Is ‘The Waterfront' Based On A True Story? Meet The Family Who Inspired The Buckleys

Forbes

23-06-2025

The Waterfront. (L to R) Holt McCallany as Harlan Buckley, Jake Weary as Cane Buckley in episode 105 ... More of The Waterfront.
Netflix's new southern crime drama The Waterfront has already proven to be a hit for the streamer. The series is currently the No. 1 TV show on the site, and fans are already wanting a second season. However, what viewers might not know is that the series is actually based on a true story and is deeply personal to the show's creator.
The freshman series comes from famed screenwriter Kevin Williamson, best known for the beloved teen drama Dawson's Creek and cult‑favorite horror films like Scream (1996), Scream 2 (1997), Scream 4 (2011), I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) and more.
At the forefront of Williamson's latest project is the Buckley family, who are struggling to regain control of their North Carolina fishing empire. After patriarch Harlan Buckley suffers two heart attacks, his wife Belle and son Cane must do whatever's necessary to keep the family business from crumbling beneath them.
'As their attempts spiral out of control and into treacherous waters, Harlan steps back in to take command," the official synopsis reads. "Facing her own demons, Buckley daughter Bree – an addict in recovery who's lost custody of her son Diller – finds herself entangled in a complicated relationship that could threaten the family's future forever.
As you're watching Season 1, you might be wondering: Is the Buckley family real? Was Harlan Buckley an actual person, or is he based on someone else? Here's everything to know about the inspiration behind The Waterfront.
Is The Waterfront Based On A True Story?
The Waterfront. Holt McCallany as Harlan Buckley in episode 101 of The Waterfront.
The Waterfront draws inspiration from creator Kevin Williamson's family and his childhood in coastal North Carolina. Like patriarch Harlan Buckley, Williamson's father 'got tempted to do some things that weren't so legal and got him in some trouble," he told Netflix Tudum. He further clarified that unlike Harlan, his father wasn't a member of an organized crime syndicate. "My dad was a very, very good man," he said.
Just like in the series, Williamson's father, Wade, was a hard-working fisherman, while his mother, Fayee, worked at a hotel. 'I come from a family of fishermen — not just my dad, but the entire family,' he said in an interview with TIME.com. 'Everyone I knew was a fisherman.'
However, in the 1980s, fishing began to decline due to factors like overfished waters and strict environmental regulations. As a result, Williamson's father struggled to provide for his family and, like many other fishermen in the area, was drawn into a difficult situation.
'Someone came along and said, 'If you do this one thing, you can make all this money.' And it was hard to say no,'' the creator told Tudum. He explained that his father agreed to run drugs on his fishing trawler but later got into trouble. 'He got caught, he served his time, he got out, and I graduated."
Kevin's father, Wade Williamson, was arrested for conspiracy to traffic 20,000 pounds of marijuana. Ultimately, he served less than a year behind bars and the arrest was part of a larger sting operation in the community.
'They didn't just arrest my dad,' Williamson recalled to TIME.com. 'They arrested a whole bunch of people. It was part of a cartel. They were the low men in the operation.'
As for the other characters, Belle (Maria Bello), the matriarch of the Buckley household, is representative of Williamson's love for his mother and strong women, according to Tudum. Benoist's troubled Buckley daughter, Bree, is meant to symbolize how broken people put themselves back together. 'That addictive part of me, that's where I wrote from,' he told TIME.com. 'I took her to the extreme, but it's personal.'
What Scenes In The Waterfront Are Based On Real Moments In Williamson's Life?
The Waterfront. Jake Weary as Cane Buckley in episode 101 of The Waterfront.
Several moments in The Waterfront are recreations of Williamson's childhood. For example, the terrifying shark scene in Season 1, Episode 1, titled 'Almost Okay,' is directly inspired by his experience.
When he was 10 years old, Williamson went out on a boat with his father and uncle. When they woke up the next morning, "as far as you could see, there were sharks,' he recalled. 'My uncle held me over to see them. It terrified me. That one little moment always stayed in my head. It traumatized me to such a degree that I knew one day I was going to write that scene.'
Where Was The Waterfront Filmed?
The Waterfront Season 1
Williamson, who grew up in the small town of Oriental, N.C., chose the North Carolina coast as the backdrop for The Waterfront. The fictional town of Havenport was filmed in Wilmington, NC, and nearby Southport, NC.
'I absolutely love North Carolina. Through and through, I'm a Carolina boy,' Williamson said to TIME.com. 'Southport looks very much like how I grew up.'
He added that the production frequently rented real fishing boats from Oriental to utilize them as stunt boats. 'It's a seafood fresh-off-the-boat type of town,' he told the site. 'That's where I got the idea for the Buckley fish house. It's common in little port towns: restaurants attached to fish houses.'
Season 1 of The Waterfront is streaming on Netflix. Watch the official trailer below.