Prime Video’s latest romance series, “Off Campus,” may be the hottest show in pop culture at the moment.
The show’s lead, Ella Bright, is taking it into her own hands to clear up viewer questions — specifically those questioning the near 10-year age gap with her co-star Belmont Cameli, 28, and partial nude scenes.
On Tuesday, Bright, 19, was a guest on the “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast and admitted she never hesitated on the role after reading the script.
“Listen, I came into this job and during the chemistry reads — with more than enough information and knowledge and understanding of what this role required in the show — I just fell in love with Hannah and these scripts immediately,” she began.
“There was never a question that I wouldn’t want to do this,” Bright added.
The series is full of partial nudity and spicy sex scenes between college students. On the podcast, Bright addressed people’s concerns about her co-star being older than her during those moments.
“But also not once did I feel one left out from being younger than everybody,” she said. “We’re all such a family, and like, everyone was just more than perfect. I couldn’t be more comfortable on the set with these people. So it is funny when they said that.”
The show’s creator, Louisa Levy, addressed the backlash on the nearly 10-year age gap between Cameli and Bright during an interview with Variety in May.
“I had a conversation with Ella before we closed her deal to make sure she knew what was coming. She’d read the book, so she already understood, but I walked her through everything and made sure she was comfortable and confident,” Levy told the outlet.
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She added: “If I had felt she wasn’t ready, I would have pumped the brakes immediately. But she was so game. And we have an extraordinary intimacy coordinator, Kathy Kadler, who had conversations with not just Belmont and Ella but with all the actors who had any intimacy work.”
“Off Campus” is a series adaptation of Elle Kennedy’s college romance book series. The first book follows Hannah Wells (Bright), a smart and independent music major, and Garrett Graham (Cameli), the cocky captain of the hockey team.
According to US Weekly, viewers questioned if a 19-year-old should be filming partially nude and Bright commented on the feedback on Tuesday’s podcast episode.
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“For Hannah, the briefing was partial nudity, and for Allie, it had to be full [nudity],” she said, referring to her co-star Mika Abdalla.
“That was just because Allie has got this amazing confidence about her and she is so free with her body and sex is just such an important part of her life. It’s honestly just showing the difference between these characters,” Bright continued.
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“For Hannah — obviously, given her backstory [with sexual assault] — she dresses more innocently and she’s got the skinny jeans and the hoodies,” Bright said of her character. “It just shows the dichotomy between the characters. That was always — from the beginning — the idea.”
Bright also explained that she knew what she was getting herself into when she auditioned for the role.
“All of [the people auditioning for] Hannah knew it was just going to be partial. For Allie, it was going to be full so everyone had [a] full understanding of what we were going into,” she said.
