After years of growing alongside one of television’s most passionate fan communities, Julia Antonelli is returning to Outer Banks with a renewed appreciation for both the character she plays and the career that has brought her here.

For Julia, stepping back into the role of ‘Wheezie Cameron’ was especially meaningful after the character had a more limited presence in the previous season. Now, as the story continues, she sees an opportunity for Wheezie to reveal a stronger and more defining side of herself.

“I just felt so joyous to step back into Wheezie because I had missed her,” Antonelli tells Take One. “I was sad that I didn’t get to do anything in season four, but then they brought me back and I was just like, I’m so excited to finish her story.”

According to Antonelli, Wheezie’s journey in the new season gives the character more room to demonstrate where her loyalties truly lie.

“I think this season she’s stronger. She comes back stronger,” she says. “I think she’s just as loyal as she always was, but she really shows her true loyalty this season.”

Antonelli describes that loyalty as one of the defining aspects of Wheezie’s story, calling it the “shining star” of the character’s role in the final season.

Being part of a series with a massive and highly engaged audience has also shaped the way Antonelli views her career. Unlike when she began acting, she now has a more immediate connection with the people watching her work.

“The fans of Outer Banks are so cool and chill and lovely,” she says. “Every encounter that I’ve ever had with a fan has been positive.”

Photo Credit: YELLOW BELLY

Antonelli began her career with a major role on Nickelodeon, a period she says existed in a different social media landscape. While platforms were already part of everyday life, the connection between actors and audiences was not as immediate as it is today.

“Nowadays, everybody’s on social media,” Antonelli says. “Outer Banks just has that amazing fan base that comes on social media and says so many positive things and lovely things.”

Those interactions have left her with an overwhelming, large sense of gratitude. Whether online or in person, Antonelli says hearing directly from the shows viewers who have connected with it continues to make an impact.

“I get a lot of people in person [who] come up to me, and I’m like, ‘You just made my day,’” she says. Seeing people come up to me and have a full conversation is just so awesome.”

That connection is something she will experience even more directly when she attends her first fan convention in October. The event will take place in Charleston, South Carolina; The same city where Outer Banks is filmed. Iconic, right?

“I’ve never done one, but I’m really excited,” she says. “I’m expecting all love!; People coming in that are huge fans of the show, coming just to say hi and talk about it. I’m super excited to meet everybody and just be a part of the community.”

For Julia, however, the audience isn’t the only community that makes Outer Banks special. Returning to the series also meant reuniting with a cast and crew she describes as family.

“Honestly, getting to work alongside the cast and crew” was one of the most rewarding parts of returning, she says. “I love them so much, and I missed them so much last season.”

Antonelli describes the atmosphere on set as positive, supportive and reflective of the relaxed coastal world the show portrays on screen.

“It’s just like one big happy family,” she says. “Everybody’s so kind and supportive of each other.”

The show’s South Carolina locations are an added bonus for Antonelli, who describes herself as a “beachy kind of person.” She recalls visiting Folly Beach during the earlier seasons of filming and considers the experience one of the many reasons working on the series has felt like a dream.

“Being on this show is just so rewarding. Sometimes we’re filming on beaches. It’s like a dream come true, honestly.”

Julia Antonelli’s confidence as a performer was not something that came naturally. When she first began acting professionally, she describes herself as a shy child who had to gradually learn how to step outside of herself.

“When I started with Nickelodeon, that was sort of my first big role. I was very shy,” she says.

Over time, acting taught her to embrace vulnerability, not only in the characters she played but in herself.

“Acting is not just saying a bunch of lines,” She says. “It really is stepping outside of the box and stepping outside of yourself to do something in front of other people..something scary in front of other people.”

That process also meant confronting one of the more uncomfortable aspects of performing: the fear of embarrassment.

“Embarrassment is just a thing in your head,” she says.

Julia acknowledges that acting can sometimes look awkward from behind the scenes. Actors are often performing emotional or dramatic moments in artificial settings, surrounded by cameras and crew members. But she has learned that the temporary discomfort of creating something is ultimately worth it when the final product comes together.

