Heated Rivalry fans hoping for another sizzling hockey romance to get them through the summer are in luck.
Belmont Cameli headlines the romantic drama Off Campus, debuting Wednesday, May 13, on Prime Video. According to the streamer’s official synopsis, the 10-episode series follows the blossoming courtship between Garrett Graham (Cameli), the “womanizing star center” of fictional Briar University and Hannah Wells, a “wry, hockey-hating music major” played by Ella Bright. The show is based on the popular book series of the same name by Elle Kennedy, with the first season based on The Deal.
For Cameli, 28, the show marks one of his biggest roles to date—even after getting to share the screen with Robert De Niro (more on that in a bit). Here’s everything you need to know about his career so far.
Cameli studied business in college, but dropped out
Camelli was born on February 28, 1998, and grew up in Naperville, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.
He told Backstage he took part in stage plays in middle school, appearing in productions of Footloose and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. However, he aspired to a number of other careers, including architecture, marketing, and finance.
And, it’s no surprise Cameli can portray an athlete onscreen, as he played three sports—football, wrestling, and volleyball—in high school. After graduation, he attended the University of Illinois to study business. However, a couple months into his first semester, his father died unexpectedly. After only one year, he dropped out and set his sights on becoming an actor and filmmaker.
“You’re nuts” was the initial reaction Cameli received from many of his friends and family. “My mom wanted me to have a plan B and it took a lot of chipping away to explain that if I have a plan B, I’ll fall back on plan B,” he explained to Flaunt.
Cameli moved to Chicago and paid his bills with modeling jobs. However, it wouldn’t be long before his determination paid off.
He moved to Los Angeles in 2019 and caught his big break on Saved by the Bell
Cameli made his TV debut in a bit role on Empire in 2018. By the following year, he moved out to Los Angeles—and had his eye on bigger projects.
His big break came when he was cast as Jamie Spano, the son of Elizabeth Berkley’s legacy character Jessie Spano, in the Peacock reboot of Saved by the Bell. Cameli told BriefTake he met Berkley at his first and second in-person auditions and learned a lot from the veteran actor and other series stars, such as Mario Lopez.
“Elizabeth and the whole original cast that came back were super welcoming to us. They shared all of their experiences from the original show with us very candidly, which was so cool to hear because they literally did go to high school at Bayside,” he explained.
Even with a lull amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Cameli continued booking parts, acting in the 2022 Netflix film Along for the Ride and the 2023 comedy-thriller series Based on a True Story, starring Kaley Cuoco.
He’s appeared in movies such as The Alto Knights and Until Dawn
Cameli fulfilled a personal dream when he played Frankie Boy in the 2025 crime drama The Alto Knights, starring Robert De Niro as dual protagonists Vito Genovese and Frank Costello.
The actor has long been a fan of De Niro and cites 1993’s A Bronx Tale as his favorite movie. He remembered one instance on set in which he was particularly in awe of his idol.
“Take one, he picks up a glass of champagne and makes a lengthy speech that was not written and we all cheers our glasses. [Director Barry Levinson] calls cut and I’m like, ‘S—t, I had a line in there. Should I say something?’” he told Flaunt. “But immediately after, the other voice in my head said, ‘Absolutely not, when Robert De Niro makes a speech, you toast him and you just listen.’”
Camelli’s other 2025 movie had a much different tone. He played protagonist Abe in Until Dawn, the film adaptation of the popular survival horror video game, alongside rising stars Odessa A’zion, Michael Cimino, and Ella Rubin.
Cameli has an unusual bedtime routine
It turns out all the scary stuff from Until Dawn might not have bothered Cameli all that much.
He recently spoke to Betches about some of his behind-the-scenes favorites, including music (his favorite album is Trouble Will Find Me by The National) and away-from-home essentials.
Unexpectedly, the actor revealed he listens to scary stories to help him go to sleep. “I love, like, scary camping stories, home alone at night stories,” he said. “Some people [off camera] are nodding their head, maybe they’re doing it sarcastically. That’s what I do.”
He wants to play more sinister characters in the future
Given costar Bright’s evaluation, Cameli makes for a pretty good hockey heartthrob in Off Campus. The 19-year-old recently recalled their first chemistry read in an interview with People.
“They wanted the tension and you could really feel it in the room,” Bright said bluntly.
While it sounds like he’ll have many fans swooning, Cameli already has something different in mind for his future projects.
“I have my sights set on playing a villain—that would be really fun,” Cameli told Schön! magazine. “Next, I have something I can’t talk about yet, but I’m very excited about it. More than anything, I look forward to diversifying my characters.”
Watch Off Campus on Prime Video
Off Campus Season 1, inspired by Kennedy’s The Deal is streaming now on Prime Video. Costars Belmont Cameli and Ella Bright will be the center of the fake dating storyline between star hockey player Garrett Graham and music major Hannah Wells. The series has already been renewed for a second season, though no release date has been announced.
Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor and is now the News and Culture Editor. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In his current role, he shares the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles rising musicians, actors, and athletes. When he's not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater and cheering on his favorite teams.
