dailynewsnblog
In the year 2026, the world has no shortage of internet boyfriends, from silver-screen regulars like Jacob Elordi to the actors playing beloved BookTok characters. (Every Year After’s Matt Cornett is the latest to step onto the scene.) Fans have been well-fed this year. But there’s another slightly unusual place the chronically online have turned their attention lately: the world of sports. And we’re not just talking about the New York Knicks‘ historic NBA Championship win or the ongoing FIFA World Cup.
People have been all about the fictional happenings inside and out of the hockey rink (or “boy aquarium”—IYKYK) since the late-2025 debut of Crave’s Heated Rivalry, a TV adaptation of the enemies-to-lovers series by Rachel Reid that shot its leads Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams into superstardom. The latest spicy hockey sports-mance to enter the chat—Off Campus, which is based on the NYT best-selling college romance series by Elle Kennedy—is doing the same with its cast of fresh faces.
The show’s slam dunk of a first season broke Amazon Prime Video’s viewership records with 36 million streams in its first 12 days, according to Variety, and now, lead actors Ella Bright (who portrayed Hannah Wells) and Belmont Cameli (Garrett Graham) are passing the main-character torch to their costars Mika Abdalla and Stephen Kalyn, who will take center stage as spunky Allie Hayes and playboy Dean Di Laurentis. While both casts of Off Campus and Heated Rivalry continue filming their respective second seasons in Canada (no, they haven’t yet run into each other—yes, Kalyn’s heard the Storrie comparisons), we caught up with the faux-blonde burgeoning star to discuss his flourishing career and past life as a real high school hockey player, his style evolution, this hotly anticipated second season, and, of course, that sexy Halloween party dance scene.
First of all, how are you? How’s your day so far?
It’s been really good. We had a hockey rehearsal today. My one day off, they had to throw something in there! I just had my morning coffee, I’ve been sitting on the couch and doomscrolling for a minute, and now, I’m here.
A healthy morning, honestly. Since you have your morning coffee, let’s get into it. Do you remember where you were when you learned you got the role of Dean Di Laurentis?
I was in my parents’ basement when my agent called me and told me that I had to get on for another meeting. [I was thinking], “What, another audition?” Then he said, “No, no, no, no,” but he kept it quick. He never keeps it quick. When we talk, we talk for like 25 minutes. This was 90 seconds, and he says, “You just gotta get on the call. Bye!”
In my mind, I took it as them just calling me to let me know that “You did a great job in the audition process, but unfortunately, we’re gonna go with someone else.” But then I thought, “Wait, why would they call me just to tell me that I didn’t get the role?” But they told me on Zoom in the basement—I had all my hockey equipment and weights around—and then it all changed from there.
That feels authentic to the character.
I remember in between takes in the audition—because it was a three-hour chemistry read—I had a mirror right beside me, and every time they’d give us a break, I’d turn and go, “You’re f*cking Dean. You’re Dean! You got this!”
You were manifesting! I know hockey was a big part of your life growing up, but when did acting come into play?
I went to drama camps as a kid if I wasn’t playing hockey, but I did a play in high school. I remember doing the rehearsals and auditioning, and I just loved it. I stepped on the stage. There were about 500 parents in the crowd, and I loved every minute of it. I did that for two years in high school and thought, “Okay, I know what I’m going to do.” Hockey was wrapping up, and I knew I wasn’t going to the NHL. I could see more of a future in a career as an actor. Even though I knew it wouldn’t be easy, I could just see it happening.
You’re like a hockey Troy Bolton.
Pretty much! That’s exactly the story. “What am I gonna do, Dad? Hockey, performing?!”
It’s great that you were encouraged to do both growing up.
My parents have been so supportive in the sense of, “Whatever you want to do, go after it,” and I’m very thankful for that. I know for a lot of people it’s like, “No, you can’t do that. It’s not gonna work out. Just go get a serious 9-to-5 job somewhere.” But they always respected this, and I’m very thankful for that.
My dad’s always said, “You’re gonna make it. Just keep going and banging out those auditions, and one of them is gonna stick.” And then [it] ended up being a hockey-player role.
They’ve got to be so happy about that.
Oh, they’re extremely happy.
