The Off Campus cast is like the book brought to life — but not every actor auditioned for the role they ultimately got.
Based on the book series of the same name by Elle Kennedy, the show, which premiered in May, follows an elite ice hockey team and the women in their lives.
Hannah (Ella Bright) and Garrett’s (Belmont Cameli) love story took center stage in season 1 — with several key moments from their book, The Deal, swapped for an updated version. At the same time, the show set up Allie (Mika Abdalla) and Dean (Stephen Kalyn) as the next possible leads despite them being featured in the third installment of the series.
Jalen Thomas Brooks, Antonio Cipriano, Josh Heuston and Steve Howey make up the rest of the cast, with Charlie Evans and India Fowler as surprise additions later in the series.
Off Campus has already been renewed for season 2 — but which couple is leading the show after some big book changes? Based on the Off Campus book series by Elle Kennedy, the show follows an elite ice hockey team — and the women in their lives — as they “grapple with love, heartbreak and […]
“It’s definitely great to have the blueprint of this fabulous book series to start with, but adapting for a TV show is a little bit different,” showrunner Louisa Levy exclusively told Us Weekly. “We need to keep the audience’s focus in a different way.”
Levy broke down the approach from page to screen.
“We have a lot of stories told in different ways. We have eight episodes instead of the whole book,” she noted. “So we really started with the things that were super nonnegotiable — that without those things it wouldn’t be Off Campus.”
She continued: “From there, we added as many of the book moments as we could. We dropped them in like Easter eggs, and we just really spent time taking one’s inside character and externalizing them.”
Keep scrolling for the biggest casting revelations:
Stephen Kalyn
Before Off Campus found their Dean, Kalyn actually auditioned to play the role of Logan.
“And I thought it was good. But then, it’s interesting how the casting process works because I see why I didn’t get the part,” he told Bustle in May 2026. “And then Dean came along, and then I was like, OK, that seems more up my alley.”
Mika Abdalla
“I originally auditioned for Hannah,” Abdalla, who now plays Allie, exclusively told Us. “I just knew that wasn’t right. Everybody knew that wasn’t right. Then, when I heard they wanted to bring me back for Allie and I finally got a hold of the scripts, I was like, ‘This is right.’ Everything just fell into place in a really good way.”
