How Noah Centineo goes from teen romcom star to 'true leading man' in Netflix's 'The Recruit'

If you've ever wondered what waiting for your new Netflix series to premiere is like, Noah Centineo has a vivid metaphor about the anticipation.

"It's kind of like when you have to pee. You start getting to a bathroom, and you have to pee worse, because you're getting closer to a bathroom. It's like that," the actor says on a Zoom call, before giving a quizzical look to someone off camera. "My team is like: 'Why? Why was that the metaphor?'"

The series that has Centineo, 26, holding his metaphorical bladder is "The Recruit" (now streaming Friday), an action-packed thriller in which he stars as a rookie lawyer at the CIA who's thrust into dangerous waters when a former asset threatens to expose agency secrets.

For Centineo, who earned fame in several Netflix teen romcoms including "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" and its sequels, "The Recruit" offers more than just another role. It's also an opportunity to transform the way Hollywood – and the world – sees him: from a YA male ingenue to a bona fide leading man.

"This is a departure from the rom-com genre and the love-interest genre, but it's not a radical step in the other direction," Centineo says of the show, which has moments of levity mixed with the thrills. "I like that. I like how this is a show that is about the world of the CIA, but not through a spy's lens."

Born and raised in Boca Raton, Florida, Centineo began acting as a kid, landing his first screen credit around age 13 in the 2009 film "The Gold Retrievers." He also appeared in Disney Channel sitcoms including "Shake It Up," which starred Zendaya, and Freeform's "The Fosters," from 2013 to 2018.

But the role that catapulted him to stardom – and into the hearts of teenage girls worldwide – was that of lovable jock Peter Kavinsky in Netflix's "To All the Boys," based on Jenny Han's novel.

The film spawned two sequels and cemented Centineo's status as Netflix's go-to rom-com guy. He went on to star in three more.

In "The Recruit," however, viewers will see a more mature side of Centineo, says series creator Alexi Hawley, who produced tonally similar ABC dramas "Castle" and the current "The Rookie," both starring Nathan Fillion.

"Ultimately, he saw this show as an opportunity to really redefine himself, because I do think that you can be typecast a little bit as that guy, and so that’s why he’s been so willing to jump into this," Hawley says. "This is a very grown-up role, even though he’s not playing a grown-up."

Hawley had no actor in mind when he began writing "The Recruit," which was inspired by the idea of "graymail," or blackmail involving threats to expose government secrets.

Later, while brainstorming possible A-listers to lead the project, Hawley says he thought of Centineo.

"There's a very real factor in Hollywood these days that projects with stars attached are easier to sell, but the number of 24-year-olds that get a show sold and that get a show made are incredibly small," Hawley says. "Noah is one of them. And we just got lucky that he responded to the material so strongly."

Centineo says playing newbie CIA lawyer Owen Hendricks was an opportunity to step into the role of action hero without drifting too far from the charming, boy-next-door image his fans have come to know and love.

The show's tone, which involves moments of suspense balanced with humor, allowed him to "thread the needle" between the two personas, he says.

"I wanted to at least try to be cognizant of the audience and the fans ... and wanting to not go completely in a separate direction," Centineo says. "I think the show does that, and I'm really, really excited about that."

For Hawley, part of the fun of making "The Recruit" was putting a rom-com veteran like Centineo in Jason Bourne-like scenarios.

"Noah's ability to ground the action in unfamiliarity but also the comedy of these small moments of him going left when he should go right ... you'd never see that in a Bond movie, but that's sort of the fun of our show," Hawley says. "Part of what we got to do is take that idea of how people see Noah and put him in that element."

Unlike holding your pee before a premiere, jumping into a role isn't just a metaphor for Centineo.

Early in the series, his character Hendricks finds himself cornered by assassins on a bridge in Vienna. With nowhere to run, he escapes by leaping off the bridge and plunging into a cold river below.

Centineo was so eager to embrace the action, says executive producer and director Doug Liman, that he lobbied to jump off the bridge himself rather than leave the job to a stunt double.

"I'm a psychopath, dude. I like heights," Centineo says. "I like jumping off of things that are way too high." The producers relented – but on the condition Centineo wear a harness for the jump.

Liman says shooting the scene in wintry Vienna is an experience he'll "remember forever." "This is a different side of Noah," he says. "I know he's in a lot of these romcom roles, but in 'The Recruit,' he really becomes a true leading man."

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Centineo says he's open to whatever comes his way, whether that be more thrillers or projects that are "a little weird." This year, he also made his superhero debut as Atom Smasher in the Dwayne Johnson-led film "Black Adam," and he stars in the upcoming Jackie Chan-directed film "The Diary."

No matter where Centineo takes his career next, Hawley says, one thing is certain: After "The Recruit," Centineo's fans won't just think of him as a rom-com star.

"The guy is a movie star in my mind in a sort of old-fashioned way," he says. "I think this is really going to redefine him."

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Noah Centineo talks becoming an action hero in Netflix's 'The Recruit'