Off Campus Season 2 announces Canadian leading man

Prime Video just turned up the heat for Season 2 of Off Campus, announcing Canadian Stephen Kalyn and Mika Abdalla are skating into the spotlight as the show's steamy central couple, Dean Di Laurentis and Allie Hayes.

Kalyn stars as the charismatic hockey defenceman. He hails from Markham, Ont., and is a lifelong hockey player in real life. Abdalla stars as Allie, a fellow student at the fictional Briar University, who works at the college bar Malone's, where Dean and his hockey teammates hang out.

The streamer rolled out the news with a short video and promotional photos announcing the shift in focus that follows Off Campus' book-by-book blueprint. Like the bestselling novels by Toronto's Elle Kennedy, each season centres on a different couple.

Season 1 adapted The Deal, which followed Hannah Wells (Ella Bright) and Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli). Season 2 is expected to draw from the third book in the series, The Score, which chronicles Dean and Allie's relationship.

In a statement, creator and co-showrunner Louisa Levy said, "We are so excited to continue Allie and Dean's story as our primary romance of season two after kickstarting their romance in season one." She also said that Hannah and Garrett will remain "integral" to the show.

In addition to the leads, there are some new faces on campus. Philippa Soo (Hamilton, Doctor Odyssey) is joining the cast as a theatre artist guest-directing a new play in the university drama department where aspiring actress Allie studies.

India Fowler (Fear Street: Prom Queen, The Strangers: Chapter 1) will join the core cast as Grace Ivers, the love interest for hockey player John Logan (Antonio Cipriano) and the focus of the second book, The Mistake.

Series regulars returning include Bright, Cameli, Cipriano and Jalen Thomas Brooks (John Tucker).

Off Campus has been an early streaming success for Prime Video. It's currently the No. 1 show on Amazon Prime Video in Canada. The series, which debuted all eight episodes on May 13, recorded 36 million global viewers in its first 12 days, making it one of the streamer's stronger launch seasons by the company's metrics.