Off Campus just dropped on Prime Video, and it has already become an obsession, quite understandably so. Adapted from Elle Kennedy’s 2015 romance book The Deal, the show is a steamy college romance with a side of hockey which is having its moment following the Heated Rivalry craze. The show revolves around the academic and lov lives of Hannah Wells (Ella Bright), Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli), Allie Hayes (Mika Abdalla), Justin (Josh Heuston), Stephen Kalyn (Dean Di Laurentis) and more. While the first season centres on Hannah and Garrett, the show does a great job of incorporating each hockey player and their love interests. Among the standout members of the ensemble are Allie, Hannah’s best friend, and Justin, a musician Hannah has a huge crush on.
In an exclusive interview with Lifestyle Asia, Abdalla and Heuston talk about the instant spark that connected the cast, the Off Campus fan edits and why being nonchalant about having a crush is out.
Meet the Campus It Girl and Heartthrob
Almost as soon as the trailer for Off Campus dropped, fan edits flooded my feed. The look reveals blew up, the smallest glimpses slowed down, and the anticipation was palpable. Mika and Josh have seen the videos, and they appreciate the dedicated pages. “I’ve seen a lot of them [fan edits]. I like to jump in there, especially on a lot of the Off Campus fan pages. There’s a page called Off Campus memes and Off Campus Germany. Shout out to you, guys. We like to troll each other in the comments,” reveals Josh, thrilled with the buzz around the series.
Meanwhile, Allie and Dean – the most popular ship from the book series have a dedicated set of videos, most of them set to Raye’s ‘Where is my husband!’. Opening up about the excitement, Mika shares, “It’s really interesting to me that people have pulled clips of Allie and Dean just from the trailer and promos. Those moments are so quick. I was like, ‘Oh, no one’s even gonna see this.’ But they got them. I love how excited everyone is for Allie and Dean’s storyline. I’m excited for whenever we get together.”
Deviating from the books, Justin is the drop-dead gorgeous curly-haired musician, unaware of the effect he has on Hannah when he’s up on stage with his dreamy eyes and voice. Talking about the character, Josh explains, “For me, all the music stuff was my favourite part. It was also the most terrifying and scary part. But also, when you finally play through a song correctly, or you can sing the note that the music team’s asked for and I’m not getting thirsty pops or breaking before it – it’s a super rewarding experience.”
“Also, to be in a band – that’s something everyone always wants to do. Having that opportunity to perform for a room of people was fun,” he adds. Allie might be the best friend, but she gets a fair share of main character moments on Off Campus. Mika shares, “I love Allie’s fashion. All my fittings were a lot of fun and super collaborative and cute. I tried on so many cute clothes, and there were only so many outfits I could wear. Allie has such a bright and bold fashion sense, which I love.”
Can we stop being nonchalant?
In the first few Off Campus episodes, Justin notices Hannah but decides to play it cool. In a world where there is much discourse around being nonchalant and whether one should just embrace the crush phase (along with the cringy bits), Josh knows we like our men very chalant. “I think men should be very chalant. I feel like the nonchalant year is over. Every time I have this conversation, I feel like I’m 75.”
“People should just give in. If you feel some way about someone or want to ask someone out or buy them flowers, just do it. Everyone thinks about the worst-case scenario, but not the best-case scenario. So just go tell the person how you feel. Tell them you love them. Kiss them on the mouth, consensually, of course,” he further adds.
Behind the scenes, the extended ensemble, much like their onscreen counterparts, shares a great bond. Among the photos going viral are group shots of their outings together. “We all got super close very, very quickly. What you see on the show in terms of friendship is what exists in real life – except Josh is more a part of it,” Allie shares. “I don’t just lurk in the background all the time. Never yearned once (laughs),” Josh chimes in. “Everyone is extremely close. I can’t wait for more episodes to come out and for us to be able to post more of our pictures from the set because there are so many shenanigans. Shenanigan every way you look,” Allie continues.
Off Campus drops at the right time, just when fans are waiting for Heated Rivalry’s next season. Talking about the hockey romance genre, Josh says, “The sports romance category is definitely growing. There are quite a few shows that overlap the two together. When you have a hyper-masc sport, a full-contact sport like hockey or football, and then you add the romance element into that, it’s a perfect playing field. Pun unintended for that.”
“The two things kind of, you know, balance each other out in a very interesting way,” Mika 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.