The cast of Prime Video’s ‘Off Campus.’ Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Prime Video Logo text The cast and creatives of Prime Video’s next YA offering, Off Campus, gathered in Hollywood Wednesday night for the series premiere.
Based on the Elle Kennedy books of the same name, the romance series follows “an elite ice hockey team, and the women in their lives, as they grapple with love, heartbreak, and self-discovery — forging deep friendships and enduring bonds while navigating the complexities that come with transitioning into adulthood,” according to the show’s synopsis.
The book series Off Campus, which begins with The Deal, follows a new-but-connected couple in each book. The show, which follows The Deal’s storyline, plans to keep that model. “Bridgerton set that stage. I think they did it amazingly well. For the fans, giving each of the characters their proper time to shine and have their moment is really important,” executive producer Leanna Billings told The Hollywood Reporter.
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“The fans of the books are so invested in each individual character, and the stories are so rich thanks to Elle, that it completely will be able to sustain their own season each,” adds executive producer Neal Flaherty, teasing that season two, which was ordered by the streamer earlier in February, is on the way. “I can’t wait for the next one, which we’re starting to film now.”
Season one dives headfirst into the age-old romantic trope of fake dating with music student Hannah Wells (Ella Bright), who, in true hockey fashion, is often called Wellsy by her love interest, Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli). Graham is the son of a professional hockey legion captain of Briar University’s hockey team.
Bright’s character is a music student and has her own little musical moment in the show’s first episode, which she teased ahead of the premiere Wednesday. “There is a really fun musical element in the first episode that I had the privilege of getting to perform in it. The song that I get to perform was my manifestation song for the whole audition process,” the 19-year-old actress explained. “It ended up being in the top [two] on my Spotify Wrapped.”
Cameli had the chance to learn hockey, one of the reasons he said he was drawn to the role of Garrett. “It’s a sport I haven’t played before. I love finding ways into character through learning a skill that they have that I don’t,” he said. “But I think kind of just across the board, this [role] felt right for me. Not all roles do, but I felt pretty good [right] away about Garrett.”
Belmont Cameli and Ella Bright attend the ‘Off-Campus’ premiere. Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Prime Video Other series regulars include Mika Abdalla (Snack Shack), Antonio Cipriano (Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin), Jalen Thomas Brooks (The Pitt), Josh Heuston (Dune: Prophecy) and Stephen Kalyn (Gen V). Fans of the book series will be excited to see the whole Briar U gang in the trailer. Among some of these series regulars are lead characters from other novels in Kennedy’s Off Campus series. It’s yet to be announced which book will be adapted for the second season.
Louisa Levy serves as the co-showrunner and executive producer alongside Gina Fattore. Levy emphasized that the writers room worked hard to deliver as many easter egg moments as possible, knowing what’s to come in later books. “It’s been so important to us to stay true to both fans and what they want the show to be,” she said.
“We mapped out the nonnegotiable, and then as a writer’s room, we kind of put as many of those easter eggs in there as we could along the way, even if it was in ways that weren’t expected,” she continued.
While Off Campus promises to offer fans a swoon-worthy team in front of their television, the cast and crew also insisted the series will be meaningful to viewers. “Don’t be afraid to speak up and talk to your friends if you have something you have to say,” Kalyn, who plays hockey player Dean Heyward-Di Laurentis, said when asked what he hopes viewers take away from the series.
“Your friends are there because they love you and your family’s there because they love you, so don’t be shy and speak up,” he continued.
Abdalla, who plays Hannah’s best friend Allie Hayes, emphasized that the large ensemble cast assures viewers that they’ll find a character they can relate to. “I hope people just feel seen,” she said. “There’s a lot of opportunity for people to identify with somebody in the show.”
The four central hockey players, which Cipriano, who plays John Logan, and Brooks, who plays John Tucker, serve as the male love interests for the book series. “I hope it inspires people climb walls by themselves and with other people,” said Brooks.
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“I’m excited because you got to see a lot more of Logan than you’d expect,” said Cipriano, whose character is the lead of the book series’ second installment, The Mistake. The 25-year-old said he’s read both The Deal and The Mistake, and he’s in the middle of the third book, The Score, right now.
Wyck Godfrey, Marty Bowen and James Seidman executive produce for Temple Hill. Leanna Billings of Billings Productions and Neal Flaherty also serve as executive producers on the series.
Prime Video will drop all episodes of the first season of Off Campus on May 13.
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