Especially teeing up to this season! I know you’re in production for season 2 of Off Campus right now—what has your preparation process for a role like this been like?
I read a little bit of The Deal because I had heard about the series, and I wanted to audition for Garrett. And then no audition came in for Garrett, but one did come in for Logan. I’m like, “Oh, here we go. Now’s my chance.” I sent it in, and then I never heard anything back. “All right, well, there goes that one.” But then I got Dean, and within a day after getting the role, I read his book.
It’s an easy read; you can fly through it.
Very easy read. I’d never read a smut book before, and I actually really enjoyed it. Well, technically, I read Fourth Wing before that, and this book was kind of like it, in a way. I just wanted to know what was next, you know? It was intriguing.
You have good taste in books. If you really want to commit to a series like that, try Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas.
Is it spicier than Fourth Wing?
When you get there! It takes a few books. But speaking of books, we’ve seen bits of Allie and Dean’s storyline in season 1. What can fans expect in season 2?
I think you get really great, iconic moments from the book that fans love, but you’re also going to get a lot more in-depth situations that these characters go through. You get more into it. It makes it much more interesting, heartbreaking, and very, very sweet at the same time. You really get to see why they are the way they are, and you start to feel it for them even more.
What does it feel like to step into the lead role of such a hotly anticipated season?
I love it. It’s so much fun. I was very nervous at the beginning, but this is our third weekend of shooting. We’re just about to wrap up episodes 1 and 2, and it’s been great so far. I’ve been working a little harder, but I love that, and it’s been really fun.
You got to see fun party Dean and some emotional stuff toward the end of last season, but this time, you don’t just see the playboy anymore. You start to strip the walls down a bit and see his vulnerability, which has been so much fun to play with.
There’s also a lot more ensemble stuff, too, which has been great. We have so much fun filming these scenes together.
It’s probably cathartic. You all went through this major change together and then went right back to filming.
It couldn’t have gone any better, honestly. I’m so grateful and happy that the show has been received in such a positive way, but it’s nice to get right back to work and focus on what we have to do—to do what we did last season but find ways to make it even better. I think our writers and our showrunners know our characters that much more now, so they can write toward how we would do them as us, as actors.
Every time I read the new scripts that come in, I can see what we learned from season 1—what worked and what didn’t—and that we’re really applying that this season. I think we have a really damn good season coming.
This is definitely getting me hyped up for the next one.
Yes! I just read a new script recently, and it was a page-turner. There was so much going on, so much happening, and I was like, “I can’t wait for people to see this.”
You had a wild press tour for season 1. I’ve seen you guys everywhere, from Off Campus–themed bars in New York to red carpets. How do you feel your sense of style has changed in this time?
Big shout-out to my stylist, Amanda Lim, for knowing what I like and making it come to life. Before I started this, we met over Zoom, and I sent her all my inspirations: a little Jacob Elordi, some Drew Starkey, a little Austin Butler. She really, really nailed it and found a way to make it more Stephen at the same time. We’ve been working together for a bit now, and she’s been amazing. She’s done a great job. She works really, really hard, and I love her. She’s the best.
What’s the Stephen touch? Do you take inspiration from pop culture, maybe even other actors?
I’ve always loved the classic ’90s Hollywood stars, that ’90s vintage style—Johnny Depp, DiCaprio, Keanu Reeves, all those cool guys, I love their style. They’ve been huge inspirations to me in the fashion world and as actors.
Going back to the show, it’s hard to convey chemistry, but you and Abdalla nail it. How did you find your stride as scene partners?
We’re both very similar in the way we work. We didn’t really talk much at the very beginning because I didn’t have many scenes with her, but then Louisa [Levy, the showrunner,] was like, “You guys need to get to know each other.” The only scenes that we had done [at that point] were for the audition, which was already somewhat tough because we did it on Zoom, and everyone else she did chemistry reads with was in person in L.A. for the screen tests. Dean and Allie’s relationship at the start is very physical and touchy, so it was hard to navigate that over Zoom in the audition process. But we somehow made it work and made it believable.
