Romance novel lovers could rest a little easier when they saw Belmont Cameli’s dark head of curls come into frame as the first episode of Off Campus, the book-to-screen adaptation of the best-selling series by Elle Kennedy, colored their televisions. Cameli, 28, is the latest fresh face to step into the role of BookTok Boyfriend—a title more desirable than ever as New York Times best-sellers like Heated Rivalry and Every Year After continue to seep onto the small screen. Joining the ranks of Connor Storrie, Hudson Williams, and Christopher Briney, the star has seen how quickly Internet boyfriend-dom can flip one’s life on its head—but rest assured, the tall, dark, and handsome brunette from Chicagoland is up for the challenge.
Since giving dedicated book fans the physical manifestation of the womanizing collegiate hockey star, Garrett Graham—one half of the lead couple in Off Campus season one, accompanied by Ella Bright as Hannah Wells—Cameli’s career has shifted into high gear. With the show’s massive success (Amazon Prime Video reported a record-breaking viewership of 36 million streams within its first 12 days, according to Variety) came magazine spreads, first pitches at Chicago White Sox games, and now, beauty campaigns. Remember those umber, scene-stealing curls we talked about earlier? Yeah, they landed their own Tresemmé deal.
Ahead, Cameli fills Who What Wear in on life after the show’s splashy debut, the shrouded happenings of season two, future career goals, and his simple routine for those signature curls.
I’ve seen pictures of you in your high school football jersey with some not–curly hair—how and when did you learn to embrace your natural texture?
I didn’t have a natural curl until later in high school—maybe around 18. I started growing it out more; it started getting wavy, and then I would cut it down and grow it out, and it just kept getting curlier.
Growing up, my hair was poker-straight. So, there was a whole period of time that I suddenly had curly hair and could not figure it out for the life of me, which is why I’m really happy to have Tresemmé on my side today. They make it so easy, so I don’t really have to think about it: I just go in with their three new products in the Bouncy Curls line, and it takes no time at all; I can just go about my day. But I’ve struggled—learning the curly hair [routine] later in life with no help was difficult.
We just spoke with your co-star, Stephen Kalyn (Dean DiLaurentis), about season 2. How is filming going so far?
It’s great! We’re having so much fun. We’re all very busy, and we’re just really proud of the show. We’re working on episodes three and four right now, and these scripts are really impressive. It’s just nice to be back with everybody—the cast, the crew, and our creators—it’s been a blast. We love shooting the show.
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