5 Best Movies And TV Shows Starring The Cast Of Off Campus

Based on Elle Kennedy's "Off-Campus" college sports-based romance book series, "Off Campus" premiered on Amazon Prime Video on May 13 with all eight episodes of Season 1 hitting at once. It initially revolved around music student Hannah (Ella Bright) and hockey team captain Garrett (Belmont Cameli) pretending to be a couple in order for Hannah to catch the attention of classmate Justin (Josh Heuston) — with Justin being a fellow music student and, therefore, a better match for Hannah. But as these things tend to go, Hannah and Garrett start catching real feelings, which becomes complicated for everyone involved. 

While "Off Campus" already has a second season confirmed to be on the way, there's no telling how long the wait is going to be. The most obvious thing to do in the meantime is to check out other TV shows to watch if you like "Off Campus." However, you might also be wondering why the cast of "Off Campus" looks so familiar and are curious to see what else they've been in as you wait for them to return for "Off Campus" Season 2. But what if you want to just go straight to the actual best roles they played before joining the show? Well, we've got you covered on that front right here. 

It turns out that Belmont Cameli is no stranger to playing a charming school athlete and team captain. Before he was Garrett in "Off Campus," Cameli played Jamie Spano on "Saved by the Bell." Being born in 1998 made it impossible for him to have been in the original "Saved by the Bell," and we also aren't talking about the "Saved by the Bell" spin-off you probably forgot about that saw the original Bayside crew go off to college. Instead, it was the 2020 Peacock revival series of "Saved by the Bell," in which the original cast are all grown up and several of them now have kids that go to Bayside High. 

As you probably guessed from the name, Jamie Spano is the son of Jessie Spano (Elizabeth Berkley), now a school counselor and successful author. Jamie plays football for Bayside, and while he retains some of his mom's sensitivity, he isn't nearly as mature as she was during her high school years. 

"Saved by the Bell" got a positive reception from critics, who praised the show for finding the perfect balance of reverence to the original while also surpassing it in key ways — primarily, being much smarter of a show. Unfortunately, we only got to follow the newest generation of Bayside kids for two seasons before "Saved by the Bell" got expelled by Peacock. 

Of course, "Off Campus" isn't just a show about Hannah, Garrett, and Justin. The trio's friends and classmates fill out the ensemble, including Hannah's roommate and best friend Allie, played by Mika Abdalla. She has had one of the longest careers of any of the young "Off Campus" cast as she appeared in "Barney & Friends" way back in 2008 — when her co-star, Ella Bright, was only two years old.

However, all due respect to Barney, but we aren't about to insinuate that that show is where Abdalla did her best work outside of "Off Campus." That distinction belongs to "Project Mc²," a STEM-based action sitcom that follows a group of kids who secretly work for a covert government agency that takes down various evil tech groups. Though "Project Mc²" is an ensemble show focusing on an entire team, McKeyla McAlister (Abdalla) — aka The Owl — is the leader of the group and the de facto main protagonist of the show.

Airing for six seasons on Netflix between 2015 and 2017, "Project Mc²" was nominated for five Emmys, including outstanding children's series. 

An already confirmed detail of Season 2 of "Off Campus" is that Josh Heuston will not be returning. That means we won't be seeing any of Justin next season. This certainly came as a shock to fans, with Justin still seeming to be an active part of the story at the end of the first season. But as "Off Campus" creator Louisa Levy explained, it wasn't due to any bad blood or behind the scenes drama. Heuston simply couldn't make it work with his schedule to join the production for Season 2. However, Levy isn't ruling out the possibility of Heuston returning as Justin for future seasons, should they happen.

Luckily, Heuston fans can see more of him in a '90s Australian teen drama you can binge on Netflix. "Heartbreak High" follows the trials and tribulations of the students of Hartley High, including Heuston as Dusty Reid. What is Dusty doing when he isn't in school? He's in a band — yep, Heuston seems to enjoy playing teenage musicians. Season 1 of "Heartbreak High" has an impressive 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and won a number of Canadian television awards. 

John is one of Garrett's friends and teammates. He gets an entire book in which he's the main character in the original "Off-Campus" novels, but as of yet, the show has kept Hannah and Garrett as the primary focus. Here's hoping John and some of the other side characters get more of a spotlight in some of the episodes of Season 2.

Not that Jalen Thomas Brooks, the actor who plays John, is hurting for great television roles. He plays ER nurse Mateo Diaz on "The Pitt," HBO Max's multiple Emmy winning medical drama that Looper's Season 2 review called "gross, intense, and still great." Brooks even got to share an ensemble acting award from the Screen Actors Guild with the rest of the cast of "The Pitt." We love "Off Campus" and all, but we don't anticipate it to be a big presence in the next award season.

Last but certainly not least is Ella Bright, who serves as the main anchor of "Off Campus" as Hannah. Hannah arguably goes through the most drastic journey — and is involved in the most drama — across Season 1 of the show. And although she is with Garrett by the end of the season, fans of the "Off Campus" books already know that there are more than a few hurdles to overcome before her happily ever after, whatever that ends up looking like in the show.

Bright was only 18 years old during the filming of Season 1 of "Off Campus," meaning anything she was in previously would've been a child star role. And while she did play a young Kate Middleton in an episode of "The Crown," that was too small of a part to consider for this list. Instead, we are going to spotlight "Malory Towers," the joint Canada/UK historical drama series that was similarly based on a book series. Bright played the main character of the show's massive ensemble, a girl named Darrell Rivers who is a student at an all-girls boarding school in post-WWII 1940s England. 

The critically-acclaimed show was nominated for numerous awards, with Bright herself getting a BAFTA young performer nomination and two Children's and Family Emmy nominations for outstanding lead performer.