SPOILER ALERT: This article contains details about Episode 6 of “Heated Rivalry,” now streaming on HBO Max.
“Heated Rivalry” has everything a primetime drama could ask for – very hot men, romance and, of course, sex. But what really sold star Hudson Williams on the series was the quiet yet heavy scene in the Season 1 finale that shows Shane’s mother (Christina Chang) asking her son for forgiveness for not allowing him to feel safe enough to come out to her sooner as gay.
“That scene was the scene that ruined me the most when I read the script,” Williams tells me. “It was the scene that I was like, ‘If I don’t get to play Shane Hollander.’ It’s also a scene that’s not in the book, but to me it is the quintessential wrap-up scene to that arc for him and his mom. Period.”
For those who may not already know, “Heated Rivalry” is Jacob Tierney’s six-episode adaptation of Rachel Reid’s queer hockey romance novel series “Game Changers.” The show, acquired for U.S. distribution by HBO Max from Canadian streamer Crave, follows Shane Hollander and Ilya Rosanov (Connor Storrie), two superstar hockey players who fall in love as they navigate a secret years-long affair. The show has been greenlit for a second season.
The mother-and-son scene filmed over two days. “The first time we couldn’t get through it because it started raining,” Hudson recalls. “And then we came back the next day to shoot it, Jacob goes, ‘I rewrote it.’ So Christina and I are in the little makeup room of this little cottage, memorizing the scene, and it was so beautiful. It made so much sense. It stands on the right side of what I think a parent should be because there are outdated notions. There are old school ways of parenting that maybe we can leave in the past…As someone who thinks of raising their kids in the future and wanting to be a father, this is the environment you have to foster.”
We truly don’t know until we see her accept him if she is going to accept him or reject him. Will she be like, “You’ve just ruined your career?” But in the end, she’s talking about how this could be good for endorsement deals.
Shane gets a release to a degree, but I’m not sure it’s a full one. I think there’s still a degree to Shane where it’s like, a part of me wanted a bigger release. I remember leaving and going, “I wish I could pour myself into it and completely get vulnerable.” As an actor, that’s never really been that hard for me. I was retroactively trying to figure out why am I not fully able to get this. But then, I was like, “Oh, it’s Shane who isn’t able to get that fully.” It’s a little bit of a release he gets but even still, he’s avoiding her a little bit. He can’t look her in the eyes and feel completely like he’s lived to all the standards of what he thinks this unwritten idea of what a man is between them.
I love that Ilya was the first to say, “I love you.” He said it in the Russian monologue, but that doesn’t count for Shane because he didn’t know what Ilya was saying.
The motherfucker beat me.
Were you surprised he said it first?
Yeah, but even though Shane doesn’t say it first, he says all these things that are, if they’re not love, what the fuck are they? You know, “Let’s start a foundation.” He’s staying up in the middle of the night plotting their way. When Ilya says, “You think that far ahead, Hollander?” “I do about this.” Hollander is not a planner. He’s a diligent worker. He’s someone who is routine — dial in, show up in the game today, show up in practice right now. Forget in five years. Be the best hockey player now. It’s out of character to let this game plan run so far ahead. But it is because he loves Ilya so dearly. So I think he, even though he didn’t say it first, he made that cottage a home for Ilya to be able to say it.
I thought the cottage was going to be, excuse my French, a fuck fest. But this was more about the emotional journey and being a couple.
Jacob Tierney recently said it — it’s boyfriend.
But then there’s the blowjob scene. That was comedy.
That was improv.
What?
Yeah, to a degree. Connor and I were kind of goofing off in the makeup trailer, which was a cottage that was a two-minute drive away from that cottage, getting ready. I was preparing my monologue the whole morning. I’m prepping it, working it. Then Connor, being the great scene partner he is, he was like, “I’ll be here doing this.” Then he did something and we were hitting each other, goofing off. Then he’s hitting me, hitting me and he did this slap. I was filming myself on my phone doing this. I was like, “Do that again.” I couldn’t hold in my laughter because it was so brilliant. It’s so funny, and it makes sense for where they’re at in the story. I remember showing that to the intimacy coordinator. She was cackling. She’s like, “You have to do that.” Then Jacob was like, “Go for it. Go crazy.” The first take was the first time I broke broke because Connor is taking all the liberties. I am shoving him. I’m slapping him back. I’m putting the phone away to get in the gasps and moans. I’m so happy with how that scene turned out.
