Noah Centineo Talks ‘The Recruit’, Filming in Seoul, & Exploring New Genres
Noah Centineo stands by the window, pouring a cup of coffee from the tenth floor of a stylish hotel. “You’ve got a whole carafe of coffee with you,” laughs a publicist. It’s justified: Centineo has only just arrived in Toronto’s bustling Yonge-Bay Corridor, landing the night before. “A carafe! Yeah, that’s right,” he says, smiling and taking a seat on the suite’s soft brown sofa. It’s Friday, quarter to noon, and we’re here to discuss The Recruit‘s much-anticipated sophomore season. Billed as a spy-adventure series, the project is a smorgasbord of styles: romance, action, drama, comedy. Centineo stars as Owen Hendricks, a green as grass CIA lawyer (and occasional intelligence operative), who struggles to navigate risky excursions across the Pacific — including a slippery situation in Seoul with Past Lives actor Teo Yoo — and the cubicle-ridden minefield of DC’s professional scene.
“Owen starts off the season finding out he’s in a lot more trouble than he ever could have thought,” Centineo explains. “He’s really, for lack of a better term, fucked.” Perhaps that is the best way to put it. The season opens in a dimly-lit bunker, with Owen pinned against a damp concrete wall while an assassin — equipped with a bloodthirsty silver blade — demands to know who he is and what he’s doing. As you might suspect, Owen escapes a few minutes later (albeit in handcuffs), but this cold open is a mere appetizer for the action ahead.
Premiering last month, the 6-episode stint picks up where the pilot (released in December 2022) left off. Centineo describes Season 2 as “like the first season with a shot of adrenaline.” The stakes higher, the pace faster, the action more intense. Filming was equally elevated, he explains: “I felt that there was more understanding of what The Recruit is. The first season was really about creating the world, finding the tone, learning the rules of engagement between the characters, and the laws that govern the CIA.”
Make no mistake: like its successor, Season 1 was an adamantly action-packed affair. That said, it was also concerned with introductions — we learned who we’re dealing with and how the world works. This time, the key players are having fun. “We were able to really play in the world. It’s set out for us — we know what it is, we come back, we have more action, we turn up the elements that work through the really well,” Centineo says. “The characters that we love have been built out and have bigger arcs. The comedy’s hilarious, like really, really there this season. And the romance — there’s still a bit of romance in it. It’s lovely.”
Romance is Centineo’s home turf, after all. A flurry of romantic comedies — including Netflix’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved trilogy, Sierra Burgess Is a Loser, and The Perfect Date — propelled his rise to fame, and he’s been riding high ever since. Yet Centineo is keen to sample other genres, too. He ventured into a different DC with the 2022 superhero film Black Adam and scored a cameo in Ari Aster’s dark comedy, Dream Scenario, the following year.
Peppered with wide-ranging roles, Centineo’s resume reveals a natural curiosity. Every project offers the chance to learn, Centineo says. “I mean, [each role is] unique, right? There’s the question of the tone in the world that you’re building; they’re nuanced within their respective genres,” he explains. “I enjoy exploring and finding things that are interesting to me and trying to bring them to life, you know? I think that takes on the form of many different things.”
“[The Recruit] certainly strikes home for me. I think we’re constantly learning and trying to perform, and do our job well.”
Noah Centineo
It’s natural, then, that he’s comfortable with The Recruit‘s genre-blending narrative. As Owen hops from country to country, he encounters conflict in all its forms: surprise attacks, office politics, inner turmoil. Interpersonal tensions feature heavily too, their delicate complications adding intrigue to the ensemble. Accordingly, Centineo weaves between fast-paced physical performances and subtle, introspective scenes.
“He’s a lawyer, he’s not a spy, so he’s not trained for the world of operations. He’s not trained for the world of espionage and assassins — he finds himself in it, and he’s trying to do the right thing,” Centineo says of Owen. “Those antagonistic factors are what creates the stakes, right? It creates the drama, it creates the humour, it creates the romance, it creates the turbulence that our show is built on.”
He’s quick to credit showrunner Alexi Hawley (whom he calls “the captain of the ship”) for these nuanced choices. “Alexi Hawley, our showrunner and writer — it’s his show, right? It comes from him, and he’s got final cut on it; everything that you hear, all the dope needle drops, that’s all Alexi and the post-production team,” says Centineo.
Hawley’s knack for tension helped inform the complex characters, too. As Owen strives to succeed as an agent, his values often put him at odds with his superiors. “It’s so important to [Hawley] that Owen retains his heart and his moral compass, because that’s what makes him special as a character,” adds Centineo. It’s easy to see — there’s a constant power struggle between personal and professional worlds. So, while it’s laced with fight scenes, The Recruit‘s central conflict is an internal affair: man versus self.
“That’s really my role on this show. Setting culture, and making sure that everybody has what they need to do their job — and feel good about doing their job.”
Noah Centineo
“It certainly strikes home for me. I think we’re constantly learning and trying to perform, and do our job well. Even right now, I want to give you great answers for your interview to help promote the show, and, like, do it in an engaging way,” Centineo says with a laugh. “I just hope that I can continue to be able to work, moving forward, and continue to create things that make me proud, that I think people might relate to and resonate with.”
For Centineo, it’s important that the project resonates with his castmates, too. He has nothing but praise for co-star Teo Yoo (his on-screen nemesis, incidentally). “He’s just a forceful character and he elevates the entire show,” Centineo says. When The Recruit filmed in Seoul, the cast toured night markets and bar districts, even stopping at Yoo’s favourite pork barbecue spot. “Yeah, it was fucking awesome,” adds the actor. “To have someone on the inside — that’s the way to do a new city for sure.”
And the three months of filming in Vancouver? Just as lively. Centineo and the cast bounced around to nearly every brunch spot in Vancity, as well as classic West Coast activities: hikes, yoga studios, cast dinners, and cold plunges. When I ask about the filming experience, the actor says it was a blast. “You just get closer and closer. Ideally, you have some good community bonding, and when you go to different locations with people, you get to also enjoy their presence wherever you are.”
Perhaps it’s fun by design. As a producer on The Recruit, Centineo says he aims to create a welcoming atmosphere on set. “I just make sure people have fun,” he laughs. “My job as a producer on The Recruit, truly, is to ensure that everybody feels good and comfortable about the environment that they’re in — whether it’s the cast or the crew — so that they can show up and do their best work every day. That’s really my role on this show. Setting culture, and making sure that everybody has what they need to do their job — and feel good about doing their job.”
On-screen, the fun translates. A natural ease carries the show from start to finish, each scene played with the smooth sort of confidence that comes from a comfortable cast. Though The Recruit isn’t under the banner of Centineo’s production company, Arkhum, the actor speaks has a clear fondness for the show, referring to it as his “first step towards executive producing.” As he moves into the production space, Centineo says he looks for “stories that get us passionate, that we believe in, and that we think are important to be told.” Arkhum is levelling up their production of films and shows, he adds. Centineo keeps the company details quiet, but IMDb notes Arkhum’s focus on drama, comedy, and social commentary. If there’s one thing I learned about Centineo’s work, though, it’s that storytelling means connection. To put it simply, Centineo says: “I just hope people enjoy it when they watch it.”
Season 2 of The Recruit is now streaming on Netflix.
