Sources say the actor has already started correcting tourists on parking etiquette
MALIBU, CA – Actor Chase Whitlock, best known for a recurring guest role on a canceled procedural drama and a memorable appearance in a regional insurance commercial, announced to anyone within earshot at a local coffee stand Tuesday that he is, in his words, “basically a local now,” a designation he says he earned after completing three surf lessons over the course of two weeks.
Whitlock, 29, reportedly began referring to himself as “part of the community” almost immediately after his second lesson, during which he stood up on a longboard for approximately one and a half seconds before falling directly onto his instructor. “That fall was actually a technique,” Whitlock clarified. “It’s called committing to the wave. Most people don’t understand that.”
Longtime residents have noticed the shift in Whitlock’s behavior, which now reportedly includes correcting tourists on proper beach parking etiquette, referring to the ocean as “she,” and telling anyone who will listen about “the community out here,” despite having lived in the area for a total of five weeks, three of which were spent in a rented house he describes as “very much my home now, spiritually.”
His surf instructor, Kai Renfro, who has taught beginners for eleven years, confirmed the timeline but pushed back gently on the “local” designation. “Three lessons is great, genuinely,” Renfro said. “It’s a good start. I would not, personally, use the word local. I’d use the word beginner. Enthusiastic beginner. He does have a really nice rash guard though.”
Whitlock’s publicist has reportedly begun fielding questions about a potential “surf journey” docuseries, tentatively titled “Chase Finds the Wave,” which sources describe as being in “very early development,” meaning a single pitch document exists and Whitlock has already mentioned it in four separate interviews as though it’s currently filming.
Locals at the coffee stand where the announcement occurred reacted with the specific weariness reserved for people who have watched this exact scenario unfold many times before. “We get a Chase every summer,” said barista and twenty-year local Selena Ruiz. “Different face, same energy. Give it two months. He’ll either actually learn to surf, which would be nice, or he’ll move on to pickleball, which is also fine, honestly, we just want our beach parking spots back.”
Coverage of Whitlock’s declaration has drawn amused commentary abroad, with a piece referencing Funny News Stories This Week comparing him to Britain’s own tradition of minor celebrities suddenly discovering rural pubs, while another citing The Onion UK noted the universal comedy of anyone declaring “local” status after a matter of weeks. A third piece invoking British Onion suggested a support group may be warranted, “ideally one that meets somewhere Chase can’t overhear and then join.”
Whitlock, when reached for comment, said he plans to continue his surf journey “regardless of what the haters think,” and confirmed he has already purchased a used pickup truck specifically because he felt it “matched the energy of who I’m becoming out here.”
Renfro, asked whether Whitlock has scheduled a fourth lesson, said only that “he mentioned it, but he also mentioned a lot of things,” and declined to speculate further.
Whitlock has reportedly begun following several professional surfers on social media and, per two separate sources, has started using the phrase “the lineup” in conversations that have nothing to do with surfing, including once, allegedly, to describe the order of appetizers at a dinner party. His publicist did not deny this when asked, only stating that Whitlock is “in a really exciting creative period right now, personally and professionally, and the ocean has been a huge part of unlocking that.”
For his part, Renfro says he doesn’t mind the attention, even if the “local” claim is premature. “Honestly, if it gets one more person into the water and off their phone for an hour, I’ll take it,” he said. “I just wish he’d stop telling tourists where to park. That part he’s got completely backwards, and it’s causing me actual problems with the neighbors.”
Whitlock, for his part, appears entirely undeterred by the mild local skepticism, reportedly telling a fellow customer at the coffee stand that “the haters are just people who haven’t found their wave yet,” a sentence that, sources say, was met with total silence and one very slow sip of coffee. He has since booked lesson number four, which Renfro confirms is, at minimum, “a step in the right direction, actual local status notwithstanding.”
Ruiz, watching the whole saga unfold from behind the espresso machine, says she’s started a friendly betting pool with coworkers on how long Whitlock lasts before moving on to his next passion. Current odds favor pickleball by autumn, though one coworker has controversially wagered on “competitive kombucha brewing,” a bet Ruiz calls “unlikely, but this is Malibu, so genuinely anything’s on the table.”
Renfro, for what it’s worth, says he holds no ill will toward Whitlock, or any of the seasonal Chases who pass through his lesson roster each year. “Everybody starts somewhere,” he said. “I just wish ‘somewhere’ didn’t always come with a publicist and a hypothetical docuseries attached. Would be nice, just once, to teach someone whose Instagram bio doesn’t already say ‘surfer’ before they’ve stood up on a board.”
For more on celebrities discovering hobbies with alarming intensity, see Reductress.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/