Summary

Collider’s Steve Weintraub spoke with Noah Centineo at the 2025 SCAD TVFest in honor of his Distinguished Performance Award.

During their In Conversation event, Centineo discusses the importance of the arts, how crucial setting the tone on set is for the top of the call sheet, and shares advice from co-stars like Black Adam’s Pierce Brosnan.

Centineo also talks about upcoming projects like his horror-thriller Listen, The Recruit Season 3, Alex Garland’s Warfare, and reprising his role as Peter for XO, Kitty Season 2.

At the 2025 SCAD TVFest, actor and producer Noah Centineo was presented the Distinguished Performance Award for his work on Netflix’s hit espionage series The Recruit. To celebrate this prestigious honor, Collider’s Steve Weintraub had the opportunity to sit down on the Main Stage with Centineo to discuss his career from breakout to Black Adam and everything beyond.
Following the success of The Recruit Season 1, Centineo took on a more involved role as executive producer, even creating his own production company, Arkhum Productions. During their In Conversation event, Centineo spoke about what it means to be the top of a call sheet, how co-stars from previous work like Black Adam influenced his views on what it means to set the tone of a set, and how he adopted those methods to bring back for The Recruit Season 2, and the importance of young artists carrying on the legacies of those before them.
Check out the full conversation in the video above or the transcript below to find out even more on Centineo’s reprisal of his To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before character, Peter Kavinsky, information on Alex Garland’s wartime “reenactment,” Warfare with Joseph Quinn, and future projects like the horror-thriller Listen, from the team behind Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite and Snowpiercer.
Noah Centineo Shares Pierce Brosnan’s Advice from ‘Black Adam’

He also shares his own approach to the Hollywood industry.

Image via Getty Images

COLLIDER: What do you think would surprise people to learn about being an actor in Hollywood?
NOAH CENTINEO: It takes a lot of banging your head against the wall over and over and over and over again and getting told, “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,” and you just gotta keep doing it. If you know that you should be doing it then keep doing it. Work really hard, and just when you think that you’ve had enough, that’s usually when something happens— right when you’re at your wit’s end. There’s a lot of flashiness. There are a lot of opportunities to just have fun and completely forget about the reason why you started doing it. If you’re in a position where you’re fortunate enough to get invited to go and hang out with people that you’ve looked up to for a really long time, you kind of get lost in that world. You can get lost in that world, and you shouldn’t. You should always remember why you started, and that’s something that can see you through.
I’m sure you’ve been on a lot of sets, and you’ve learned a lot of stuff working with cool people. What are a few things or something that you wish someone had told you earlier in your career?
CENTINEO: To just be honest when you’re auditioning. I don’t know about you guys, but have you ever been told when you’re prepping to go into an audition, has a coach or a teacher or anyone ever said, “When you go in there, if they ask you how you are, you just say, ‘I’m good. I’m great. Nice to meet you. Just be happy and bubbly?’” I don’t subscribe to that. I just don’t think that that’s a good idea. I think if you’re having a really bad day, you should be honest and not make it the casting directors’ problem—it’s not—but say, “I’m having a hell of a day. It’s tough, but I’m here and I’m happy to be here, and thank you.” I think there’s something about bringing that kind of energy into a room that really shows who you are as an artist, and so I recommend doing that in an audition.
[Laughs] What was the question?
Things that you’ve learned along the way. You’ve worked with some really cool people, and maybe when you’ve been on set, you’ve watched someone work, and you’re like, “I wish I knew that.”
CENTINEO: I was on Black Adam, and Pierce Brosnan looked at me… We’re sitting there, and we hadn’t done the scene yet, we hadn’t rolled. We hadn’t really rehearsed it, we just got on that awesome ship, and we’re sitting there, and the first AD’s like, “Alright, I think we’re going to shoot the rehearsal. Very good. Let’s roll. Let’s get ready.” And Pierce just leans over, and he goes, “They’re all rehearsals.” I’m like, “You’re Pierce Brosnan. You’re brilliant. That’s so true.” And that’s good. I think that’s something that you’ve got to remember. Even when you’re shooting, when they’re like, “Alright, we’re going for one,” it’s like you’re going for one, and hopefully you print it, but it’s all rehearsals. It’s all fine. It’s all play. It’s all curious. Every single take that you get, you’re figuring it out.