We ended up going out. She invited me to a Pilates class with her, and I didn’t make it, and she was not happy about that. Then I said, “Well, let’s go get a drink.” So we had vodka sodas, talked for two or three hours, and I really got to know her. She got to know me. I learned her process of how she works, and it’s very similar to mine, and then it was pretty cool from there.
The classic Pilates-to–vodka soda pipeline. You did owe her for the no-show fee, though.
Yeah, I actually still have to pay her back.
You’ve been playing Dean for about a year now. Are there any aspects of Dean’s character that you feel overlap with yours? Where do you separate?
I think Dean loves to put on a show, and [it’s] something that Steven likes to do too. … If Dean wasn’t this hockey guy, he would be in the arts and performing. I feel like that’s where we click: that performance style and always wanting to be “on.” And, of course, hockey and coming from a good home.
Briar University is the backdrop for this entire series, and watching it made me nostalgic for my own college days. Did you get a university experience before beginning your career?
I did! After I finished high school, I was accepted into Humber College, their acting for film and television program. I met some really great people there that I still speak to today, and I studied there for two years. I learned the basics of acting and the structure of the business, and it helped catapult me into auditions and getting an agent, so that was a huge help.
Would you say there were any parallels between Dean’s college experience and your own?
Literally no, not at all. So experiencing this through the show was definitely interesting.
Fair! Your life has changed drastically in the last few months—millions of Instagram followers, a hit show, and a season focused on yours and Abdalla’s characters currently in the works. What does life feel like nowadays?
It feels the exact same. The only difference is when I walk around, I get the odd head turn and “Are you in Heated Rivalry?” And then I’m like, “No, no, no, no—other show.” Then they say, “Oh, Dean?”
Wow, they think you’re Connor Storrie.
It happened once! The other day, I was walking down the street with Victoria [Lovatsis, Kalyn’s fiancée], and this guy was listening to “Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson—no, he was blasting it. He looked at me; I looked at him. He kept driving, and then he pulled over and goes, “Hey bro, are you in Heated Rivalry?” I’m like, “No, different show.” He goes, “Oh, cool” and just drove away.
No follow-up or anything!
Nothing. Everything was a little overwhelming at first, but it’s been really cool, and I’m so happy that people have felt connected to the show. I want to get these episodes for season 2 out there right now because I just know that we have such a good season coming. But maybe the wait is good, actually. Maybe this will make people really excited. We want to feed the fans.
You guys definitely are—I saw countless TikToks of that J.Lo Halloween scene before I’d even watched the show.
I can’t believe that was the scene that people felt so wowed by. It felt so awkward doing it, but sometimes, you do a take, and you think, “That was the best acting I’ve ever done in my life,” and then you go watch it, and you’re like, “That’s it?”
We did a quick rehearsal for that too—an hour of Mika just learning some moves and me just kinda swaying in the back. It’s just so funny that that was the scene that people felt really connected to.
Fortunately, they were able to blast “On the Floor” [by Jennifer Lopez] when we filmed. At the beginning, Silver Tree, our director, was like, “You need to loosen up a little, man.” I was like, “I’m f*cking loose, Silver, I’m loose!” She said that, on camera, I was too tight, so I was like, “That’s it.” I went to Mika and said, “On this one, I’m dropping it low, and you just gotta go with it. You can do whatever you want, but I’m dropping low.”
We were shooting it in slo-mo, and I remember Belmont afterward saying, “You’re so hot.” He was watching it on the monitors in slow motion and said, “Man, this is gonna be good.”
Was that the take that made the final cut?
I think it was!
I heard you received the Most Likely to Win an Academy Award superlative in your high school yearbook. What’s your wildest career dream?
Living in the Amazon and taking photos of animals for National Geographic. Something to do with animals and filming them. In an imaginary world, it might be fun to do that.
When this is all said and done and you get a great camera, you should go off and do it.
Maybe I might! Might have to retire after season 2 and move to the Amazon.
If you could go back and tell that kid in your yearbook what life looks like today, what would you say?
I would have told him, “Hey, man, you were right—not that you won an Oscar but that you chose the right path. Continue. Keep doing what you’re doing. Don’t give up, and just keep trying to get better every day.”
Photographer: Max Schultz
Stylist: Amanda Lim
Groomer: Colleen Dominique
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