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Off Campus star Stephen Kalyn is no stranger to the world of hockey.

The 28-year-old actor spent much of his young adult life at the hockey rink, playing the sport since the age of 6 and finished his minor hockey career in the AA tier. “That’s what I wanted to do as a kid and all throughout my adolescence, that’s kind of the life I wanted,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter on a recent Zoom.

The actor manages to exude levels of charm through a computer screen that would put his Off Campus character Dean Di Laurentis to shame. He seems genuinely excited to talk about his character and is always ready to throw love toward his fellow costars.

Towards the end of high school, it became apparent to Kalyn that hockey wasn’t going to pan out. “I could have continued playing and tried, but I knew it wasn’t going to be,” he says.

“I could still love the game no matter what, whether or not I’m playing it or not. Luckily, I found acting,” Kalyn says. He’s been able to incorporate hockey throughout his career. But it still feels like a touch of fate that he’s found himself in Prime Video’s new series Off Campus, the latest hockey romance series to hit streaming. 

The Markham, Ontario native found acting through a casting call for his high school’s production of Grease — he played Danny Zuko, of course. “When the school day finished at 2:30, I’d spend spend the next two hours in rehearsal with my drama teacher. I just fell in love with the whole process of it,” he says.

“I’d always taken interest as a kid, but I never really got into it. I put more of my focus and energy into hockey,” Kalyn says. “It was that moment then and there where I decided I going to do this. I don’t know how I was going to do it, but I was going to.”

He’s been steadily building up credits over the last several years, including stints on Prime Video’s The Boys spinoff Gen V and Motorheads. Kalyn has always considered himself an actor, but it wasn’t until 2023 or 2024 when he was able to consider it his career. Amazon, he realizes during this conversation, must’ve become aware of him and enjoyed his performances because he started to gain bigger parts. Of course, all roads led to Off Campus.

In the Louisa Levy-created TV show, based on Elle Kennedy’s book series, Kalyn plays Dean, a loveable party boy and member of the Briar University hockey team. Off Campus’ first season centers around Kennedy’s first book in the series, The Deal, with future seasons focusing on different couples, much like the books.

Kalyn originally auditioned for the role of John Logan, portrayed by Antonio Cipriano — auditioning for other roles within the show seems to be a common thread for the large ensemble cast. He sent in his tape, felt good about it and then didn’t hear much back.

“I thought, ‘Oh, I guess that’s not going to happen.’ And then a couple months later, I think it was April, they sent out a thing for Dean,” he says. The actor was coming off another callback and things were chaotic, so he told his manager he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to get the audition in and done. Adds Kalyn, “My manager said ‘You have to do it. Do the Zoom. Don’t do a self-tape. We’re going to get you with the American casting, and you’re going to be great.’”

It, obviously, was great and things started to move quickly. He remembers auditioning on a Wednesday and getting a call Thursday that the team wanted to meet on Friday. “I was at the gym on the treadmill and was listening to Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club.” I thought OK let’s lock in here,” he says, setting the scene.

After the meeting and the hours-long chemistry reads that followed, he booked the part. “I was slightly hyperventilating and getting a little bit lightheaded, but I ended up catching myself,” he says. “To this day it’s one of the greatest days and one of the greatest moments of my life.”

Hockey, of course, became a big part of Kalyn’s preparation for the series. Unlike his Off Campus costars, that was something he already knew. Amazon put the four main men — Kalyn, Belmont Cameli, Cipriano and Jalen Thomas Brooks — through a two-week hockey bootcamp. He believes that’s where he and the other men, whose dynamic serves as the throughline of the series, cemented their chemistry and bond.

“It was definitely fun for me because I knew what I was doing, but for them, I could see it being very frustrating because it’s a very difficult sport to learn, especially when you’re older,” he says.

Kalyn was able to jump right back into things. “I was there every day to help support my castmates. I would help them as much as I possibly could. I’d even tie their skates sometimes,” he says.