“Then you see the final product and you’re like, ‘Wait, this isn’t awkward. This is great. This looks good,’” she says. “All this awkwardness is just in my head.”

That growing confidence has also allowed Antonelli to become more open about the kinds of roles she wants to explore.

She has always been drawn to drama, finding emotionally layered roles particularly compelling. But increasingly, comedy has become an area she hopes to pursue.

“I love my dramatic roles, truly,” she says. “But I love comedy. I’ve always loved comedy so much.”

Antonelli sees moments of that comedic instinct in Wheezie as well, particularly when the character provides a brief reprieve from the show’s more dramatic storylines.

“Sometimes there are very small moments here and there where she’ll say something, and it kind of takes you out of the drama, which I love,” she says.

While drama remains an important part of the work she hopes to do, Antonelli says comedy is something she has been leaning toward more recently.

“I don’t know,” she says. “It just makes me happy.”

Her enthusiasm for comedy was evident when asked which series she would most like to see rebooted. Her answer came quickly: Freaks and Geeks.

Antonelli, who says she is frequently compared to actress Linda Cardellini, would welcome the opportunity to join a new chapter of the beloved series.

“Reboot it,” she says. “I could play her daughter.”

The idea, she jokes, would offer exactly the combination she enjoys: “a little bit of drama, a little bit of comedy.”

Antonelli’s ambitions extend well beyond acting. Some of the most important lessons of her career, she says, have come from watching acclaimed filmmakers work up close.

Working with Ari Aster on Beau Is Afraid was one such experience. Antonelli played the younger version of Parker Posey’s character and had the opportunity to work alongside Aster and Joaquin Phoenix. Two legends in the industry.

A longtime admirer of Aster’s work, Antonelli describes the experience as a “pinch-me moment.”

What stood out most was the director’s attention to detail. Antonelli recalls watching Aster carefully construct scenes, incorporating small elements into the background that could function as visual details, Easter eggs or moments of foreshadowing.

“He’s such a visionary,” she says. “Being on set with him, I learned so much about both acting and directing and behind the scenes work.”

She also appreciated Aster’s willingness to explore a scene through multiple takes, giving actors the opportunity to try different approaches.

“He would do the scene over and over and over again, which I like because you get opportunities to kind of do it differently,” she says.

The experience only strengthened an interest Antonelli had already begun developing: eventually stepping behind the camera herself.

Antonelli studied film in college, choosing not to major in acting because she felt her professional experience had already given her a foundation as a performer. Instead, she wanted to understand the larger filmmaking process.

“I was already doing things, so I was like, ‘You know what? Let me learn about sort of the behind the scenes stuff,’” she says.

After four years of studying film, Antonelli says her interest in producing and directing only grew stronger.

“I would love to produce and direct and do all that stuff,” she says.

Her growing curiosity about filmmaking has been shaped by the people she has already had the opportunity to work with. Antonelli says collaborating with Steven Spielberg on Disclosure Day was another career defining moment, one that allowed her to cross a longtime dream collaborator off her list.

“Usually, with a question like this, I would say Steven Spielberg,” she says. “But I already did it. I literally checked that off the bucket list.”

Still, there are plenty of names left on her list. Antonelli cites Emma Stone as an actress she would love to work with, particularly because of her ability to move effortlessly between comedy and drama. She also names Martin Scorsese as a dream collaborator.

“Let’s just put it out there and manifest it,” she says. “Maybe it’ll happen.”

As Outer Banks continues its journey toward its final chapter, Antonelli is embracing a moment of reflection, but she is equally focused on what lies ahead. The shy young performer who once had to learn to step outside of her comfort zone has become an actress eager to take creative risks, explore new genres and eventually tell stories from behind the camera.

For Julia Antonelli, the next chapter may involve saying goodbye to Wheezie. But in many ways, her own story as an artist is only beginning.