Gasp! Why Noah Centineo Almost Quit Acting

Noah Centineo, The Hollywood Reporter

The Hollywood Reporter

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before may have never been the same. 

Noah Centineo, Netflix’s seemingly designated heartthrob, may have emerged as our Hollywood boyfriend of the summer thanks to roles in Boys and Sierra Burgess Is a Loser, but there was a time when the 22-year-old Miami native nearly ditched his budding career before it had even taken off. As a 16-year-old West Hollywood transplant and aspiring actor, Centineo got to work with audition after audition. Then, as The Hollywood Reporter explained, he shot a pilot. 

“I had this six-month contract that didn’t allow me to audition for anything [else],” he recalled to THR. “My purpose was just to act, and you take away someone’s purpose and you kind of deteriorate them.”

According to THR, the experience nearly caused him to hang up his acting, but he soon landed a recurring role on Freeform’s The Fosters in 2015 and, according to the magazine, could do whatever he wanted during his 10-week hiatuses. 

Noah Centineo, Lana Condor

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Three years later, The Hollywood Reporter has devoted one of four covers to Centineo for the 2018 Next Generation issue in commemoration of “four of this year’s brightest rising onscreen talents,” as the magazine described. “They represent the unique and diverse paths that an actor can become a star in 2018.”

As one of the year’s notable breakout stars from a streaming network, Centineo has a handful of projects in the works, including the upcoming Charlie’s Angels reboot. 

While eyes are certainly on him and all that he’ll do next with his newfound viral stardom, the actor is just getting started. 

“Everything that I’m doing right now, everything that I have done or everything I have lined up are stepping stones,” he told THR. “I’m not anywhere near where I want to be.”