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<\/p>\nJune\t18, 2026<\/p>\n
Mika Abdalla has barely had a moment to process what\u2019s happening. As we speak, she\u2019s in Vancouver, in the middle of prepping for the second season of Off Campus. The adaptation of Elle Kennedy\u2019s hockey romance novels may have only aired on 13 May, but having become one of Prime Video\u2019s most popular shows overnight, the series has been renewed in record time. Already, costumes are being fitted, scripts are being broken down and somewhere in the background, Abdalla\u2019s puppy, Mabel, is causing chaos. \u201cShe\u2019s literally a five-month-old monster,\u201d Abdalla laughs mid-sentence, momentarily distracted by barking. \u201cShe\u2019s just a beast.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a busy moment to catch the Texas-born actor: poised between the overwhelming response to season one and the pressure of stepping into the lead role for season two, where her character, Allie Hayes, and Dean Di Laurentis (Stephen Kalyn) move to the centre of the story. But the 26-year-old seems surprisingly grounded amid the frenzy \u2014 perhaps because she\u2019s been on screen since she was six, when acting first began as a hobby. \u201cMy relationship with acting was so different when I was on Project MC\u00b2,\u201d she says, reflecting on her early years in the industry. \u201cIt was just something I had been doing my entire life. It was my hobby. I didn\u2019t play sports or anything like that, so it was kind of my after-school activity.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Mika wears dress by INES DI SANTO.<\/p>\n
Wanting some version of \u201cnormal\u201d life after feeling as though she\u2019d \u201cnever just been a kid\u201d, Abdalla went to UCLA to study philosophy and film and put acting on hold. But it didn\u2019t last long. \u201cI got bored immediately,\u201d she admits. \u201cI missed being on set because it had been such a huge part of my life.\u201d Returning to acting as an adult changed her outlook on it entirely. Without parents managing emails or logistics, the work became fully hers for the first time. Finally, it felt like a conscious choice. \u201cPost-college, it became more of a passion thing,\u201d she explains. \u201cI can\u2019t imagine not doing this in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
As well as a sense of freedom, Abdalla\u2019s second foray into acting unlocked something unexpected. \u201cI started understanding what acting and performance can do for people emotionally, both as a viewer and as a performer,\u201d she says. The actor describes her craft as \u201ctherapeutic\u201d. And, I wonder if the catharsis she finds in her work could go some way in explaining why Off Campus resonated with her so quickly \u2014 even before she became immersed in its growing fandom.<\/p>\n
\u201c All you can do is follow your heart and your gut, be kind to yourself and enjoy life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unlike millions of readers, Abdalla hadn\u2019t grown up obsessed with the books. \u201cReally?\u201d she says when I mention I read the entire series at 16. \u201cI was familiar with them, but I hadn\u2019t read the series yet.\u201d That changed the moment the audition landed in her inbox. She devoured the first Off-Campus novel, The Deal, almost instantly. Then she moved on to The Score, the series\u2019 third book, which tells her character, Hayes\u2019, story, all while chemistry reads and the final rounds of the decision-making process were still underway.<\/p>\n
For Abdalla, stepping into a book adaptation presented a new kind of challenge. \u201cI\u2019d never done a book adaptation before,\u201d she says. \u201cHaving all that source material to pull from felt like such a fun exercise.\u201d Then came the fandom with TikToks, X posts, fan edits, all dissecting even the tiniest interaction. \u201cYou\u2019re really seeing what it is about these characters that people love,\u201d she says, reflecting on her social-media research. \u201cAnd then you think, \u2018Okay, I need to find a way to infuse that into the work, as a service to the OGs\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Mika wears dress by ZADIG & VOLTAIRE.<\/p>\n
Still, Abdalla was anxious as to whether she would be welcomed into the role of Hayes by the fandom. \u201cBefore the casting announcement came out, there was definitely an element of nerves,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m not blonde. But honestly, the response since then has been so great.\u201d Rather than pressure, she describes a sense of responsibility to honour characters that readers already care about, while still finding some wiggle room in the role \u2014 and not just in regard to her hair colour. \u201cYou want to serve that love people already have for the story,\u201d she explains. \u201cBut I also knew the book fans were so sweet and loving that I felt safe to explore a little.\u201d<\/p>\n
Interestingly, Hayes was always the role Abdalla knew she\u2019d end up playing, despite initially auditioning for the female lead of the first book, Hannah Wells. \u201cI remember saying, \u2018Guys, I love her, but this isn\u2019t me\u2019,\u201d she says. \u201cMy team and the casting directors knew that.\u201d It\u2019s easy to see why. While both Abdalla and Hayes appear effortlessly cool, there\u2019s more that the actor and her character align on. \u201cAllie has a lot of layers to her, but I love how deeply emotional, vulnerable and insecure she is under this big, bright, confident ball of life and energy she\u2019s created,\u201d the actor says. \u201cBoth things are true for her.\u201d It\u2019s because of this dichotomy that Abdalla feels deeply connected to her character. \u201cI feel exactly like her,\u201d she says. \u201cSometimes my outward persona is very different from how I feel internally. Allie has much more energy than I do \u2014 she\u2019s more of a party girl, going-out hype man, but she\u2019s also just me after four Red Bulls.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Mika wears top and skirt by MARIMEKKO.<\/p>\n
