Chase Stokes at a Brooks Running Event on Sept. 17, 2024, in New York, N.Y. Photo: Brooks Running/Getty Kevin Mazur

Chase Stokes’ career continues to take off, but he will always be proud of his Outer Banks roots.

The actor, 32, has had an exciting fall with the release of Netflix’s Uglies in September and the upcoming fourth season of the treasure hunt adventure Outer Banks, releasing in two parts on the platform starting on Oct. 10.

In season 4, Stokes reprises his role as John B, a free-spirited “Pogue” who is always searching for a new adventure alongside his tight-knit group of friends — and he also happens to be an extremely fit surfer. The look isn’t necessarily an easy one to maintain, but staying true to the character means respecting the “super lean” physique he’s meant to represent, Stokes tells PEOPLE.

“I just want to naturally represent myself and take care of my body and present that to the world,” he says at a Brooks Running event for the new Glycerin Max shoe. “I don’t want to show up on screen and look like I don’t take care of myself, because I think that is sort of disrespectful and discrediting to the show and the audience who’s tuned in.”

Ahead of the show’s big return, Stokes teamed up with Brooks as they launched their new shoe, the Glycerin Max. The partnership felt like a natural fit for the actor since he’s “always loved to run in some form” and the shoe has become his “go-to” for running, he says.

Chase Stokes at a Brooks Running Event on Sept. 17, 2024, in New York, N.Y.Brooks Running/Getty Kevin Mazur

“They’re wildly comfortable too,” the Tell Me Your Secrets actor says. “I catch myself walking around the house in them, and I’m like, oh yeah, they’re still on my feet. Interesting. Take your shoes off Chase, you’re inside.”

Though his career is taking him to new heights, Stokes says he will always be grateful for the opportunity Outer Banks provided him, taking him from a kid living in his car to a budding Hollywood star.

“You can’t slap the hand that fed you,” Stokes says. “You can’t discredit or disrespect the thing that gave you not just the opportunity, but the ability to live a life that I never thought was possible.”

He adds that in the early days of his career, he always felt passionate about finding his footing on a young adult show, seeing as many of the actors who have found longevity in their careers started similarly. When Outer Banks came along, he knew that was his chance — and, five years later, he wouldn’t change a thing.

Chase Stokes as John B in ‘Outer Banks’.Netflix

“I would never mock the show that gave me the opportunity to have the life that I have,” he says. “I will always be grateful for this show and for our showrunners to take a chance on a kid who had little to no credits on his resume.”

Stokes isn’t the only cast member whose career has skyrocketed since the premiere of the show in April 2020. Costars like Madelyn Cline and Drew Starkey have gone on to work on successful projects like 2022’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery for Cline and, for Starkey, 2024’s Queer, which is now running on the festival circuit (“His talent is a beautiful thing. I’m super proud,” Stokes says of his close friend).

Chase Stokes as John B in ‘Outer Banks’.Netflix

However, despite all their latest impressive credentials, the main cast is happy to gather once again to shoot the show that started it all, Stokes says.

“I think just like anything in life, friendships change. People go different places, life takes you different places,” he says. “But no matter where life has taken us, our safe space has always been the show. It’s always been like when the world gets big and a little bit crazy, the world of Outer Banks is like coming back to your bed after traveling.”