Watch: Off Campus’ Ella Bright Addresses 10-Year Age-Gap With Costar Belmont Cameli
Ella Bright insists Off Campus critics are off base.
Indeed, the 19-year-old—who plays Hannah Wells in the TV adaptation of Elle Kennedy’s hockey romance series—addressed criticism surrounding her nearly 10-year age-gap with onscreen love interest Belmont Cameli.
“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 and the show and I just fell in love with Hannah and these scripts immediately,” Ella told Amanda Hirsch on the May 26 episode of the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast. “Like, there was never a question that I wouldn’t want to do this.”
That said, Ella can understand where people are coming from regarding her working relationship with the 28-year-old, who plays Garrett Graham in the series.
“I get people’s concern but also not once did I feel left out from being younger than everybody,” she explained. “We’re all such a family and like everyone was just more than perfect and I couldn’t be more comfortable on this set with these people.”
“So, it is funny when they say that. I’m like, ‘I’m good,’” she added. “I’m completely good.”
In fact, Ella insists showrunner Louisa Levy was transparent regarding what was expected of the teen, as well as costar Mika Abdalla—who plays Allie in the show—once the cameras began rolling.
Photo by: Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images
“Her idea was that for Hannah the briefing was like partial nudity and for Allie it had to be full just because Allie, she’s got this amazing confidence about her and she is so free with her body,” Ella explained. “And sex is just like such an important part of her life. Like it is honestly just showing the difference between these characters.”
As she emphasized, “Everyone had full understanding of what we were going into.”
And the discourse is nothing alarming for the Malory Towers actress. As she put it, “Hey, it’s the internet.”
Previously, Louisa echoed Ella’s comments about transparency when it came to her role, especially considering she was newly 18 while filming intimate scenes in season one of the series.
Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Prime Video
Indeed, Louisa “had a conversation with Ella before we closed her deal to make sure she knew what was coming,” she told Variety in an interview published May 16. “She’d read the book, so she already understood, but I walked her through everything and made sure she was comfortable and confident.”
“If I had felt she wasn’t ready, I would have pumped the brakes immediately,” Louisa added. “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.”
“[It was about] really understanding what made everyone comfortable, what they felt good about, what they didn’t,” she continued. “We never did anything that made anyone uncomfortable before we ever rolled a frame of camera.”
But Off Campus isn’t the only buzz-worthy show that premiered this year. For more exciting series coming soon, read on…
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