“Off Campus”’ Stephen Kalyn Admits Nude Scenes Were Sometimes ‘Uncomfortable’
“Off Campus”’ Stephen Kalyn Admits Nude Scenes Were Sometimes ‘Uncomfortable’
Yamillah Hurtado, Lily BrownWed, July 1, 2026 at 7:57 PM UTC
0
Stephen Kalyn in 'Off Campus'Credit: Liane Hentscher / Prime -
Stephen Kalyn reveals filming nude scenes for Off Campus was sometimes awkward
“It's a little uncomfortable here and there, but I feel like I'm ready to conquer the world now after doing that,” Kalyn said during the Off Campus panel at Prime Video's Obsessed Fest in Los Angeles on Saturday, June 27
Kalyn's costar Mika Abdalla also shared the scene she was “really scared” to film
Stephen Kalyn reveals what Off Campusmoments brought him out of his shell.
During the Off Campus panel at Prime Video's Obsessed Fest in Los Angeles on Saturday, June 27, the cast of the hit series opened up about how the show and their characters pushed them out of their comfort zone.
For Kalyn, 28, who plays Dean, being shirtless in “almost every scene” of the Prime Video series was awkward at first. But as time went on and he filmed more nude scenes rolled in, Kalyn said he learned to embrace it.
“It's a little uncomfortable here and there, but I feel like I'm ready to conquer the world now after doing that,” he shared.
Stephen Kalyn as Dean Di Laurentis in 'Off Campus'Credit: Liane Hentscher / Prime
Mika Abdalla chimed in to reveal the scene that challenged her the most. Abdalla, who plays Allie, explained she was “really scared” while filming the drunk karaoke scene because singing “in front of literally all my friends was uncomfortable.” In the scene, a drunk Allie takes the stage to deliver a passionate yet off-key performance of Rent's “Take Me or Leave Me.”
“Allie just has so much energy, and that's really not me,” Abdalla, 26, said. “Having to bring that every day was something.”
— sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Dean and Allie's romance was introduced midway through season 1 of Off Campus, and Abdalla said she knew Kalyn was meant to be Dean from the moment they did their chemistry read.
"We read with some people that were really, really great, but it was pretty unanimous. It was Stephen," she told PEOPLE. However, their friendship took some time to develop early in production.
Advertisement
“I'm sure Stephen will hate that I say this, but I'm exposing him. He was scared of me when we met — super afraid of me,” she recalled. “I have a pretty bad resting bitch face sometimes, and I don't think that little sweet boy from Toronto is, like, equipped to deal with that."
Mika Abdalla as Allie Hayes and Stephen Kalyn as Dean Di Laurentis in 'Off Campus'Credit: Liane Hentscher / Prime
"One day, I confronted him and was like, 'By the way, I think we have some stuff coming up that we should probably...' And then he told me, point-blank, 'I'm afraid of you.' He was like, 'I feel like you hate me.' And I was like, 'No, no, no, no, that's just my face.' And then we literally were besties after that," Abdalla continued. "It was literally that easy."
"He's so big, but he's so scared. He's so vulnerable," she added of Kalyn. "Our relationship has been extremely interesting, but now he's like my brother. We're very close."
In season 2, Kalyn and Abdalla will take the lead as the forthcoming season is based on the third book in Elle Kennedy's series, The Score, in which Dean and Allie are the focus.
Showrunner Louisa Levy told PEOPLE she had initially planned to give them their own episode. Levy explained she had to switch gears when she learned season 1 would be told across eight episodes rather than 10.
Levy chose to include Dean and Allie's romance in season 1 since it "feels the most organic,” explaining, “Allie and Hannah are already best friends, so they're already baked into the show together, and Dean, of course, is in the off-campus house, so he's there.”
“Because their love story starts out as a secret [in the book], I thought it would be really fun to keep it a secret from the audience and surprise the audience," she said.
All eight episodes of Off Campus are available to stream exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
