Exclusive Interview
Inside Sofia & Rafe’s ‘Outer Banks’ Romance With Season 4 Breakout Star Fiona Palomo
Will Sofia be the woman to save Rafe Cameron (Drew Starkey)? Their romance started back in Outer Banks Season 3 but has gotten more serious in Season 4 Part 1. As Rafe seeks to prove himself career-wise and keep up King Kook appearances, Sofia has been by his side. Rafe shows his softest side when he’s around Sofia. Could this be the real Rafe? Swooon spoke with Season 4 breakout star Fiona Palomo about why Sofia’s drawn to Kildare Island’s biggest bad boy.
“As she mentions in Season 3, she’s had her eyes on him for some time now,” Palomo explained. “I think she sees him around the other Kooks and this world around him. I think it begins from a point of curiosity. I think she sees through the face he puts on around people, and I think she’s just curious as to who this person is and how it is that he’s perhaps good deep down and putting on such a contrasting front. I think it becomes a bit of a mirror once they’re both kind of seeking a little bit of their own way in the world. I think she feels at home with him.”
Fiona Palomo and Drew Starkey in ‘Outer Banks’ Season 4. (Courtesy of Netflix)
The 26-year-old acknowledged that Sofia must know some details about Rafe’s less-than-stellar past. The guy has done some shady (and murderous) things, to say the least.
“It’s just kind of the way it happens in any good town with word of mouth and everything, but I think she’s so fiercely ready to believe in him and love him and see his potential through that I feel like maybe she does think about it and it comes in, but she tosses it out or puts it in the back of her head as best as possible,” Palomo said. However, she doesn’t necessarily think Sofia knows the full truth, as in Rafe killing Sheriff Peterkin (Adina Porter).
“I think this has happened to all of us. When you’re really, really, really, really just set on caring for someone, you can cross a little bit of a line of justifying things that are just not good and shouldn’t be justified,” the actress noted. But she said Sofia would be “shocked” to learn the full truth and isn’t sure “she would feel even necessarily safe” around Rafe moving forward.
Drew Starkey and Fiona Palomo as Rafe and Sofia. (Jackson Lee Davis / Netflix)
It’s a testament to Starkey’s performance that viewers root for a Rafe redemption era despite his full-blown villainy. Is Sofia looking to embrace the theme of Taylor Swift‘s “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)” and fix this bad boy?
“Maybe in a way, but I don’t think she’s actually consciously thinking, I can fix this guy,” Palomo told Swooon. “I think it’s more so that she, whether it’s surface or she has to dig deep, she sees some good there. She’s just very confident in bringing it out and consistently trying to have him be aware of that potential, as opposed to all the harm that could be done instead.”
She added, “I think it’s because it’s also her nature, which is cool that they added the little part about her Hispanic background because that very, very much is a cultural thing, too. I think it’s a very warm-hearted culture, and you’re very aware of others and how they feel.”
Despite Rafe not defining their relationship publicly — she’s a Pogue, and he’s a Kook — Palomo knows her character’s feelings for Rafe are real. “I do think she loves and cares for him sincerely,” she said.
Part 1 of Season 4 began to peel back the layers of Sofia and gave a glimpse into her life at home. She also becomes Rafe’s closest confidante on business matters. In a rare Rafe move, he actually listens to what Sofia has to say. Palomo brought up Sofia’s “quiet strength” that has served her well so far. The Kook lifestyle isn’t all that inriguing to her, and she’s not trying to be accepted by Rafe’s petty and privileged friends. “I don’t think she’s necessarily impressed by by the world around him or this power and so on,” Palomo explained. “I think that when he starts to get a little quiet and not so decisive on what he’s going to go do, I think that’s when she’s like, perfect, now I can speak up and advise him.”
Since the release of the first half of Season 4, fans have rallied around Sofia online. “I’m so grateful. None of this has properly hit me until probably these last days when I’ve been seeing all the nice little comments and the edits and messages. It’s so, so kind. I’m just so grateful to be well-received.”
Will Sofia and Rafe’s romance survive Part 2? Time will tell.
Outer Banks, Season 4, Part 2, November 7, Netflix
