\n<\/p>\n
Those who have watched the rise of both shows, however, might see more parallels than that between the two. Both Heated Rivalry<\/em> and Off Campus<\/em> are romances that started off under the radar before becoming instant sensations, catapulting their stars to a new level of celebrity. Much like Heated Rivalry<\/em> leads Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, Bright had no idea that being on this show would change her life overnight. If her Off Campus<\/em> audition hadn\u2019t worked out, she says, she was going to pivot away from acting, focusing instead on going to college and putting her leading lady dreams on the back burner.<\/p>\n But a few weeks after that fateful tryout, she was flying to Vancouver to shoot the series. She calls it a leap of faith.<\/p>\n \u201cNone of this was in my plan at all,\u201d she says. \u201cIt flipped my life upside down in the best way I could have ever dreamed about. Things are coming true for me that\u2026I never thought could happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Bright\u2019s relationship with her character, Hannah, evolved over the course of filming Off Campus<\/em> season one. On the outside, Hannah might look nerdy, but there\u2019s more to her than meets the eye: She\u2019s fiercely independent, quick-witted, musically gifted, and kind.<\/p>\n \u201cI think for my initial self-tape, I played her originally very introverted and shy, because I thought, you know, [she\u2019s a] stereotypical nerdy character,\u201d Bright says. \u201cBut I soon discovered she has this confidence in her quirkiness and her ugliness and her weirdness, and I loved that. It was really fresh and new.\u201d<\/p>\n Bright also loves the deep friendship Hannah shares with her best friend, Allie (Mika Abdalla), who will likely be the focus of the show\u2019s second season<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I initially saw at the chemistry reads is, not only were they auditioning Garrett and Hannah, they were auditioning every single person that we see in the ensemble cast: the whole hockey team and Allie and Justin. And that showed that, from the beginning, it\u2019s not just the romantic relationships that are at the forefront of the show,\u201d Bright says. \u201cAt the end of the day, it is all about friendship and connection and how these different relationships are so formative.\u201d<\/p>\n