Off Campus star Stephen Kalyn is starring in a new Verizon ad.
The brand released a one minute spot “Simplicity is Sexy” Tuesday morning, marking Kalyn’s first major brand deal since the release of the popular college-set romance series. “It was a little nerve-wracking at first but once I get onto the groove of things, it’s so much fun,” Kalyn tells The Hollywood Reporter on a recent call about the experience.
“Doing a commercial is so different from doing what I do naturally, so I didn’t know that world as much,” he says. “Now, I am happy I got to do it with Verizon. It’s so different.”
The black and white spot plays off some of the iconic Calvin Klein ads — the actor mentions a specific Aaron Taylor-Johnson ad that served as inspiration for him. Verizon also brought in director Bardia Zeinali, who directed the Calvin Klein’s Deal with It campaign to bring the vision to life.
In the newly released spot, which is meant to highlight the company’s newly launched Simplicity plan, a blonde Kalyn tells the camera in voiceover, “It’s you. It’s only you. You’re the one.” The sultry music of INXS’ ”Never Tear Us Apart” soundtracked Kalyn’s speech about being done with the noise and the games, as he dances around and even tosses his white tank top toward the camera.
Kalyn, who saw a cut of the video before this conversation, couldn’t get over how “cool” it was. The Off Campus actor said the director, who shot the spot on film, cranked a song of Kalyn’s choice — “Hey Hey What Can I Do” by Led Zeppelin — and let him go. “You know when you’re listening to your song and you’re in the privacy of your own home?” he says.
“You can kind of just let loose and think to yourself, ‘Oh God, I really hope nobody would ever see me doing that in public.’ That’s kind of how I was feeling,” Kalyn says jokingly. “There was a peak moment where I forgot everybody was there, and I was in the zone and locked in and just focused.”
He adds, “That moment, running around dancing in my leather pants, was probably my favorite part.”
His family and friends got a kick out of seeing the actor in this new light. “I showed it to Victoria, my fiancée, and she was like, ‘Get home right now,’” he says laughing. “She loved it. She thought it was great.”
Verizon has leaned into these celebrity spots in the recent months. Earlier this year, Heated Rivalry star Connor Storrie starred in a short film spot for the company directed by Nia DaCosta. “We set out to blend nostalgia with current zeitgeist, and partnering with Stephen and Director Bardia Zeinali brought that vision to life,” the company’s CMO Leslie Berland in a statement.
Kalyn had his breakout role last month in the hit Prime Video series Off Campus. The 28-year-old Canadian actor plays Dean Di Laurentis in the series. He’s set to lead the second season alongside his co-star and onscreen love interest Mika Abdalla, which is filming now in Vancouver.
“I’ve been very, very busy. Long, long days on set. I’m there pretty much every day,” he says of the progress of filming season two. But make no mistake, he’s not complaining and can’t stop expressing how happy he is to be there.
The shooting schedule, going from a supporting character in season one to a leading character in season two, has been a bit of an adjust, he says. “After the second week, you hit a bit of a crash for a minute and you just need a quick little revival. I was speaking to Louisa [Levy] about it. She’s not only a great showrunner but just a supportive person,” Kalyn says. “Her and I would chat and pick me back up again, if I was ever crashing out a bit or just getting a little tired.”
A little over a month out from the release of Off Campus, Kalyn is genuinely grateful for the opportunities the show has provided him. “It’s such a privilege to be able to do these kind of shoots and to work on commercials and ads,” he says. He jokes that he’s been seeing Verizon’s other ads with Storrie, Mike Meyers and Kevin Hart pop up on his feeds these days and can’t quite comprehend he’s also doing these.
As for the rest of Kalyn’s year? “Success. Success. Success,” he manifests. “Hopefully more and more opportunities to work and to do really cool movies. I’d love to jump onto another project maybe a month after wrapping [Off Campus season two], but we’ll see what’s in store.”
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