Shane and Ilya are finally comfortable with each other enough for that. They’ve let their guards down.
I heard Jacob say earlier today, “That’s boyfriends.” You don’t get the blow job on the phone from your fuck buddy or your friends with benefits. You get that when you’re in a relationship. In Episodes 1 and 2, it’s lust — it’s charged and fast. But now we have humor and levity within the sex.
What was it like filming in the cottage for the first time?
It’s when sentiment of the show really matched the sentiment of where we are in filming. That was the last two days of shooting. The last scene we shot was Ilya talking about his mom when he’s on my lap. I remember the first time we walked through there, I was like, “Damn right, Mr. Real Estate! This is a pretty nice cottage.” That was finally where Shane can be as boring as he wants and as fun as he wants. He gets to be everything. They have those two weeks.
And then you literally ride off into the sunset.
It’s still bittersweet. A lot of people have said that’s a very happy ending, but I’m like, “This isn’t a straight story.” This is not the happy ending because they’re still in the closet. They’re not coming out to Reebok, they’re not coming out to anyone. They got caught. It looks more like forgiveness than pride. That’s where they’re at. Forgiveness implies there’s something that was wrongfully done.
There’s shame around being caught. Just the word “caught” implies something to be ashamed about.
And they were just kissing. They’re not fucking butt naked on the countertop.
Do you have any plans to leave the internet?
I have been periodically leaving the internet. I touch into the internet. I try to stay gone, but very luckily, it’s been pretty warm. The hateful comments are easy to disregard to a degree because they’re coming from such vile places of bias or they’re just obnoxious. It’s closer to trolling than it is criticism.
Also, “Heated Rivalry” is not reality. It’s like a good rom-com where we get to fantasize about love and romance.
It’s optimistic.
It’s OK to be optimistic. So many people just want to be negative.
Even queer storytellers sometimes want to double down on pessimism. I think the reason why our show is doing so well is it doesn’t want to reinforce the worst fears.
Do you like tuna melts?
I do, but I don’t eat carbs or cheese. But as a treat, I’ll take a tuna melt with a nice brioche.
The gay hockey show that has taken over the world has come to an end. For season 1 at least. Heated Rivalry gave us a thrilling season finale that left us wondering what will happen for Shane and Ilya in the future.
Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) invited Ilya (Connor Storrie) to his cottage in the penultimate episode. Ilya did what he does best and made a thing about it, saying it couldn’t happen. But when Scott Hunter (François Arnaud) kissed his boyfriend after the Stanely Cup, it inspired Ilya to make a move: Go to the cottage with Shane.
And that’s where we are at the finale for Heated Rivalry. So what happens in the finale to set up season 2? Spoilers ahead for the hockey show. Well… there isn’t much hockey in this episode. Just lots of smooching.
Shane meets Ilya at the airport to bring him to his cottage and the two are set to have 2 weeks together. It is exactly as fans predicted: Lots of sex. But also lots of conversations about the future, including a plan for Ilya to move to Canada and get rid of his Russian Passport that doesn’t include marrying his friend. The problem? Shane’s parents see them together.
Support was always there, if Shane wanted it
(HBO Max)
Yuna Hollander (Christina Chang) has been hard on her son all season. She’s been determined to see him succeed but she didn’t seem uncaring. The same went for David Hollander (Dylan Walsh). So when David goes to the cottage to get his phone charger and sees Ilya and Shane together, there was a moment of panic for Shane. Would his parents accept him? How would they feel about their son being gay? But the only thing they were worried about? Shane and Ilya’s supposed rivalry on the ice.
The final moments of the season featured both Ilya and Shane hopeful for their future together. They have a plan, they have a mission, and now Shane knows his parents are on his side. One of the most beautiful moments of the episode, however, comes from his mother hearing their “ideas” for how to keep their relationship a secret.
When she hears that the two are planning to keep it a secret until they retire, she says that it is sad that they’d have to do that. Especially with their plan to explain why they’d be seen together out and about. We don’t know whether or not that’s going to actually be how it plays out (or of Scott Hunter inspires them more).
