Elle Kennedy Wants Every <em>Off Campus</em> Couple to Get Their Own Season

Some spoilers below.

Elle Kennedy is eager to welcome a slew of new students to Briar University. The author of more than 50 books—including her popular Off-Campus romance series, set at the fictional Briar U—Kennedy has now joined the ranks of fellow romance authors who’ve watched their worlds be transported to the screen.On the heels of Prime Video’s buzzed-about adaptations of Jenny Han’s The Summer I Turned Pretty and Mona Kasten’s Maxton Hall books, among others, the platform has now released Off Campus, starring Ella Bright and Belmont Cameli as Kennedy’s characters Hannah Wells and Garrett Graham. Drawing from the story set out in Kennedy’s 2015 book The Deal—but with some notable changes applied—the first season follows Hannah and Garrett as they fake a relationship so Hannah can earn the attention (and, hopefully, affections) of another student, Justin (Josh Heuston). As fake relationships are wont to do, Hannah and Garrett’s agreement soon grows complicated.

Off Campus season 1, now streaming in its entirety, also features an ensemble cast from Kennedy’s other Off-Campus books, including Allie Hayes (Mike Abdalla), Dean Di-Laurentis (Stephen Kalyn), John Logan (Antonio Cipriano), John Tucker (Jalen Thomas Brooks), and more. Optioned for adaptation in 2019, Off Campus was initially positioned as a film project, but ultimately, Kennedy says the production team chose to “pivot” to TV. As the author puts it, “I was like, ‘The world [of Off-Campus] is so much fun that you could do multiple seasons in it.’” And that’s exactly what Prime Video intends to do, as Off Campus is already in production on season 2, with the season 1 finale teasing drama for Dean and Allie in the next installment.

Ahead of season 1’s release, ELLE spoke with Kennedy about what has drawn fans to her books; how she approached the process of adaptation; her thoughts on changes made to her narrative; and her hopes to see not just one couple’s love story told—but “all of them.”

I think a couple of factors. In 2014, when I was writing The Deal, there was this “new” genre called new adult, and there weren’t a lot of books yet in that space. So it was partially the right timing: People really wanted these stories with younger characters—not young adult, but not 35-year-old heroines either. [The new adult genre offered] an in-between there. I think people really resonated with that [in Off-Campus], because they were, maybe, nostalgic for their college days.

I think that my readers, in particular, like a friend group and a found family. Off-Campus had that with the four lead boys and with Hannah and Allie. People resonate with it because they feel like they’re part of that world, and they’re in the friend group, and they’re experiencing all these firsts that happened in college [alongside the characters]: first loves, first sexual experiences, that kind of stuff. I think it was the right time and the right story environment for this readership.

I wasn’t super hands-on, but I was able to go to set, to see the casting and chemistry tests and things like that, and offer feedback. We had calls with the showrunners and the writers about their vision and the arc for season 1. I was able to share what the vibe of the series is and what I wanted to see. But for the most part, I wasn’t a day-to-day person. Amazon takes the lead on their adaptations, and they know the TV space better than I do. So you just have to trust that they’re going to bring that vision to life. It was a new experience. It was very surreal, but yeah, I enjoyed it a lot.

Kennedy at the Off Campus premiere in Los Angeles.

For me, the most important thing was the relationship with Hannah and Garrett—the two main characters—because they both have these heavy backstories that you can’t just treat that lightly, right? Obviously this story has its light moments, and it has the banter and the chemistry and all of the fun stuff that happens, but at the same time, both characters are coming into this relationship with this baggage and some unresolved issues. I was like, “You can’t just ignore these things. It still does need to be deep and angsty, and we need to see them working through these issues.”

The creative team fully agreed that that is the heart of the book: It’s [Hannah and Garrett] trusting each other and learning how to be in this relationship despite everything, especially for Hannah having come from a background with sexual assault. So it’s just having to treat everything really sensitively.

Then, obviously, I wanted [the show] to have the same chemistry, the banter, all that stuff. It was really important for me to capture the dynamic between those two characters and not veer too off-course. They’re not going to be hooking up literally within five seconds of meeting. They develop a friendship; they have trust. So those were the kinds of things where I was like, “These are super important [storylines], I think, to stay true to.”

It was so cool. You can’t really explain it because it’s like you’re writing, “Oh, they’re at the diner, and they’re going to Malone’s…” and then suddenly you’re watching a sign that says “Malone’s,” and you’re like, “I made that up.” It was really cool to see the sets, the dorms, this entire world that just existed in my head. Some things, obviously, are not as I pictured or whatever, but it’s still so cool. The chemistry of the cast is probably my favorite part. And I’m not just talking about Ella and Belmont—[all] of these actors are just so much fun…I was kind of surprised by how much fun it was to see these actors just play these characters and bring their own spin or vibes [to them]…I believe [the cast] definitely did the story justice.

With every adaptation, you’re going to get creative changes. Some things just aren’t going to work. Some things you want to tease for the next season because every book wraps up with a beginning, middle, and end…and you want to leave more for the viewers to see what’s coming up. And it’s such a big world, too. It’s such a big universe that there’s so much you could do and play around in. Yes, there are changes, but I think the changes do serve the universe. I’m hoping that the audience agrees with that and that they like it.

Brooks, Cameli, Bright, Kalyn, and Cipriano in Off Campus.

In general, I think it’s fun. It’s interesting. I think the audience is going to not really expect the way that the season ends. I personally think that it’s a fun ending. Obviously there were some changes made, but I do think the audience is going to want to continue to watch it and move on to season 2 and see what happens next.

I want to see all of them. These are my babies. We just saw Hannah and Garrett, and we have so many more couples and characters to see. They just cast Grace (India Fowler), so now we’re going to get to see her. It’s exciting to see all these characters make their appearances and then take center stage. I want to see Logan and Grace. I want to see Tucker and Sabrina. I want to see Dean and Allie. I want all of them. And I really hope we get to see them all.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.