Off Campus creator defends casting Ella Bright as Hannah following age criticism

18 May 2026, 11:34 | Updated: 20 May 2026, 16:20

Off Campus creator defends casting Ella Bright as Hannah following criticism over her age. Picture: Paul Archuleta/Getty Images, Prime

By Sam Prance

People have argued that Ella Bright is "too young" for the content of the show and criticised the age difference between her and her co-star Belmont Cameli.

Loading audio...

Off Campus creator Louisa Levy has spoken out following criticism over how young Hannah actress Ella Bright is.

Off Campus is quickly becoming everyone's favourite new young adult drama. Based on the hit Elle Kennedy book series of the same name, the show explores the love lives of fictional university Briar U's hockey team. Season 1 revolves around the wild romance between music major Hannah Wells and hockey captain Garrett Graham.

Viewers are living for how well Ella Bright and Belmont Cameli both bring Hannah and Garrett's love story to life. However, there has also been some backlash online over the age difference between the two actors in real life. People have also questioned whether the show's content is too adult for an actress of Ella's age.

Read more: Off Campus actress Ella Bright's age, height, past roles, where she's from and more
Read more: Off Campus season 2 release date, cast, book plot, trailers and news

Watch the Off Campus season 1 trailer

How old is Hannah Wells in Off Campus?

Hannah Wells is written as 20 years old in the first Off Campus book The Deal. As for Garrett Graham, he's meant to be around the same age. The series follows both characters from their fake romance to their real relationship and their first three years of life after graduation. At the end of the series, Hannah is about 25 years old.

How old is Ella Bright?

Ella Bright is actually a similar age to Hannah Wells. She was born on November 27th, 2006 which makes her 19 years old and she would have been 18 filming season 1. As for the age difference between Ella and her co-star, Belmont Cameli was born on February 28th, 1998. He is nine years older than Hannah at 28 years old.

Discussing the discourse around Ella's age with Variety, creator Louisa Levy said: "I had a conversation with Ella before we closed her deal to make sure she knew what was coming. She’d read the book, so she already understood, but I walked her through everything and made sure she was comfortable and confident."

Louisa added: "If I had felt she wasn’t ready, I would have pumped the brakes immediately. But she was so game. 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."

She ended by saying: "We never did anything that made anyone uncomfortable before we ever rolled a frame of camera."

Ella Bright and Belmont Cameli in Off Campus. Picture: Prime

Meanwhile, Ella said: "I had never done anything intimate on screen before, so obviously there were nerves. But it couldn’t have been a more comfortable set. Belmont is the greatest, we had an intimacy coordinator throughout, and there is truly nothing inherently sexy about filming a sex scene — it is all angles and craft."

She continued to say: "We were laughing between takes. After every one of those scenes wrapped, we just went and got doughnuts from craft services."