But for now, the future actually seems hopeful for the two. They’re happy together, people know about them, and Ilya even called himself Shane’s boyfriend. Will their happiness remain? Or is this just the honeymoon period until someone calls their bluff on the ice? We’ll have to wait until season 2 to find out where Shane and Ilya go next but at least we’ll always have the cottage together.
Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is the Editor in Chief of the Mary Sue. She’s been a writer professionally since 2016 but was always obsessed with movies and television and writing about them growing up. A lover of Spider-Man and Wanda Maximoff’s biggest defender, she has interests in all things nerdy and a cat named Benjamin Wyatt the cat. If you want to talk classic rock music or all things Harrison Ford, she’s your girl but her interests span far and wide. Yes, she knows she looks like Florence Pugh. She has multiple podcasts, normally has opinions on any bit of pop culture, and can tell you can actors entire filmography off the top of her head. Her current obsession is Glen Powell’s dog, Brisket.
Her work at the Mary Sue often includes Star Wars, Marvel, DC, movie reviews, and interviews.
SPOILERS: This post contains details about the Heated Rivalry, Season 1 finale episode ‘The Cottage’
With the conclusion of Heated Rivalry‘s rookie season, writer/director/creator Jacob Tierney is taking a breath before hitting the ice again with the wildly popular LGBTQ hockey drama series.
Ahead of the highly anticipated Season 1 finale ‘The Cottage’, which is now available to stream on Crave and HBO Max, Tierney teased that despite the satisfying closure of the episode, Season 2 and beyond “will always be centered around” Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov’s (Connor Storrie) love story, with author Rachel Reid’s final book in the series, The Long Game, serving as the basis.
“But we have a whole universe here, and so there’s loads of other things that we’re thinking about and that we’re gonna explore and that we’re gonna start to take more seriously now that we know that there’s an audience for it,” explained Tierney, following the show’s Season 2 renewal. “And that’s pretty exciting, so I’m looking forward to really digging into this world.”
Taking LGBTQ and female audiences by storm with its bold depictions of gay sex and romance, Tierney revealed that his favorite intimate scenes were in the finale.
“What I was committed to was making sure that we watch this relationship evolve through the sex, because it’s one thing to just make smut—which I’m thrilled to be doing. No shame in that game,” he said. “But it would be numbing and boring to watch the same f*ck scene over and over again. Who cares at a certain point? We are certainly not starved for sex, as viewers.”
Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov and Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander in the ‘Heated Rivalry’, Season 1 finale episode ‘The Cottage’
Tierney added, “That’s why I love the sex in episode 6 so much, because it’s both incredibly sweet and then incredibly playful and funny. And I like those two juxtapositions. That’s when I feel like they’re a real couple, like when you’re giving somebody a blowjob to annoy them. That’s what a boyfriend does.”
Read on about the Heated Rivalry, Season 1 finale’s sex scenes, why the show’s depiction of LGBTQ fame appealed to him and what’s ahead for Season 2.
DEADLINE: Are you surprised that the show has taken off on this level, outside of Canada?
JACOB TIERNEY: No, this is exactly what I expected—yes, I’m very surprised. We’re all a bit overwhelmed by the reaction to the show. Obviously, it’s very gratifying and it’s very nice, but it’s certainly not anything you can expect, and then coupled with, plan for anything like that. It’s crazy.
DEADLINE: And it was awesome seeing the fan reaction to the Scott [François Arnaud] and Kip [Robbie GK] kiss in the last episode. It was such a good wrap-up for that episode.
TIERNEY: It was very moving to see all those reactions. It was very, very moving for me.
Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov and Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander in the ‘Heated Rivalry’, Season 1 finale episode ‘The Cottage’ (Sabrina Lantos/HBO Max)
DEADLINE: And now, all of the gays and the girls are super excited for ‘The Cottage’.
TIERNEY: I’m telling you, no Canadian’s that excited.
DEADLINE: Was the pressure on to bring that part of the book to life? Because I’ve seen a lot of people are really anticipating it.
