In Her Campus’s series Next Question, we rapid-fire interview talent Gen Z loves about what it’s like to rule over pop culture. This month, actor Riley Davis is in the hot seat to answer our burning questions.
“Oh, I know him! That’s Sean from Off Campus!” “Oh yeah, he plays Noah on Netflix’s Crew Girl!” He’s the name on everyone’s lips this year: Riley Davis. “It’s been unbelievable to have the fan support that both of those shows have,” Davis tells Her Campus in an exclusive interview. “It’s really really cool when people want to talk about the show or have been impacted by what we make.”
In Off Campus, Davis plays Sean, Allie’s on-and-off boyfriend since freshman year. The two break up before Allie starts secretly seeing Briar University hockey player Dean DiLaurentis. The show took off like wildfire after its May 2026 release of Season 1. “As an actor, it can be so difficult to get work, let alone to be a part of a show that can impact people around the world,” Davis says. “So, just seeing all the love and the messages and the support for the show has been really really cool.”
But before Off Campus the TV series was the Off-Campus book series. “When I got the part, I read The Deal and a chunk of The Score, the third book, Allie and Dean’s book. But I definitely was not prepared for the world of the fandom and just how much support the book and the show has,” Davis says. And while Sean gets a bad rap, Davis said he finds humor in the character. “It was so funny that this guy who has this beautiful girlfriend doesn’t want to have sex,” he says. “What young guy just doesn’t want to go out and just wants to major in insurance? That’s definitely a certain type of person who is so locked in on what they want. And then obviously underneath some of the humor, there’s some heart there,” Davis says.
Off Campus has since wrapped filming Season 2, but as for whether Sean plays a part in the upcoming season, Davis is tight-lipped. “They are about the most secretive bunch over there, so I can’t say anything about that,” he admits.
From one YA hit to another, Davis also played a role in Netflix’s Crew Girl, which hit the streamer on Sept. 10. His character, Noah, is a member of the men’s rowing team at Easton, an elite prep school. Davis definitely wasn’t a rower before Crew Girl, though, so preparing for the series meant spending weeks learning the sport with his castmates. “Everyone’s supposed to be moving at the same pace of the stroke seat, and if someone’s off rhythm, you literally hit the person in front of you with your oar,” Davis says. “We learned the hard way that everything has to come together with rowing. As an actor, trusting your scene partners — and in Crew Girl’s case, trusting an ensemble — those sorts of lessons definitely circulate, and it’s made me more available to to trust the people I’m working with.”
The YA world isn’t the only genre Davis has been exploring. His most recent project, The Last Kiss, gave him the opportunity to take on something much heavier. In the horror-thriller, Davis plays Tyler McKinney, a teenager dealing with grief and trauma as the film follows a girl who discovers she can see someone’s death after kissing them.
For Davis, preparing for Tyler meant researching the character and creating a more focused environment for himself during some of the film’s darker scenes. “That meant keeping my distance from some of the cast on those days, and feeling a responsibility to Tyler’s situation because, even though I’m just an actor playing him, there are tons of people that experience that level of grief and PTSD and trauma, and everybody’s different responses,” Davis said. “And just trying to make some of that as real as I can, for the movie.”
Once filming ended, though, Davis had to find a way to leave that intensity on set. “It’s definitely a balance,” Davis says. “Once the day’s over and I can go home and shower, I’m sort of better. But from getting to work until the end of the day, there’s a level of focus that has to exist. I mean, it’s the job, right? It’s what you sign up for, and it’s what I love to do. So it never really feels like too much of a burden. It’s just exploring something unfamiliar, which can be uncomfortable. But I think that’s where a lot of growth happens.”
And Davis is definitely growing. He’ll be on the big screen in his upcoming project November 1963, which will be released to limited theaters on Nov. 20. The historical crime drama focuses on the 48 hours surrounding President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, and features Davis alongside John Travolta and Dermot Mulroney. But Davis isn’t limiting himself to just acting. “I love all the components of filmmaking, and there’s different challenges to writing and directing that also can improve your acting,” Davis says. But regardless, he says, “I definitely will always be in front of the camera, no matter what.”
These responses have been edited for length and clarity.
What’s one book to movie adaptation you’d love to see?
The first thing that came to my head was Catcher in the Rye, but J.D. Salinger said not to make that into a movie. You know what, Richard Yates. Richard Yates is an American writer. He has an amazing collection of short stories. I love short stories, so I feel like he has some good short stories that can make good short films.
What’s the last song you played on Spotify?
“Coming Down” by Tyler Childers. I was actually just listening to it before we got on.
Who would survive a horror movie: Noah or Sean?
Oh man. I think Sean’s dead early.
One word to describe November 1963?
Dangerous.
Hockey or Rowing?
Hockey.
Which Crew Girl castmate is most likely to break character?
Connor Patton, who plays Ryder. It’s not even close, actually.
What’s your go-to pleasure food?
Oh, cereal easily. I’m a cereal connoisseur.Â
What is your all time favorite movie?
Aftersun.
What is your most used app on your phone?
I’m not a tech guy. Probably my guitar tuner.