Exclusive Interview

‘Off Campus’: Inside Dean & Allie’s Dance Scene With Stephen Kalyn & Mika Abdalla (VIDEO)

Dean Di Laurentis (Stephen Kalyn) and Allie Hayes (Mika Abdalla) have got moves. Off Campus Season 1 surprised readers of Elle Kennedy’s college hockey romance series of the same name by giving the Briar U students a steamy interaction as early as Episode 2. Stars Stephen Kalyn and Mika Abdalla took Swooon behind the scenes of that charged moment between their characters on the dance floor. (Warning: Spoilers for Episode 2 of Off Campus Season 1!)

In “The Practice,” Dean and his best friend, Beau (Khobe Clarke), throw a costume party for their birthdays, which Allie and her boyfriend Sean (Riley Davis) attend. Sean disappears to find his forgotten Dunkin’ cup, which would complete his Ben Affleck–Jennifer Lopez couple’s costume with Allie. Allie, clad in the singer’s iconic green dress, gets down on the dance floor solo and catches Dean’s eye. He swoops in as soon as Tucker (Jalen Thomas Brooks), the wingman of the century, cues up JLo’s “On the Floor.”

“Honestly, at that point, it was pretty early on in shooting, and Stephen and I didn’t know each other super well yet,” the actress told Swooon. “I don’t know, I always feel like it’s funny looking back on stuff like that. I was nervous. It was the first time you see Ali and Dean interact with each other.”

In a separate interview with Swooon, Kalyn shared his reaction to the scene between the characters, who are the main couple of Kennedy’s third Off Campus book, The Score. “I was like, ‘Oh, this, if it’s done right, which it was, it’s gonna look really cool. It’s gonna look awesome.’ But also it’s so awkward doing dancing scenes when you’re filming, because it’s silent and all you hear is, like, squeaking of shoes,” the actor explained, adding that the addition of slo-mo helped with the finished product.

Related

Your Complete Guide to the 'Off Campus' Cast

There was some choreography involved, according to Kalyn, but mostly for Abdalla. “I just had to kind of move my hips back and forth, but Mika had to practice. So we did, like an hour before, or like the day before, and we had, like, an actual dance choreography teacher teach Mika what to do, and I just kind of stood there and looked cool. Well, tried to look cool.”

We pointed out to Kalyn that it’s prime fan edit material. “I can’t wait for my mom to send me those TikToks,” he quipped.

There’s also additional footage somewhere of Dean and Allie’s dance scene, Abdalla revealed. “There was so much more than actually gets put into the show,” she said. “We had a full-minute-long situation.” Can we get an extended cut, Prime Video?

Off Campus, Season 1, Streaming Now, Prime Video