Editor’s Note: Trigger & Content Warning – This piece also mentions rape and physical abuse/domestic violence as part of the main characters’ storylines.

SPOILER ALERT: This post spoils the Off Campus book series.

As with many a book adaptation, author Elle Kennedy didn’t want to get her hopes up too high when her Off Campus series rights were first optioned before the COVID pandemic set in, but the final product of a deal made right before the 2023 Writers Guild of America Strike has finally skated onto Prime Video.

Based on her first book in the series, The Deal, Season 1 of Off Campus follows singer songwriter Hannah Wells (Ella Bright) and hockey team captain Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli) an unlikely pair who strike up a fake dating agreement that leads to real feelings. Co-showrunners Louisa Levy and Gina Fattore helmed the adaptation of the book that started it all. Beneath the light romance arcs lie serious themes, like Hannah’s and Garrett’s individual past struggles — rape and domestic violence, respectively — which they continue to contend with as young adults in college at the fictional Briar University, whose sports teams compete against some Ivy League schools in Kennedy’s books.

“Because the issues were so heavy for Hannah and for Garrett, you can’t just have them suddenly jumping into bed in chapter one, right? It was really important for me to have them have this friendship that was rooted in trust and go from there,” Kennedy told Deadline. “They really needed that slow burn in order for those issues to get dealt with in a sensitive and respectful way.”

Hannah and Garrett join the ranks of other famous TV and film couples who have been through such a scheme, like Lara Jean Song Covey (Lana Condor) and Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo) in Netflix’s To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before films and Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) and Simon, Duke of Hastings (Regé-Jean Page) in Season 1 of Netflix’s Bridgerton. Prime Video also has the film adaptation of Ali Hazelwood’s The Love Hypothesis, starring Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman, on the horizon.

“I’ve never thought about why I love it, I just do. Probably because, in most fake dating situations, it’s two people who would never be together. It’s probably mostly the opposites attract part of it [that] people resonate with because it’s these two people who make no sense [together],” the author said of the trope. “In The Deal, she’s this music student and he’s a hockey player. How are they gonna find common ground? It’s the tension between these two personalities. That’s probably why I’m drawn to it.”

In the below interview, Kennedy — who has YA thriller Thornbird coming in June and her newly revealed Bad Idea installment set in the Off Campus and Briar U universe coming November — talks about her involvement as a producer on the show, a big change that made sense to her in the adaptation, her approach to expanding the Off Campus universe after writing The Deal as a planned standalone and much more.

DEADLINE: Did anything stand out to you about what Louisa and Gina loved, how they wanted to change things?

ELLE KENNEDY: My biggest thing, I don’t want to say the word concern, but my biggest requirement was, I really want to keep the vibe of the series so what people [felt] when they’re reading the books, I want them to feel it [from the show]. That is focusing on the dynamics with the characters, the relationships, the banter, the bromance, Hannah and Allie’s best friendship and how supportive they are.

I didn’t want to lose any of those elements. I think that after having seen all the screeners, and having the premiere, the energy with a live audience, that’s what they felt when I when I wrote the books and what I wanted them to feel. I got that sense that they felt [those things] when they were watching it. I think it turned out great.

These characters are special. It’s like a found family. They love each other. They rag on each other. That’s the same vibe I wanted. I wanted people who watch the show to feel like they are at Briar U and they are friends with these people. I think we succeeded.

DEADLINE: It’s been over a decade since the first book came out. What do you think of the changes made in the show? Has it changed how you see the stories compared to how you felt when you first wrote the books?

KENNEDY: I have a soft spot for this series because it was my first foray into younger characters, like college age. So it’s always going to be a nostalgic thing. My feelings for it haven’t really changed. It’s not like they’ve evolved in a different way. It’s almost like this series, whenever I revisit it, it gives me that same joy, and it’s just such a fun world to be in.

In terms of 10 years ago, yeah, obviously we’ve updated some things. In the books, when I first wrote them, they were using taxis, there was no rideshare, just little things like that. It’s fun to see it modernized.

