Jalen Thomas Brooks Isn’t In A Hurry

In the middle of all the situationship angst and collegiate love confessions of Off Campus, John Tucker, played by Jalen Thomas Brooks, is a little preoccupied — from nurturing a “fruit baby” as part of his fraternity initiation to feeding his very hungry house of Briar University hockey bros.

If you’ve read Elle Kennedy’s Off Campus books (spoilers ahead!), you know that Tucker’s love story in The Goal begins with a life-changing encounter with a determined pre-law classmate named Sabrina that leads to a pregnancy. It could be some time before the Prime Video series gets to that installment, but Brooks — who’s stealing hearts as the baby of the team — is more than happy to wait his turn.

“It’s been endearing to see people like, ‘Oh, my God, Tucker, he’s so schmoopy,’” Brooks tells Bustle of fans’ protectiveness over his character. “It’s fun, because you’re going to be able to watch him become this guy that everybody really loves in the book.” By the time his leading-man moment arrives, “I think people are really going to go from ‘schmoopy’ to, like, ‘What the hell?!’” Brooks laughs.

We’re Zooming on the 24-year-old actor’s first day off from Season 2 production in Vancouver. And while he can’t reveal too much about the next installment — “Tucker’s growing,” he teases — all eyes are on the swoony hockey romance, which scored the third-biggest series debut in Prime Video history.

That kind of hype comes with its ups and downs. On June 11, Off Campus put out a statement reiterating that the show is based on love and respect, and asked for viewers to “extend that respect to our cast and the people in their lives.”

“It is a shock to have your life be thrust into the zeitgeist of everything,” says Brooks, adding of the anti-harassment message: “It’s just a sense of respect, of keeping our bubble still together, which is nice. The Amazon creative team and all the producers just want to make sure that nothing pops that bubble, and so they’re trying to get ahead of things.”

Brooks is part of more than one buzzy ensemble, of course. Last year, he made his debut as fan-favorite nurse Mateo on The Pitt, and his scrubs-clad family has been checking in. “Shabana [Azeez] had sent me a text, and she was just like: ‘Are you OK?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m great!’” Brooks recalls with a laugh, detailing his Pitt castmate’s reaction to the Off Campus fandemonium. “She’s like, ‘Stay safe, give everybody a hug for me.’”

Below, Brooks opens up about his rom-com inspirations, future on The Pitt, and why he’s so excited for Tucker and Sabrina’s love story.

I love the memes comparing Tucker’s Thanksgiving to The Bear. I was wondering if you share his passion for the culinary arts in real life?

I absolutely love food. I sometimes enjoy eating it more than cooking, but I’m a big cook. One of my favorite TV shows is The Bear, and when we were filming that episode with [director Erica Dunton], the inspiration of the energy from Tucker’s point of view was, like, he is in The Bear. Everybody else is just having fun, but she was like, “You’re Jeremy Allen White for the next 50 minutes.”

You’re definitely channeling Carmy! Are there maybe romantic heroes or characters that you also looked up to while portraying Tucker?

I’m a big Perks of Being a Wallflower guy. There is a sense of coyness from Logan Lerman’s character that I wanted to incorporate into Tucker, him being a young kid and coming into college and finding himself. But then there’s also Justin Long in Comet, which is this rom-com with Emmy Rossum, and directed by Sam Esmail. He can be very romantic in his own way, but he has this youthful charm — and so I really based Tucker energetically, for the first season, off of Justin Long. And of course, Heath Ledger from 10 Things I Hate About You.

Looking toward Tucker’s future, what are you curious about learning with him?

So many things. As Tucker grows up, it’s the sense of maturity that he’s going to be able to find [in himself], and of course, the task that is going to come across in his life. I’m looking forward to seeing how that is written, how he will handle that, but I’m really looking forward to the family: the Briar boys, Hannah, Allie, Grace, Sabrina, and how that all circles around each other.

You’re so right — because his book happens at the end, you get to see all of the relationships that have happened that are now part of their extended family, and he’s introducing Sabrina to that world.

There’s that saying “it takes a village” when it comes to children, but also friendships. Anybody in life, it takes a village to get by. That’s going to be one cool thing about Tucker’s season, hopefully, when we get there — the village that is created that’s welcoming this young one.

The unexpected pregnancy trope is a polarizing one, understandably. What would you say to someone who’s a little bit skittish about that trope?

Of course, it’s really intense. But [co-showrunners Louisa Levy and Gina Fattore] and the whole team, they’ve already had conversations with me about the heart that would be put behind it — the messages that can be found in a young man stepping up to the plate and letting Sabrina know that he’s not going anywhere, that we’re in it together.

There’s a lot of deep, profound messages that come from a young person, man or woman, who steps up to take care of somebody. When it’s done with the right care and the right message and the right intent, it can be beautiful.

What qualities do you think make Sabrina who she is as a character — and that you’re excited to be up against?

Her independence. It’s going to be the dynamic of how endearing and loving Tucker is — he’s going to meet this strong, sturdy mountain of a woman that’s like she doesn’t need you. But it’s the sense of “Let me in; let me help; let’s do this together.” With Louisa, Gina, and the whole writing team, I think the actress who plays her is probably going to be licking their fingers. Such good comedy, such good romance, really witty — it’s going to be nice.

Another project that fans are very passionate about is The Pitt. I love that you’ve said you’ll clock in whenever they need you. Now that production is about to start on that show, is there anything you can tease about Season 3?

I don’t want to get ahead of myself or tease anything, but it’s the same thing — like, if my pager goes off, I’m there. As of now, I’m going to be at work, but I’m not going to say when or whatever. But I’ll be there.

In a general sense, what are you hopeful about exploring with Mateo in the future?

Getting to know him, and as nurses in the medical field, the day-to-day things that they see and go through. It’s not just Mateo, but all the nurses, from Princess to Perlah to Donahue to everybody. There was the episode last season that really delved into the nurses’ perspective, and it’s lovely to see that area of the ER. Because nurses have their hands on everything. So I’m just looking forward to the show putting the light on that topic. It’s important and necessary.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.