Exclusive Interview
‘Off Campus’ Stars on Hannah and Garrett’s Season 1 Breakup & Their Future (VIDEO)
What To Know
- Off Campus Season 1 adapts Elle Kennedy’s The Deal, but changes the circumstances of Hannah and Garrett’s breakup compared to the book.
- The show’s stars, Ella Bright and Belmont Cameli, explain the book change and the brief split.
- Bright and Cameli reveal if there are any unresolved issues for the couple going into Season 2.
It’s dire straits for a minute there, but Off Campus Season 1’s main couple, Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli) and Hannah Wells (Ella Bright), find their way back to each other after some major challenges. Once they overcome a game-changing third-act hurdle, they emerge stronger than ever. (Warning: Spoilers for Off Campus Season 1 below.)
Off Campus Season 1 is based on Elle Kennedy’s The Deal, which sees Briar U’s star hockey player fake-date music major Hannah. Like their show counterparts, book Hannah and Garrett fall in love for real, and later briefly end their relationship before reconciling — but it plays out extremely differently in the books. Stars Belmont Cameli and Ella Bright explain the change, as well as whether Hannah and Garrett have any unresolved issues going into Off Campus Season 2.
In a joint interview with Cameli, Bright recalled how showrunner Louisa Levy explained Hannah and Garrett’s Episode 7 breakup to her. “This breakup scene is so tough because both of these characters are having their worst day possible at the same time,” the actress told Swooon. “And if it was just one of them going through this, the other would be able to help them get out of this situation, or comfort them, or give them advice that the other could listen to. But there is this miscommunication, and there is no other way that this would have ended up.”
Liane Hentscher / Prime
In “The Faceoff,” Garrett is the one to end things with Hannah after he comes to blows with the hockey player who sexually assaulted her in high school. After Garrett fights him mid-game, Hannah storms after Garrett in the parking lot, saying Garrett’s behavior scared her. Garrett, fearing that he’s becoming like his abusive father, breaks up with her then and there. (In the book, Hannah breaks up with Garrett when his dad orders her to, threatening to financially cut off his son if she doesn’t.)
In the Season 1 finale, Hannah forgives Garrett for ending things without any hesitation. “I think she realizes [that] they both just have this miscommunication,” Bright said. “I don’t think she blames him for anything. I think she understands why he made that rash decision because she sees where he’s coming from and what he heard with the selective hearing of being afraid to some extent.”
She continued, “I just think that him also showing up for the pop showcase is a big romantic gesture that meant a lot to her. I think that was an apology in itself. And it was just a really beautiful, very rom-com-esque moment for them to get back together in that way.”
Season 1 leaves Hannah and Garrett happy and more in love than ever. “We’ve watched them get to a place where they’ve basically decided that they can and should and will be together, and that’s very much a beginning for a relationship,” Cameli said. “So we don’t know where it goes after this. But no relationship is perfect out of the gate, so they’ll have new challenges and opportunities to grow, just like everybody else.”
Off Campus, Season 1, Streaming Now, Prime Video
Off Campus, Season 2, TBA, Prime Video
