'Off Campus' star Ella Bright, showrunner address age gap between its lead actors
Off Campus lead star Ella Bright and showrunner Louisa Levy have addresssed the age gap between Bright, 19, and co-headliner Belmont Carmeli, 28, that has been a growing concern among fans.
In a Vanity Fair interview, Bright laughed off the issue, saying she has been comfortable working with her co-star, "When we spend that much time together on set, it is very, very easy to just become so close. He’s one of my best friends.”
Levy, on the other hand, told Variety that she and Bright already had a good discussion about the show before the latter took on the role.
"She’d read the book, so she already understood, but I walked her through everything and made sure she was comfortable and confident,” Levy said. "If I had felt she wasn’t ready, I would have pumped the brakes immediately. But she was so game."
Levy added the show's intimacy coordinator Kathy Kadler was also key to to keeping things as the latter took the effort to speak with all the actors regarding intimate scenes.
"[It was about] really understanding what made everyone comfortable, what they felt good about, what they didn’t. We never did anything that made anyone uncomfortable before we ever rolled a frame of camera," Levy added.
She also added, "At the end of the day, these are actors—it’s an art form, it’s a skill. We needed people who could truly act, because we’re writing some meaty material for them, and on top of that they needed to embody the essence of these characters. They may not be exactly the same as the physical descriptions, but I think they capture the essence, which for me was more important."
As reported by Variety, while the series protagonist, Hannah Wells, is an older character, Bright just turned 18 when she secured the role.
Levy also shared with the magazine that she changed the age of the characters to explore future possibilities.
Based on the popular Off Campus novels by Elle Kennedy, Prime Video’s Off Campus television series is about a fake romance turned real love between music student Hannah Wells and university hockey star Garrett Graham.