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

There was another thing that he said, too. We were getting this insert of him, and it’s later in the takes, and there’s a lot of technical things happening that he’s trying to get with the helmet going on and off, and it was late. It was maybe take 12, 13, 14, and they said, “Cut. Going again,” and he just took it off, and he went, “Finding it. Finding it.” Again, I was like, “You’re Pierce Brosnan. That’s amazing.” [Laughs] But it’s great. I think leading with curiosity and always knowing that that’s the path is really it’s good. It’s something that I learned, as well.
In the age of social media, Centineo shares modern wisdom from Tyler the Creator.

Image via Getty Images

How do you like to engage with social media?
CENTINEO: I took a break for a while, but it’s a tool. Tyler the Creator said something about promoting yourself, how you can’t be ashamed to promote yourself, and how after an album comes out, it might be a month later, and he’s still promoting the album. I’m paraphrasing, so forgive me for butchering his advice. You should watch any interview you can. He’s brilliant. I think that’s what social media is really good for. I went away. I didn’t want to post casually for a while. I archived my whole Instagram because I felt that I was really into it. I was like, “I need to post constantly. If I lose the following, I’m not going to be a good actor.” Whatever it was, you think all these things, or, “I need to stay relevant.” And I just went, “I think I need to forget about all that.” I did it for a while, and it was great. Now, I use it more so as a tool to promote.
You have a lot of followers on Instagram. When you’re about to hit post, how much are you debating, “Is this what I want to post?”
CENTINEO: A lot. I’m like, “Is this stupid? Who can I show this to that’ll tell me if it is stupid?” [Laughs] “I’m going to post it. It’s stupid. Whatever.” I think about it a lot. You also think about being too earnest, right? Posting something that is really true to you. Maybe you’ve written something that you feel accurately describes a day that you’ve had, and you’re like, “Do I want to post this thing that I wrote? Or do I just want to be like, ‘You look cute today. Good morning?’” That was me circa 2018. There was a lot of that. But yeah, a lot of thought goes into it, for sure.
Noah Centineo Says Revisiting Peter for ‘XO, Kitty’ Season 2 Was Scary

“You want to do a service to it.”

Image via Netflix

You starred in some of these movies called To All the Boys. I’m just curious how you would rank them?
CENTINEO: In order? Oh, no! It’s hard. That’s an impossible question, and fuck you for asking it. I love them all equally. You can’t put them in order. But the first one, probably. You gotta respect the first one for starting it all off. We had no idea what was going to happen, and then the first one happened.
You ended up playing your character again in XO, Kitty Season 2? How did that actually happen? Was it one of these things where you were hesitant to play the character again, or are you like this, “This movie, this franchise did a lot for me, I’m cool?”
CENTINEO: I never cool off it, that’s for sure. How did it happen? The Recruit Season 2 decided that they broke the episodes that we were going to shoot in South Korea, and XO, Kitty shoots in South Korea. Netflix got wind of it, and I think whether it was by design or just a happy coincidence, they called and said, “Hey, there’s an opportunity for you to come back and do an episode of XO, Kitty as Peter. Would you do it?” I said, “Absolutely.” How could I not? Anna [Cathcart] is incredible. She’s so talented. That’s younger sis, right? So you have to. You gotta support, and I’m just so proud of her.

Image via Netflix

It was daunting to go back to Peter because you’re part of a world and you’ve put it in a nice box, and you put it on the shelf, and you step away for a while. You really don’t want to mess with it, especially if you care about it. I care so much about how all of you look at the To All the Boys world and are impacted by it or experience it. So to go and to take it back out and put Peter on…it’s scary. You want to do a service to it, and hopefully, it worked out.
Noah Centineo Sought Out ‘Dream Scenario’

And acting opposite Nicolas Cage was just a cherry on top.

