India, June 2 -- If you've opened Instagram and TikTok lately, chances are you've seen clips of Off Campus. Amazon Prime Video's hockey romance, based on Elle Kennedy's beloved book series, premiered on 13 May 2026 and immediately became one of the most-watched shows on the streaming platform. And while the series boasts a strong ensemble cast, one name keeps coming up in conversations: Stephen Kalyn, who plays the impulsive and lovable Dean Di Laurentis.
Thanks to his charismatic portrayal of Dean, the Canadian actor has quickly become one of the breakout stars of Off Campus. And with Prime Video officially confirming that season 2 will focus on Dean and Allie (played by Mika Abdalla), Kalyn isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
Fun facts about Stephen Kalyn that fans should know
From the rink to the screen
Stephen Thomas Kalyn was born on 24 April 1998 in Toronto, Ontario. For most Canadians, hockey isn't just a hobby, and Kalyn is no different. He took up the sport at the age of six and played competitively in his teens, finishing his minor hockey career at the AA tier, as he told The Hollywood Reporter in May 2026.
The dream of going professional, however, didn't quite pan out for him. "I could have continued playing and tried, but I knew it wasn't going to be," he told the publication. Rather than mourn it, he pivoted. "I could still love the game no matter what, whether or not I'm playing it or not. Luckily, I found acting."
His high school's production of Grease - in which he played Danny Zuko - truly sparked something in him. "When the school day finished at 2:30, I'd spend the next two hours in rehearsal with my drama teacher. I just fell in love with the whole process of it," he says.
"I'd always taken interest as a kid, but I never really got into it. I put more of my focus and energy into hockey," Kalyn says. "It was that moment then and there where I decided I [was] going to do this. I don't know how I was going to do it, but I was going to."
His journey before Off Campus
In 2018, Kalyn began his professional acting career at the age of 20 with the short film Child 92. Then he started making guest appearances on Canadian television. His early credits include the CBC mini-series Essex County and the pilot of Prime Video's Cruel Intentions reboot. He then moved into films with Warrior Strong and Cascade, both of which were released in 2023.
He also appeared in Motorheads, where he portrayed the younger version of Ryan Phillippe's character, and joined The Boys universe in the second season of Gen V as Greg, the love interest of Emma Meyer (Lizze Broadway).
How he landed the role of Dean
Stephen Kalyn didn't originally audition for the role of Dean Di Laurentis.
He had actually sent in a tape for the role of John Logan, a part that ultimately went to Antonio Cipriano. When that didn't pan out, he nearly missed auditioning for Dean altogether. "My manager said 'You have to do it. Do the Zoom. Don't do a self-tape'", he recalled.
Eventually, the call came through. And after the meeting, which was followed by a lengthy chemistry read session, he booked the part. "I was slightly hyperventilating and getting a little bit lightheaded, but I ended up catching myself," he says. "To this day it's one of the greatest days and one of the greatest moments of my life."
The casting, though, was fated. His fiancee, Victoria Lovatsis, had been a fan of Elle Kennedy's Off Campus books long before the TV adaptation was even greenlit. Her favourite entry in the series? The Score, the book that centres entirely on Dean. She had even left a comment on Goodreads, years before Stephen's casting: "Lean, mean and all about Dean." When Kalyn realised the show was being made, Victoria told him the role was perfect for him.
"What a privilege it is to step into those shoes," he said. "Not only do I get to fulfill [the role of Dean] for the fans, but more importantly for my fiancee." Her verdict on his performance? He nailed it! "Only approval I needed," he added.
He channelled his hockey roots to play Dean
One of the more charming details about Kalyn's Off Campus experience is watching the real-life skater quietly support his less rink-savvy colleagues. Amazon put the show's four male leads - Kalyn, Belmont Cameli, Antonio Cipriano, and Jalen Thomas Brooks - through a two-week hockey bootcamp. For Kalyn, it was like homecoming. For the others? Not so much.
He told Deadline that it was entertaining to "watch a bunch of grown men learn really how to, like, walk again on the ice, and watch them fall and hit on their little tushies."
He also got to do some of his own hockey sequences on the screen and clearly relished it. "I got to bodycheck people, cross-check people. It was so cool," he told People magazine.
Who is Stephen Kalyn's fiancee?
If you have watched any Stephen Kalyn interview, you know he's engaged and so in love. Kalyn has been with his teen sweetheart Victoria Lovatsis since 2012. The couple have kept their relationship largely private, though Lovatsis joined him on the red carpet for the Off Campus premiere in Los Angeles in April 2026. The couple is now engaged; Lovatsis first shared a photo of her wearing the ring in March 2024.
When asked about how he differs from Dean, Kalyn is refreshingly candid. "I'm not as impulsive. I wouldn't say I'm as confident. Also, I've been in a relationship my whole life, so I don't know what it's like to be a bachelor and going out there and chasing lots of women," he says. "I'd say with me and Dean, it's very 50-50, we're similar in ways, but we're really not at all at the same time."
The leading man of Off Campus season 2
The streaming platform has already confirmed that Off Campus season 2 will focus on Dean and Allie's love story and will be based on The Score, the third book in Kennedy's series.
We've already gotten to see a lot of Dean and Allie in season 1. The pair's chemistry, on and off the screen, has generated immediate fan devotion. As it turns out, Kalyn and co-star Mika Abdalla worked on their chemistry from the start.
"Louisa had a great idea to suggest that her and I [sic] should go out for a dinner," he says. Instead, because Kalyn felt it would be funny, the two decided to have him attend a Pilates session with Abdalla before going to dinner. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. "I was late to the Pilates class, and they didn't let me in. Apparently when you're two minutes frickin' late, they won't let you into the Pilates class," he says.
But now, they are busy filming season 2 in Vancouver. "It's going to be very sweet and loving and heartbreaking," Kalyn said about season 2. "I only see great things."
Kalyn and Abdalla are also narrating a romance novel on Quinn called Rent Free.
And for those who care (and many of you do), the actor has apparently confirmed he is six feet and two inches tall to a fan on Instagram.