. She tried anything and everything to make something stick.

“LA is one of those places that will open itself up to you in time, but first, you have to pay your dues,” she says. The early auditions, bedbugs, and apartment moves were part of what she calls getting “hazed by the city.”

Landing the role of Sarah Cameron on Netflix’s hit teen series Outer Banks finally gave Cline a foothold in the city. The young cast became one another’s support system as they navigated early adulthood.

“There’s so much transition you go through in your twenties and so much you learn about yourself and about the world,” she says. “We all got to do it together and I carry a lot of gratitude for my role on that show.”

From there, doors opened. Fashion has since become a visible part of Cline’s public life. She fronted an American Eaglecampaign in 2022, then became a Tommy Hilfiger brand ambassador the following year, appearing in the label’s campaigns. She made her Met Gala debut in 2023 in Stella McCartney and then returned the next year in a custom Tommy Hilfiger gown. Her fashion week appearances have elevated her beyond that sun-washed, Outer Banks style, too. This past September she arrived at Etro’s Spring/Summer 2027 show in Milan in a sheer black paisley dress with feather trim.

Her fashion presence sits alongside a broader pop culture profile. In April 2026 Cline appeared alongside Margaret Qualley in Sabrina Carpenter’s “House Tour” music video and she was a speaker at the 2026 Forbes Under 30 Summit in Phoenix, Arizona.

Next, she’s turning her attention to film. Judd Apatow’s The Comeback King, a music-centred comedy due in theatres February 2027, stars Cline alongside Glen Powell.

“Judd Apatow, Glen Powell, comedy—there’s not much more to it,” she says.

There was one unexpected challenge: singing. Cline calls that scary, but she put in the work.

Being open to taking on something unfamiliar seems to be part of the future she wants for herself. Cline hopes her career keeps making room for new experiences, new people, and friendships she hasn’t made yet. And, whenever she can, she’ll bring her actual angel along for the ride.

Photography by Leeor Wild
Styling by Jamie Mizrahi (A-Frame Agency)
Makeup by Janice Daoud (The Wall Group)
Hair by Zachary Morad (Exclusive Artists)
Manicurist: Brooke Ritchie
Stylist Assistant: Alex Moghtadaie
Executive Editor: Lisa Felechuk
Art Director: Jessica Hui
Fashion Director: Haley Dach
Entertainment Editor: Elycia Rubin
Digital Editor: Roxanne Tam-Soltani
Social Media Intern: Valerie Cheng