Image via A24

You got to be in Dream Scenario and you got to work opposite Nicolas Cage.
CENTINEO: That was crazy.
Is that like a bucket list moment?
CENTINEO: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s Nicolas Cage!
What is it actually for you when you’re going to work with someone that iconic the night before? Are you in your head? Are you sleeping a lot? Are you overthinking things because it’s fucking Nic Cage? Sorry for my language, but it is.
CENTINEO: It’s fucking Nic Cage. You know what’s really weird? Yes, but it was more so about I understood Kristoffer Borgli, the filmmaker behind Dream Scenario. He also did Sick of Myself. I learned about him when he was doing a lot of short films, one of them being Former Cult Member Hears Music for the First Time. I highly recommend it. For anyone trying to make it in our industry, you should watch it. It’s an incredible short film. A young filmmaker doing exactly what he knows, writing a story about something that he’s very familiar with. It’s just an expert short film. So if you’re like, “How do I start?” Make a short film and make one that’s like this or your own version of it.
So I found out that Nic Cage and him were doing an A24 feature and reached out to Kristoffer and just said, “Dude, I will literally grip on your movie. I just want to be on set while you’re working. I think you’re amazing.” Fortunately, there was a role in it, and so I was just more so nervous about all of it. I hit up this filmmaker and it’s his second feature, and it’s with Nic Cage. And A24 is an incredible studio, and I had really been wanting to work with them. So, it wasn’t just the Nic Cage of it, even though that on its own would freak me out. It was kind of the whole thing of, like, “Dude, I just want to show up and do a good job.”

Related

‘Dream Scenario’ Director Couldn’t Watch This Extremely “Cringy” Scene

“I couldn’t be in the room. I ruined the takes by laughing.”

You’ve been acting for a long time since I think you were nine years old. When did you feel like, “I can pay my rent as a working actor?”
CENTINEO: I was on The Fosters. I love The Fosters so much. That show is so incredible. That show actually saved me from moving back to Florida. My parents were like, “If you don’t book a series by the time you turn 18, then you’re moving back to Florida, or you stay there, you get a job, you enroll in school, like a community college.” I got a job, and I was enrolled in college, and right before my first class, I booked The Fosters. That was when I started to get a regular paycheck, and it was enough to pay my bills. Just enough. But it wasn’t really until I filmed To All the Boys that it changed. To All the Boys was the moment.
Alex Garland’s ‘Warfare’ Was Filmed in Real Time

The war drama also stars Joseph Quinn and Will Poulter.

Image via A24

I don’t know how many people here have seen the trailer yet for Warfare. It comes out in April. What can you tell people about it? Because it’s pretty intense.
CENTINEO: We’re holding off because the film is an ensemble film. There’s a huge cast, and we’re all playing real people that are alive, and so we’re waiting until we’re in a big group to really talk about it. But what I will say is that it takes place in Ramadi, Iraq, in 2006. It’s a platoon of Navy Seals that go out on an overwatch mission. The movie is in real-time, so you watch the events as they happen. There are two directors. They co-directed, they co-wrote it. Ray Mendoza, he’s a veteran ex-Navy Seal and was there in 2006, Ramadi, on that day with his platoon, and Alex Garland is the other filmmaker and writer. They do it together. Every moment that you see in the film, none of it is created for drama. Everything that you watch is remembered by at least three of the individuals that were there. So it’s a film, but it’s really a reenactment, moment for moment, crafted from the memory of the individuals that were present, which is incredible. So, that’s what I can say about it so far.
If you haven’t seen the footage, there’s a trailer, and it’s pretty intense.

Related

Will Poulter & Kit Connor Are in the Thick of Battle in ‘Warfare’ Trailer

The film hails from Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza.

