‘Off Campus’ Star Ella Bright and Songwriter Amy Allen on the Show’s Music & Continuing to Work Together

Since Amazon’s hit series Off Campus premiered in May, the show has become a phenomenon while its cast members have risen to star status – especially season one lead, Ella Bright.

Bright plays the role of Hannah Wells, a college music major who suddenly has to enter (and ideally, win) a campus Pop Showcase to keep her scholarship.

While her character is a longtime singer-songwriter, such skills were totally foreign to Bright herself.

Yet, her vocal moments throughout the show are some of its greatest highlights, from her belting Elton John’s “The Bitch Is Back” in a multicolor boa to crushing “Cherry Pie” at the fictional bar Malone’s during karaoke night.

The former saw a 577% increase in weekly official on-demand U.S. streams (for the tracking week ending May 21) according to Luminate, while the latter enjoyed a 122% boost.

“Cherry Pie” even scored Bright her first Billboard chart entry, reaching No.

18 on Hot Hard Rock Songs this July.

And while both covers took off outside of the show, neither could compete with “Girl That I Am,” the sole original song that provides the series’ emotional peak.

Co-written by Grammy-winning songwriters Amy Allen and Ethan Gruska, the soaring pop song has raked in 4.9 million official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate.

The show’s deluxe soundtrack, which arrived July 23 on Island Records, includes a rendition by Suki Waterhouse – who this August welcomed Bright on stage during her Vancouver tour stop (where the Off Campus cast is currently filming season two) to perform the song together.

The experience, says Bright, only affirmed her desire to dive deeper into her artistry outside of the show.

Having learned guitar and piano for the role of Hannah, she says she’s “obsessed with it now.” She even bought herself an amp – “that was the first thing I did when I got home after filming season one.” Speaking from her Vancouver apartment (which she lives in while filming), she shares that her acoustic guitar is always nearby – which Allen is pleased to hear.

“I want to hear any and all music that she ever works on, because I’m a huge fan now,” says Allen over Zoom in Los Angeles.

“I just think you’re a star.” Below, Bright and Allen reveal how “Girl That I Am” came together, whether Bright’s character Hannah will share more music in season two and the moment that made Bright herself want to record music as herself.