The actor jokes that he would do what his father used to do for him. “If [the skate] was too loose, and I saw them going up there and could see their ankles were a little wobbly. I’d be like, ‘Jalen, come here,’” he continues.

In the same way it feels fated that Kalyn, a lifelong hockey player, found a show that could let him achieve two of his dreams in one, the role of Dean was also a bit of manifestation. Just not from the actor himself. As a fan of Kennedy’s book series, Kalyn’s fiancée might’ve inadvertently sealed his Dean fate. “I knew [Off Campus] was popular through Victoria [his fiancée]. She read these books a long time ago, and her favorite book was The Score,” he says.

“She actually made a comment on Goodreads years ago. She wrote something like ‘Lean, mean and all about Dean,’” says Kalyn. “She just loved Dean. What a privilege it is to step into those shoes. Not only do I get to fulfill [the role of Dean] for the fans, but more importantly for my fiancée.”

Thankfully, she told Kalyn he nailed his portrayal of her favorite character. “Only approval I needed,” he says. Swoonworthy to say the least.

Kalyn clearly loves Dean. He can relate to the character in some ways — he tries to have fun; he loves hockey; and he has a bit of a goofy side — and can’t relate in other ways. “I’m not as impulsive. I wouldn’t say I’m as confident. Also, I’ve been in a relationship my whole life, so I don’t know what it’s like to be a bachelor and going out there and chasing lots of women,” he says.

“I’d say with me and Dean, it’s very 50-50,” Kalyn sats. “We’re similar in ways, but we’re really not at all at the same time.”

Dean takes center ice in The Score, the third book in the series, alongside his love interest Allie Hayes, portrayed by Mika Abdalla. Fans latched onto the pair immediately, it’s no surprised they’ve been tapped to lead the second season. The pair knew from the beginning that they’d be leading season two, but their story became a big part of season one as way into the next installment.

Kalyn and Abdalla worked to get that chemistry early on. “Louisa had a great idea to suggest that her and I should go out for a dinner,” he says. Instead, the pair opted to have Kalyn join Abdalla at a Pilates class because the actor thought it would be funny and then they’d go to dinner after. Unfortunately for Kalyn, that didn’t go as planned.

“I was late to the pilates class, and they didn’t let me in. Apparently when you’re two minutes frickin’ late, they won’t let you into the Pilates class,” he says.

The actor recalls seeing Abdalla inside the class. “I was like a worried mother watching her kid through the window and said ’hey.’ She did the Mika roll her eyes and then grabbed her stuff and walked out,” Kalyn says.

Kalyn apologized profusely. “She just went, ‘Let’s go.’ I felt like a kid in trouble,” he says, laughing about the incident. It ended up working out for the best. The pair went to eat across the street from the Pilates studio. He adds, “We ended up just talking for hours and getting to know each other. That was a very good start and warm up to the scenes that we had together this season.”

As Kalyn continues his Off Campus journey, there are certain messages he hopes come through for viewers. As his costars and the show’s creator have pointed out, Off Campus aims to tackle toxic masculinity within this world.

“I hope girlfriends will end up dragging their boyfriends to watch this show, especially if they’re athletes, because I know a lot of men can be very guarded and protective of how they feel,” Kalyn says. “I hope that we can connect with the entire audience to show it’s OK to feel how you feel. Don’t be afraid to speak to somebody and lean on them, whether it’s a partner, a friend, a family member.”

He’s taken that messaging to heart. “A big takeaway that I’ve also learned is to not be afraid to express those feelings,” the actor says.

“I think the show has a lot of layers to it and a lot of emotions and feelings. It’s a great game changer in the YA world of television, and that’s what drew me immediately reading the scripts,” he says. “I’m tearing up reading some scenes between Hannah and Garrett. It’s very special.”

Looking ahead, Kalyn knows that Off Campus is a great stepping stone and something he always saw for himself. Ryan Gosling is a reference point for the type of career he’d like to have — varied. But for now, he’s focused on season two, which is just about to start filming. “It’s going to be very sweet and loving and heartbreaking,” he says of what’s to come. “I only see great things.”