It is a great time for readers, romance lovers and hockey romance lovers. BookTube’s longtime obsession – Elle Kennedy’s Off Campus series now has a delicious screen adaptation. The Prime Video show chronicles the novels, each book set to get a standalone season; the first follows Hannah Wells (Ella Bright) and Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli), caught in a classic fake-dating scenario. Superstar hockey captain strikes a deal with a music major – she helps him pass a class he’s struggling with, and he helps make her crush jealous. The lines between fake and real inevitably begin to blur. Sounds typical, right? I, for one, started sceptical, but found myself blushing and kicking my feet in no time.
In an exclusive interview with Lifestyle Asia, Bright and Cameli discuss the irresistible fake dating trope and some of Hannah and Garrett’s red flags and green flags.
Lessons in chemistry
The show expectedly heats up soon, and by soon, I mean the meet-cute (or rather meet-crash out) in the opening sequence is enough to make your jaw drop. She’s listening to music while cleaning the hockey players’ locker room. Unbeknownst to her, he’s just a few feet away in the shower. Creating a fiery chemistry is a delicate art, one that came pretty easily to Bright and Cameli. “Our first scene was from episode two, where they do their first tutoring session. That was the beginning of our scenes together and learning how to work together, which is quite reflective of what the scene was. It’s about their understanding, and we find out a lot about his knowledge of philosophy,” Bright tells me, reflecting on their first time on set. “Yeah, that’s the one where I come down in a towel, and then we go up. And I’m getting the text messages,” Cameli recalls of the exchange.
Hannah and Garrett have a fair share of awkward run-ins before really getting into it. But off-screen, they hit it off immediately. Bright reveals, “In terms of first impressions – We met at the chemistry read. I thought he was great. And we’ve just been having a lot of fun ever since. It’s been hilarious.” Cameli shares, “We got along from the jump. Ella and I just have a ton of fun.”
Hannah and Garrett might fit the jock and scholarship student archetype, but the stars did their homework, delving into the book’s characters and bringing out their nuances. Effortless chemistry aside, they get real about their characters’ green flags and red flags. Bright shares, “Hannah’s green flag is her passion and ability to be so free with what she loves and her confidence in herself. I really admire that about the character.”
She further explains, “Her red flag is maybe when they have these levels of miscommunication. It’s not necessarily a red flag. That’s just something that she definitely needs to learn. When they learn more about each other, it does get easier.” Meanwhile, Cameli sums up his character saying, “I think Garrett’s green flag is that he’s tall, dark and handsome, which is sick (laughs). And then his red flag is that he doesn’t have perfect control over his emotions yet.”
Heated Rivarly walked so Off Campus could run
If I had a penny for every time a Canadian show served a sizzling romance involving ice hockey players with very little actual ice hockey, I’d have two pennies, which is not a lot, but it’s wild it happened twice. Heated Rivalry became a global phenomenon and catapulted its stars – Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie to fame. While we wait for the next season, Off Campus is here to fill the hockey romance-sized hole the show left.
Discussing the emerging subgenre Cameli shares, “There’s romance around sports everywhere you look. Hockey is just one that hasn’t really been done in this way. So it’s great to add another sport to the mix. There are a ton of baseball, football and combat sports movies that have big love arcs. Hockey is just entering that sphere now.” Bright continues, “I’m a big fan of Heated Rivalry. That show is amazing. And it’s so cool to be in that same orbit of conversation. The world really loves ice hockey at the moment, which is great for us.”
We’ve seen the fake dating trope play out in many forms. Yet, its chokehold on audiences remains strong. “I’ve watched To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before – it’s definitely one that always comes to mind when I think of fake dating. But it’s so exciting and fun because it also has the element of surprise. You know the outcome, but it always surprises the characters. They’re never expecting it (laughs).”
“I think it’s always fun to watch two characters pretend to be together. In our case, they enter into a deal like you would in any scenario. Then the audience gets to watch them pretending. And by themselves, they’re like okay, are we doing the right thing? That’s what is fun about it – what goes on behind the veil,” Cameli concludes.
Off Campus is currently streaming on Prime Video.
Hero and featured image courtesy: Amazon Prime Video
Note : The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.
