Kyle Clark's Cam Dillinger takes the spotlight in Netflix's Crew Girl, and his real-life preparation for the part is every bit as compelling as his performance itself. Netflix's latest romance drama series, which premiered on September 10, follows the story of 16-year-old single-scull rower Teagan Tao (Bet star Miku Martineau), who moves to the small town of Eagle's Cove after her life imploded due to her father's financial scandal. Following her new beginning at Easton Prep and the revelation that there is no girls' team at her new school, Teagan's only path back to the water is to become the coxswain of the school's boys' varsity team.
The boat is a ticking time bomb; egos and rivalries overshadow the team's best version, and it's up to Teagan to set it right. One of the intriguing team members is Kyle Clark's Cam Dillinger, the team's best rower and a driven member who will stop at nothing to prove himself and earn a spot in the Junior Nationals. Aside from being a tried-and-tested member of the team, Cam also has undeniable chemistry with Teagan, which is why Crew Girl stands out in Netflix's lineup.
Kyle Clark's age has not been publicly revealed online, but it's worth noting that he plays a 16-year-old in the Crew Girl series. Speaking with TUDUM, Crew Girl showrunner Vivian Lin offered high praise toward Kyle Clark's performance as Cam in the series, emphasizing that he provides a "natural warmth" and "boyishness" for the role:
"Kyle has this natural warmth and this boyishness. He brought a whole other layer to the character, which was just really beautiful."
It's no secret that the entire cast of Crew Girl underwent training. Clark opened up about his preparation, noting that he wanted to beat Cam's erg score during the show. An erg score in rowing is the time or power output recorded on a rowing machine.
"It’s just everything you have for 2,000 meters. I’d have to really want it if I was going to get on the erg and beat that score."
Before rowing boats on Crew Girl, Kyle Clark's first major acting role came in 2017's Switched for Christmas, where he played the teenage version of Eion Bailey's character. While it was a small part, it put him in front of the camera early, offering the first public glimpse of the same grounded presence he later brought to Cam Dillinger.
Before playing 16-year-old Cam in Crew Girl, Clark played much older characters in multiple Lifetime movies. The actor portrayed 18-year-old Austin in 2025's Girl in the Cellar and 21-year-old Andrew Jensen in 2024's The Girl Who Wasn't Dead. Cam is the younger swing for the actor.
That age math is not exclusive to Clark. His co-star, Miku Martineau, is a 21-year-old playing 16-year-old Teagan, while Sam Braun, 23, also portrays Josh in the same age.
As part of the training for his role as Cam, Kyle prepared for the hard way with the help of Olympic gold medalist and rowing champion Terry Paul (via Teen Vogue). Paul was a coxswain when he won the gold medal, the same position as Crew Girl's lead character, Teagan Tao.
Clark, alongside fellow Crew Girl star Sam Braun (who plays Josh Regis), worked with Terry Paul to improve their fundamentals at the Vancouver Rowing Club. With Clark and Braun being the first two male rowers cast, they got an early head start, but it came with a catch. As more actors joined the series, the rhythm kept breaking.
Still, under the guidance of Olympic gold medalist Terry Paul, the training went well. Miku Martineau, who just wrapped filming a sci-fi project in upstate New York, joined her castmates for an additional two weeks of training near Vancouver Island, just before cameras rolled on Victoria’s scenic Elk/Beaver Lake and Gorge Waterway.
The Canadian setting is close to Clark's heart, mainly because he grew up in Western Canada's Prairies. Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba make up the prairies. With Crew Girl being a Canadian production, it feels right at home for someone like Clark.
In the world of Crew Girl, Cam Dillinger attends Easton High on a rowing scholarship and comes from a lower-middle-class family. In the same Teen Vogue article, Clark watched his own father work as a welder and admitted that he relates to his character's blue-collar upbringing.
According to Clark, the series established the fact that Cam "sees rowing as his ticket out," saying that his character pushes himself in the series to get the best future possible:
"He’s going to get a good education. He wants to row in the Olympics. And through doing that, he’s going to be able to help his family."
Bringing out the best version of himself while having a chip on his shoulder isn't new with Clark, considering his middle-class roots.
Crew Girl also serves as a full-circle moment for Kyle Clark and Sam Braun. While they play bitter rivals over Teagan's affection in the series, they are actually real-life friends, having known each other since 2019 as they auditioned for the same role in another Netflix series: The Hardy Boys.
Although they never booked the roles, Clark and Bruan stayed in touch, and their starring together in lead roles in Crew Girl closed a loop for the pair. Braun admitted that they have been "working so hard towards this [dream:]"
"When I heard that Kyle got the part for Cam, I was like, ‘No way! This is finally happening,' We’ve been working so hard towards this [dream]."
All in all, Kyle Clark's Cam Dillinger is one of the standout characters in Crew Girl, mainly due to his underdog status in the show, who proved to everyone that he was what it takes to become the leader of Easton's rowing team.