I’m always fascinated by how actors get ready for roles. So, hypothetically, you’re getting ready to shoot something on September 1st. Take us through that, like, a month before filming begins. What are you doing to get into the headspace? How are you preparing? What are your keys so that when you step on set that first day you feel like you have it?
CENTINEO: I never went to a film school. I had this incredible teacher, Sara Banyan. She taught me so much. Mainly, what I learned from her was not a specific, real process. I suppose how I get ready is I just look at the literature, I just do my direct characterization, I do my indirect characterization, and then I try to connect the desires of the character and do all that work so that I understand what’s driving whoever I’m playing. I find that I try to relate it all to a place of love. If you’ve ever been heartbroken or if you’ve had rage or you’ve been betrayed, any of those really intense emotions, usually, it’s because you felt love for the person that did something to you or that maybe you did something to. Without that love present, you don’t really feel those darker emotions. So, I think there has to be love and trust, and that has to be tampered with in some way, whether they intended to do it, you intended to do it, or regardless. So, when I say try to find the love, that’s what I mean. I try to find what was it that was taken away that they truly loved? I think that’s kind of a root. It’s a work in progress, dude. I got no idea. I kind of just learn the lines, show up, and then throw up. [Laughs]

Image via Getty Images

There are a lot of people who have a whole process and other people who wing it.
CENTINEO: I try to have the process. I try to do the thing, and at the end of the day, I try to pull as much as I can from the material, and then I just show up. I wish I had a better answer for you guys, but that’s kind of my process, and I’m working on it.
Could There Be a ‘The Recruit’ and ‘The Night Agent’ Crossover In Our Future?

“I would love to.”

For fans of The Recruit, we’re getting into that section. Has Netflix asked you to save any dates in 2025?
CENTINEO: For Season 3? Not yet. I would like to. We had a lot of fun making this season.
The Recruit is number three today in top TV shows, and The Night Agent is number two. How much do you and Gabriel Basso compete with each other about who is ranked higher on today’s top TV?
CENTINEO: [Laughs] There’s no competition—Gabriel Basso’s ranked higher, that’s for sure. He’s also such a dope dude. I got the chance to meet him recently, and no one deserves it more. The Night Agent’s a phenomenal show. The guy works his ass off. I don’t really do all my own stunts in the same way that he does. This guy’s a beast. He wants the audience to feel the realism. But there’s a healthy competition. It’s healthy. It’s great. I support him.
You play a CIA lawyer. He plays a low-level FBI agent. Have you guys talked about doing a season crossover or a movie?
CENTINEO: We have. Absolutely. We’ve talked about trying to get the two shows together, but it’s really just in jest. I mean, I would love to. I think he would love to. We’ll find something.

Image via Netflix

What’s a stunt that you wish you didn’t do?
CENTINEO: I haven’t done it yet.
For real?
CENTINEO: Yeah. I like doing the stunts. They don’t let me do the stunts. I’m like, “Can I jump off the bridge?” They’re like, “No, you’re going to get hurt.”
You filmed in Korea for Season 2. If you went back there tomorrow, what’s the first restaurant you’re going to, and what’s the thing that you would love to go do again?
CENTINEO: I’d go to the Golden Pig. It’s so good. It tastes delicious. It’s pork barbecue. So I would go there. I’d go to the sauna. The Korean saunas! They’re amazing. They’re hot. It’s phenomenal. I had a great time walking around. The night markets were really cool. There are a lot of different districts to explore that have a really active nightlife. It’s fun. It’s a great city. There’s so much to do.
What is the difference between making something in Korea versus Los Angeles without bringing in craft service?
CENTINEO: That’s a good difference. There is a difference in craft service. I mean, I don’t speak Korean, right? I just speak English, so there’s a bit of a language barrier. But most of the crew speaks really, really great English. It’s only sometimes that maybe someone doesn’t. You know what it is, man? It’s like airports all around the world. Any airport that you really go to, for the most part, has duty-free. You can go and buy Jack Daniels, the nice chocolates, the Swedish chocolates that are in every airport. Duty-free is everywhere. I think film sets are very similar to that. Wherever you go, that film set, they all kind of run the same way. There’s a chain of command and it’s followed. Sometimes different departments handle different activities, so the departments can be different, but for the most part, they’re all the same. As far as Korea goes, it’s extremely efficient. The crews are young and very hard working. I’m going there again to shoot later this year, and I hope to film there many times over the course of my career.
This ‘Black Adam’ Co-Star Inspired a “Culture of Family”

Centineo took what he learned from that set to ‘The Recruit’ Season 2.

Image via Warner Bros.