The attention that followed Abdalla\u2019s portrayal has, she tells me, been overwhelming. Since season one premiered, social media has exploded with praise, with fans aspiring to \u201cachieve her level of coolness\u201d. \u201cI genuinely don\u2019t know what to do with myself about it,\u201d she says, smiling. \u201cI\u2019ve actually been off social media because the response has been so overwhelming.\u201d But the intensity only grows from here. Season two shifts the focus fully onto Hayes and Di Laurentis\u2019s romance, placing Abdalla at the centre of the series. Yet, she insists little about her process will change. \u201cAll of us knew [some of the cast] would eventually lead their own season,\u201d she says. \u201cSo none of us ever treated our characters or our work as supporting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Much of that confidence comes from her bond with Kalyn, who plays opposite her. Their on-screen chemistry feels effortless now, but Abdalla says it didn\u2019t start that way. \u201cBefore filming, Stephen was scared of me,\u201d she says, laughing. \u201cHe literally wouldn\u2019t talk to me or look me in the eye.\u201d Eventually, she had to break the ice: \u201cI was like, \u2018Hey, man, I want to be your friend\u2019, and he thought I hated him because I apparently look scary. I have a severe case of resting bitch face.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAllie has much more energy than I do \u2014 she\u2019s more of a party girl, going-out hype man, but she\u2019s also just me after four Red Bulls.\u201d<\/p>\n
But once they cleared the air, the pair quickly became close friends and, with that, came a sense of trust. \u201cWe\u2019re very similar creatively,\u201d Abdalla says. \u201cWe understand each other\u2019s fears, insecurities and self-doubts. We are in tune with what each other needs and we\u2019re very supportive of each other. He\u2019s fantastic.\u201d That emotional attentiveness proved especially important in the show\u2019s more intimate scenes. Abdalla speaks candidly about intimacy coordinators on set, describing the experience as unexpectedly freeing. \u201cThey really make it as choreographed and unsexy as possible,\u201d she says. \u201cIt breaks all the tension and it makes it formulaic, which is honestly great.\u201d<\/p>\n
A self-proclaimed romance-genre fanatic (Abdalla gives a special mention to Love, Rosie in our conversation), the tension between Hayes and Di Laurentis was key to her interest in the role. Yet, outside the romance arc, she\u2019s excited for audiences to see more of Hayes\u2019 family \u2014 something she holds particularly dear in her own life. \u201cI have such a strong relationship with my entire family, and especially my dad,\u201d the actor says. \u201cI brought him to Brazil with me on this press tour, which was so special, so I am excited for the fans to get a little bit of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Mika wears top and shorts by PALM ANGELS.<\/p>\n
Abdalla also highlights Hayes\u2019 friendship with Wells, which formed easily off screen with co-star Ella Bright. \u201cWe all hung out all the time, so we didn\u2019t really have to make a conscious effort,\u201d she says, adding that they even lived in the same apartment building last year. \u201cShe\u2019s the most gorgeous, kind, funny, smart person ever. She\u2019s truly one of my best friends. It\u2019s impossible not to be friends with Ella \u2014 she\u2019s the best.\u201d<\/p>\n
As our conversation draws to a close, talk pivots away from Abdalla\u2019s co-stars and family members and turns inwards. Like many people in their twenties, a main theme in the actor\u2019s life is now navigating uncertainty, while learning how little can truly be controlled. \u201cYou can have all the expectations in the world about how things are going to go,\u201d she says thoughtfully. \u201cBut at the end of the day, there\u2019s only so much you can control. All you can do is follow your heart and your gut, be kind to yourself and enjoy life. [Our] twenties are fleeting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, she still has dreams, though. \u201cI want to be a Bond girl so bad,\u201d Abdalla says. \u201cI\u2019ve seen every film at least three times.\u201d But for now, her focus remains on Hayes \u2014 giving the character the same care and emotional honesty that audiences have already connected with so strongly. \u201cI felt like a part of me was healing, learning and growing just based on seeing these characters have these experiences I could identify with,\u201d Abdalla concludes. \u201cI hope people are enjoying themselves but also feel recognition and comfort.\u201d<\/p>\n
PhotographerJordan RossiStylistJules WoodWriter Flore BoitelMake-up ArtistAkina Shimizu at A-Frame AgencyHair StylistElsa Canedo at Opus BeautyRetouching Lydia Tzirkova<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"June 18, 2026 Mika Abdalla has barely had a moment to process what\u2019s happening. As we speak, she\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499812,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[458,146,85,46],"class_list":["post-499811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}