“When I feel strongly about something, or when I love to do something, I historically see it through to fruition, and like, I make things happen that way. That being said, I didn’t expect to be here already.”
Sitting in his sun-lit LA bedroom amongst a miscellaneous array of objects – including a BMX – the 24-year-old’s week is indeed as busy as his space. And it’s also, incidentally, one of the biggest weeks of his life so far. Netflix’s summer movie romance Along For The Ride based on Sarah Dessen’s best-selling young adult novel of the same name has just been released, and grants Cameli his first lead role. He plays the isolated, but multi-faceted Eli – a once-promising BMXer – struggling to navigate life without his best friend, Abe. Principally it’s a film about finding yourself, both for Auden and Eli, and across the gamut of characters portrayed, including Auden’s mum and step mum, played by Andie MacDowell and Kate Bosworth, respectively. But in as many ways it’s about family, in all its forms, and how it permeates the person we come to find. Whether it’s blended, blood, chosen or even just a friendship like Eli and Abe’s that’s so full it’s like a family in itself. Covering our Summer 2022 issue, Belmont Cameli talks his debut lead role, dropping out of a finance degree, secret dreams of BMXing, and bringing his mum Along For The Ride…