TIERNEY: I mean, I made the show. I didn’t think anybody was gonna care this much. I’m relieved that I made it the way that I did. I mean, there was pressure for me internally to end the show well. And I think that the thing that I was aware of, though it might not seem that way on the surface, it’s a big swing cause it’s a two-hander essentially. To go from an episode like 5, which is so big and epic, into ‘The Cottage’, which is relatively tiny—I think 38 of the 52 minutes are the two of them alone in a cottage. That’s kind of a big structural and narrative swing to pull off, or to attempt, I suppose. But I just wanted to continue to do right by this relationship, these characters, and to give their journey the kind of last push that I thought it needed to successfully finish the book.
DEADLINE: And I really appreciated the scene with Shane’s parents because coming out was obviously such a big fear for him, and just seeing how perfectly they handled it. Tell me about bringing something that gay kids really need to see to the screen like that.
TIERNEY: Yeah, it’s a big part of the book, so I certainly didn’t invent it whole cloth. But yeah, that stuff is very important, and it’s always been an interesting distinction between Shane and Ilya. And I think it’s quite stark when Ilya—it’s a small line that he says in episode 5, but he says that about his father, “I wish he could have known me.” And I think that’s what he means, and I think that Ilya’s very aware. Part of the reason that he’s kind of gently probing Shane in that episode and being like, “Do they know about you?” And he’s like, “No, about you. Who f*cking cares about me? Do they know you? If they don’t, you’ll regret it at a certain point. You need to take this leap.” And it’s scary as those of us who’ve come out to parents [know], which is most gay kids at this point, or queer people in general. It’s very scary and it’s a big deal, but it’s something that’s pretty important in that journey. And what was important to me throughout the show was to make sure that we had sophisticated and complicated relationships with parents going on here. It was why it was so important for me to keep Skip’s dad in the show, to see somebody be supportive like that, to see somebody whose love cup is endless. And I think that to see Yuna [Shane’s mom, played by Christina Chang] is such an important part of this show, and she’s such an important part moving forward, especially. And I think that in these moments, you see that her and Shane are so similar, and they have very similar limitations, and that it was really important to me for the two of them to have a moment together beyond what was already in the book and what was already in the story. It felt very important to me that these two have—I don’t think it’s a reckoning, but that they have their own moment of intimacy where they can clear things up for one another. Because I think they’re both the kinds of people that build things up in their heads, and when you say things out loud, I think you can kind of take the air out of them, and it suddenly becomes a lot more manageable than whatever you’ve created in your brain. And it helps to have two very, very good actors there to do the heavy lifting for me.
Christina Chang as Yuna and Dylan Walsh as David Hollander in the ‘Heated Rivalry’ Season 1 finale episode ‘The Cottage’ (Sabrina Lantos/HBO Max)
DEADLINE: And one thing that’s really tragic, even though it was such a great finale, just the fact that Shane wants to just keep their relationship a secret until they retire. And it kind of struck me how it’s almost like art imitating life, or vice-versa, with the pressure and speculation that the actors are facing. Was that exploration of fame in the back of your head when you were making this?
TIERNEY: I mean, I’ve been an actor my whole life. I know what that’s like. I’ve known loads of actors in the closet. I’ve known loads of actors who have come out. And I do think that part of the reason that this story appealed to me is because I can relate to it. I can understand that pressure, especially when you come up at a young enough age that you don’t know, that you don’t know what an answer to a question like that would be, but you certainly live in a world where you got a lot of people telling you not to talk about it, and that if you want the things you want, you’ll kind of keep toe-ing a line. And I think that’s also part of what makes the story resonate with so many people is that we’re not pretending we live in a world without homophobia, and we’re not pretending we live in a world where coming out is easy. I think that’s part of the beauty of what Scott does is so brave, and it’s so big, and it does crack something open for other people, but I think what it cracks open for them is just allowing them to know that they are allowed to be together. The rest of it, they can figure out at a later date—and the fans of the book know how this is gonna go—but I think that part of what is interesting and different and unique about Shane and Ilya’s story is that this journey that we’re watching them go on in this first book, in this first season of TV now, is a journey to just understanding that they love each other. And that’s such a hurdle for them. That’s hard enough for them, that to then add in the rest of the world, I think will take a whole other season of television. So, that’s kind of part of the journey that will be explored down the road. But I have a lot of empathy and I have a lot of time for Shane’s journey with that stuff. It’s not easy. It’s hard, and I do think that there’s actors, a lot of professionals, especially people who begin their professional journey at 12 years old. There’s so much baked in, and there’s so much built in around you that you can often lose yourself. I think it’s quite easy to do that, and again, I’ve seen it happen with so many actors that I came up with.