You are number one on the call sheet on The Recruit. What does that responsibility mean to you when you have to set the tone? Who have you watched from previous work that you saw the way they treated the crew and the way they did the number one on the call sheet that you’re like, “I need to mimic that?”
CENTINEO: That’s a great question. When we did Black Adam, Dwayne [Johnson] was an exceptional leader. Interestingly, it wasn’t just Dwayne, it was Pierce and Aldis [Hodge] who really championed… And Mo [Amer]! You know who it was? I think it was Mo on Black Adam—Mohammed. His show, Mo, just came out, too, on Netflix the same day as The Recruit, so definitely check that out and watch that if you haven’t.
He was like home base, either with his trailer or his house. We shot Black Adam here in Atlanta, and watching him just take us all under his wing. He wasn’t number one on Black Adam, but he led us and he created this culture of family that was so important that makes me emotional whenever I come back to Atlanta. That’s how strong of a connection we all had. With The Recruit, I hadn’t shot it yet, and it was because of Mo when I went to The Recruit that I went, “Oh no, I need to try to do this on The Recruit.” So, Mo Amer, without a doubt. It is important. You gotta set the tone.
I’ve heard from people when the number one person on set is difficult it ruins what people are going through.
CENTINEO: If you’ve ever had a coworker that is just terrible, it’s terrible. Nobody wants to go work with someone who’s like that. But it’s not just number ones. It’s really not just number one’s job. It’s everyone’s job. It’s everyone’s job to respect every single person, whether they’re on camera or off camera, and to show up with a can-do attitude. I do mean it. That’s everyone’s responsibility, and if you do your job and if you prepare properly, you award people space. Obviously that respect comes with, “Oh, they have a scene that is taking a huge toll on them. Give them that space. They get to take that space. They don’t have to be everyone’s best friend today.” That’s also part of the respect. But yeah, it’s everyone’s job to treat everyone with respect, that’s for sure.
Noah Centineo’s Upcoming Horror Is by the Producers of ‘Parasite’ and ‘Snowpiercer’

He’s starring in Brian Burch’s ‘Listen.’

Image via Getty Images

We’ve entered 2025. What are your plans for this year as an actor, slash whatever else you’re working on?
CENTINEO: Hopefully make more movies.
You said you’re going to Korea. What are you shooting?
CENTINEO: I’m shooting a project called Listen with Bound Entertainment and Westbrook. I’m really, really excited about it. Bound did Parasite and Snowpiercer. They’re great, Bound Entertainment. Check out their films. Samuel Ha runs the company there. Then Westbrook, you guys know Westbrook. They’re huge, as well. Shoutout Westbrook. They make bangers. So, hopefully, the three of us get to come together and make a banger, as well, and that’s Listen.
You spent the day here on campus. What was your takeaway from everything you saw and the students you spoke to?
CENTINEO: You guys are incredibly intelligent. Honestly, give it up for y’all. I got to sit and answer some questions. You guys were so respectful and really, really dedicated. You can tell the questions were so wonderful, and they were asked by artists who are striving for something that they feel is important, and that’s clear. The vibe runs through the room. I feel really proud to be sitting here in front of you all because you’ve done something where you’re taking your life into your own hands and you’re following your voice and you’re following this drive to be curious and your passion and to be artistic, and I think that in 2025 we need that. It’s so important. The arts is so important. Design is so important. Everything that they teach here at SCAD is so important. But you’ve got to make the decision to show up for class and to learn, and to study, and I think that that’s something that I missed out on.
I didn’t go to college. I never really studied. That’s something that I would tell a younger version of myself, to study. We literally stand on the shoulders of giants, right? There’s a reason that’s a cliche. There’s a reason we all know that expression. It’s because the people that came before us are the reason that we get to be here today, and you guys are all fully dedicated to that—to craft, to study, to learning, to excelling, to finding yourselves. I’m inspired being here. I feel extremely motivated and I can’t wait to hopefully work with all of y’all down the line.
The Recruit Season 2 is available to stream now on Netflix.

The Recruit

Release Date

December 16, 2022

Network

Netflix

Directors

Doug Liman

Writers

Alexi Hawley, George Ghanem, Amelia Roper, Hadi Deeb, Niceole R. Levy, Maya Goldsmith