In terms of changes, I think there are some cool ones. Probably my favorite big change would be changing Justin. In the book, he is a football player. In the show, he’s a musician, and Josh just plays him so well. I think that made a lot of sense to [cast him] as Garrett’s foil, someone that Hannah would be attracted to. She’s got her musician and then her jock that she would never fall for. Those kinds of changes I felt made sense.

DEADLINE: Music is a big element in the show. Did you recommend any songs for the series?

KENNEDY: I love that they got Remi [Wolf] to do a live [concert]. That was really cool. For the most part, the songs that are in the books, I’m a fan girl of One Direction, so I’m just gonna put in things I like, and I love Lady Gaga. I thought, “It would be great if we can use these. But if we can’t, that’s fine.” And I think that some choices, the ones that I have heard, have been really fun.

DEADLINE: When you were writing The Deal, did you envision the stories of Garrett’s teammates, or were you just thinking it would be a one-off? How did that evolve?

KENNEDY: I go into almost every series thinking it’s going to be a standalone. And I don’t know how I have not learned my lesson at this point, because before that, I wrote many things that I thought were gonna be standalones. I had a romantic suspense series. I was like, “It’s just one book, and it ended up being eight.” I had a Navy SEAL thing that was gonna be one story, and then it ended up being 10.

Whenever I start a new world, my goal is, I just want to write one fun story, and then usually there will be side characters, or someone that I introduce, where it’s either I fall in love with them, or my editor will. My editor’s a huge fan of Logan. She’s like, his number one fan. She’ll fight you for him. She lost her mind, she was like, “What do you mean it’s one book? We have to see [his story.] So after The Deal, there were just too many good side characters that people wanted to see, so it ended up being way more books than I expected. And I’m not mad about it. I love it.

DEADLINE: We are all curious about which couple will be the focus of season two. I know you probably can’t say if you know or not. India Fowler has been cast as Grace Ivers, so that’s exciting.

KENNEDY: Yeah, I can’t speak to Season Two yet. I haven’t seen any scripts or anything either, so I’m going to be as surprised and excited as everybody else. I know some things, but I won’t share them. All I can say is it’s going to be really, really exciting to see the other characters start to get time at center stage. The Grace casting is super exciting. I saw Antonio and India’s screen test together, and it’s like they stepped out of the books. I got chills. I loved it. I’m so excited to see her join the cast.

DEADLINE: As a producer, what was your involvement? I’m sure you went to set. How much did they pull you into the process? How much did you want to be involved?

KENNEDY: I have no experience with this, so I was learning everything for the first time. Amazon is an expert in the TV landscape, so they know what works, what doesn’t work. I wasn’t in the writers room, but I did have conversations with them, so I knew what was going on and where the series arcs were going.

In terms of set, I went up for my set visit. I got to see Malone’s and the dorm, the off-campus house. It was so surreal seeing all this stuff and seeing how much work goes into it.

DEADLINE: I ask because Jenny Han was super involved with The Summer I Turned Pretty, and then they have Every Year After coming out in June too.

KENNEDY: Yep, another Canadian. Carley [Fortune] is Canadian as well. She’s from Toronto, which is where I’m from. Canadian girls unite.

DEADLINE: Have you talked at all between each other about getting your books adapted?

KENNEDY: We actually DM here and there. She’s lovely. We keep saying we need to have lunch when we’re both in Toronto, and then we never do, because she’s on a book tour, or I’m on a book tour or. Hopefully this summer, we can get together. I can’t wait for her show. I love a good lake romance, so we’re all set.

DEADLINE: When it comes to balancing, especially in The Deal, the very serious themes of Hannah’s rape and Garrett’s dad being abusive with the lighter parts, how does it help when we see it on screen and read about it? How can people take romance more seriously?

