Book To Screen
‘Off-Campus’ Dream Cast: Our Picks for Hannah, Garrett, and More in College Romance Series
If there’s one thing BookTok will do, it’s make you care about hockey.
When we heard that Elle Kennedy’s Off-Campus series was officially picked up by Amazon MGM Studios, we knew it was high time to jump on the hockey romance bandwagon — and, boy, did we love it.
Off-Campus consists of four interconnected standalones, similar to other popular BookTok series, such as Ana Huang’s Twisted and Hannah Grace’s Maple Hills series, and a fifth novel featuring all four Off-Campus couples. The series begins with The Deal, which follows the romance between strangers-to-friends-to-lovers Garrett Graham and Hannah Wells. When Hannah reluctantly agrees to tutor the cocky hockey team captain in return for a fake date (that Garrett claims is bound to finally get her crush to notice her), an incredibly wholesome friendship blossoms between them. That is, of course, until an unexpected kiss changes everything.
These books have everything from witty banter to genuine relatability and will give you the perfect amount of college nostalgia. While we would highly recommend these books to all our spicy romance readers, for those who have yet to jump into Off-Campus, be sure to check out the content warnings!
As we eagerly await production news and official casting announcements, we couldn’t help but dream up a cast that we would love to see bring Kennedy’s characters to life. Read on to see the actors and actresses we can picture on the ice (and the stage!) at Briar University.
Does our dream cast make you Swooon? Comment below with who you would cast for these characters and more in the Off-Campus TV series!
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Hannah Wells
Starting our cast off strong, we have Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as our very own Wellsy, the sarcastic music major at the heart of The Deal. Best known for her role as Devi in Netflix’s Never Have I Ever, we know that Ramakrishnan certainly has the humor and spunk needed to bring Hannah Wells to life in all of her relatable awkward glory. Plus, have you heard Ramakrishnan sing? We have all the confidence in the world that she would destroy a cover of “Stand by Me” and give us a show-stopping season finale performance that would be sure to make us feel things we haven’t felt since Gracie Lawrence‘s stunning performance of “Never Enough” on The Sex Lives of College Girls.
Brian Altemus as Garrett Graham
From adorably pestering Hannah for tutoring to becoming her personal “bodyguard and bartender,” Garrett Graham is a MMC we are proud to love. As for an actor to play him, we concede that BookTok has found a keeper for this one. Mean Girls‘ Brian Altemus, BookTok’s most fan-cast actor for the role of Garrett Graham, is quite possibly the spitting image of Kennedy’s hunky hockey captain. As rumors swirl about auditions and callbacks for Off-Campus, Altemus took to his Instagram Story to not only thank fans for their “nomination” but let them know “[the fans] actually got [him] a meeting with the producers.” While no official casting has been released for Off-Campus, we’re eager to see if Kennedy’s avid readers scored their dream Garrett a real role in the show.
Meg Donnelly as Allie Hayes
Between Hannah and Graham’s tutoring sessions, we get to know a full ensemble of students at Briar U, including a few of the couple’s best friends who get the main character treatment later down the road. While reading The Deal, we couldn’t help but imagine Hannah’s best friend and roommate Allie Hayes as Zombies actress Meg Donnelly. We know that Off-Campus would be a serious jump from her DCOM credits, but we’re convinced that Donnelly would be perfectly suited for this new adult romance role.
Andrew Liner as Justin Kohl
While Off-Campus is a hockey romance, one football player did sneak his way on to our list. We couldn’t cast The Deal without including Justin Kohl, the guy Hannah has such a big crush on. She strikes a deal with Garrett for a chance at catching his attention. To play Hannah’s original dream man, we’ve chosen Andrew Liner, the Grown-ish star who is about to return to our screens on Netflix’s new western romance series Ransom Canyon. While everyone knows (from the second she meets Garrett) that Hannah isn’t destined to be with Justin, Liner would most certainly give a crush-worthy performance as Garrett’s romantic rival.
Noah LaLonde as Dean Di Laurentis
We’ve been counting down the days until My Life with the Walter Boys Season 2 hits Netflix since the minute we finished the first season. But that’s not the (only) reason why Noah LaLonde made his way into our Off-Campus dream cast. Known as the lady’s man of the house, Dean is one of Garrett’s teammates who consistently goes for the “puck bunnies” that flock to the team. With Dean’s signature golden-blond hair and model-ish looks — not to mention his real-life history of playing hockey in college — LaLonde is the ideal actor to step into the hockey player’s shoes… Or should we say skates?
Matt Cornett as Cass Donovan
For all the music/theater majors out there, we’re sure you’ve known a Cass, and for that, we give you our deepest condolences. Early on in The Deal, we meet Cass, Hannah’s insufferable duet partner for her junior showcase. While the two may be musically compatible, the visions they have for their shared performance are completely different: She wants to keep it simple, and he wants an entire choir to back them. If any actor can get audiences to low-key despise him yet still highly look forward to his over-the-top showcase performance, it’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series star Matt Cornett. A beautiful voice with looks to kill? Cornett has definitely got us covered.