KENNEDY: I agree with you that romance is definitely not taken seriously, which is a shame, because it is probably one of the top-selling genres, and there’s a reason for it. People are drawn to these stories for a reason, in terms of, obviously, there’s some romances that are more light, some that are more dark. I write in the college space, and it’s younger people, and it’s coming of age, and a lot more issues than, say, a workplace romance, where they might just be bantering about work.

I tend to focus on deeper themes. It is definitely a balance because you want it to be fun and you want the banter, and you want that journey of the relationship, and then you also want to see the characters’ growth and how they change, and how their traumas affect the way they view relationships, and then how they overcome them, whether as a couple, or how they help each other overcome it.

I do think the idea that [romance] is all just spicy scenes is disheartening sometimes because I do think there are such incredible stories, and these themes, and people are drawn to them for a reason. Not that they’re only reading it for the spice. They’re reading it for the journey, for the emotions that they feel. I do hope that people start to take them a little more seriously, and it’s good to see them in the mainstream now because it’s showing that this is not just sex, but there’s a lot more to it. There’s so much more heart to them.

DEADLINE: Back to the order of the books. You said your editor really liked Logan. Did you ever think “Okay now it’s time for Tucker”? How did it come to you that you wanted Dean and Allie to be together, and how did you want to round it out with The Legacy?

KENNEDY: Well, I wanted it to be a trilogy, to be honest, and I wanted there to be — spoiler alert — a big impactful death for Dean. My editor loved Logan, I loved Garrett, and then I loved Dean. I love seeing a reformed Playboy character. So I wanted to shatter his world, and it was gonna be originally with Tucker, and my editor was like, “Absolutely not. We love him so much.” There’s no way you can write a series without Tucker getting a book. When I was writing The Mistake, I still hadn’t decided, but Tucker, I was like, “Oh, I just love him so much.” He’s so kind, not to make it sound like he’s boring, he’s not.

He’s the caretaker of the group. And I was like, “No, he needs [a story].” So I ended up choosing a different character to shatter Dean with, and it ended up being four books. But then in Dean’s book, I introduced more teammates, and had introduced his sister, and I was like, “Oh boy.”

DEADLINE: With that death and foreshadowing, I’m curious about the costumes at the combined party? What did you think of that touch?

KENNEDY: Can I just say? It didn’t even occur to me. I didn’t even think about it until I saw a an Instagram reel where someone, after the trailer came out, highlighted it, and I gasped. So I see it now, yeah, but at the time, to me, it just felt like a fun duo because the whole theme of the party is famous duos. I had nothing to do with that [choice], but, holy moly.

DEADLINE: This series does feel like it could be a show with 10 seasons, and there’s this whole world. Did you ever you know consider that when you were writing these books?

KENNEDY: I agree with you, it lends itself to multi-seasons and different ensembles. I definitely think that you will see other characters pop up, and I’m hoping we get to see everyone from, I guess they can’t go next generation, but at least from Briar U. There’s so much potential in this world, and I think the writers are excited to explore it. We’ll see who pops up.

RELATED: Who Is [SPOILER]? Surprise Character In ‘Off Campus’ Season 1 Explained

DEADLINE: I love when the creator knows that viewership will largely have read the book so they include all these little nods, references and hints at things to come.

KENNEDY: I think it’s really important, especially because the fans are the reason that the series is popular. They love it. They’ve invested so much time and online content and excitement. It wouldn’t exist without them. So I am glad for little easter eggs like that. Louisa and Gina and the writers had an easter egg list when they when they were working, and it was like, how many of these can we get in, and they did their best to try to put in — I can’t spoil anything, but I think when people watch the show, they’re gonna see. There’s little objects or little references that [connect]. I think people will be happy. They’re definitely going to notice all of the nods to the books and to future books too.

DEADLINE: Are there any romance tropes you still want to write?

KENNEDY: I can’t say because the one I’m doing right now is one that I was dying to do, so I just turned in that book. So the next book that comes out is a trope that I’m excited about.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. It took place at the beginning of May before Elle Kennedy unveiled the title of Bad Idea which follows Dean and Allie’s daughter Ivy Di Laurentis and AJ Connelly.

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