DEADLINE: Speaking of which, I just recently discovered that you were in Are You Afraid of the Dark?, which was such a big part of my childhood.
TIERNEY: I am a campfire kid forever.
DEADLINE: I love that. Were there moments on Heated Rivalry where you had to compromise your vision or the story?
TIERNEY: Sure, there were moments along the way … my execs at Crave were so f*cking amazing about that. There were people along the way. But my execs, they didn’t want it toned down at all.
Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander and Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov in the ‘Heated Rivalry’, Season 1 finale episode ‘The Cottage’
DEADLINE: Well, it’s great to see such a fearlessly queer show, especially when GLAAD recently released their study that almost half of LGBTQ characters are disappearing. So, it just feels very needed right now, and I love it.
TIERNEY: We added a bunch, so at least there’s that. It’s not a great time for stuff like that, and I think, unfortunately, the more there’s consolidation among broadcasters and streamers too, it’s not gonna get a lot better, I don’t think. But it is nice to be a part of a show that is doing something like this, that’s reminding people that there’s loads of audiences here and that they can be queer and queer adjacent, our allies, our friends, our families. If this was just gay people watching this show, we wouldn’t be talking about it right now, let’s be real. So, the fact that it’s gotten to this level of conversation in the culture is because there are people that want to watch this, and they don’t care if it’s two men in a love story, or maybe even want that specifically. And then even more so, it’s just such a pleasure to be involved in a show that’s making people happy and that is providing joy. I still read people being like, “I know that this show is gonna end on a cliffhanger.” And I keep wanting to shout it from the rooftops, “It won’t! I don’t want to do that to you, that’s not what we’re doing here.”
DEADLINE: Honestly, I had that thought too, watching it. It’s such a good ending, and then they get in the car. I’m like, “Oh, they’re about to get into a car accident or something. I just know it.”
TIERNEY: You know what’s really funny, is that if I let that footage just run and run and run, because we shot that in the studio, my producing partner Brendan [Brady] will run out in front of that car and get hit by it. So you will see our straight producer dying. Does that help? Is that the secret twist that nobody saw coming?
DEADLINE: That’s the one we want.
TIERNEY: There you go. That’s it.
DEADLINE: Another thing I thought was funny, I’m reading a lot of the social media reactions, and you’ve introduced a lot of viewers to frottage.
TIERNEY: Frottage at the cottage, baby!
Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov and Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander in the ‘Heated Rivalry’, Season 1 finale episode ‘The Cottage’
DEADLINE: Yeah, exactly. So that’s cool, it’s really opening a lot of eyes to queer sex. And I’ve also seen some people talk about how very accurate the sex scenes are to the book, and I’m wondering if you were very committed to maintaining accuracy to those scenes.
TIERNEY: Some of them are super accurate to, or close to the book, and some of them go different ways. But what I would say I was committed to, that Rachel and I are both committed to, was kind of using this sex to tell their story, that this is not separate from their story. The sex isn’t like, “And then they fuck! Let’s put it in a new room or do it on a kitchen counter.” Their sex is the way that they understand each other, and it’s the way that we understand them as a couple. So, what I was committed to was making sure that we watch this relationship evolve through the sex, because it’s one thing to just make smut—which I’m thrilled to be doing. No shame in that game. But it would be numbing and boring to watch the same f*ck scene over and over again. Who cares at a certain point? We are certainly not starved for sex, as viewers. You can go watch sex wherever you want to. So, what would have to keep this interesting, is to watch it evolve and to watch their intimacy change. That’s why I love the sex in episode 6 so much, because it’s both incredibly sweet and then incredibly playful and funny. And I like those two juxtapositions. That’s when I feel like they’re a real couple, like when you’re giving somebody a blowjob to annoy them. That’s what a boyfriend does. That’s annoying. That’s great. That’s what I want to see.
DEADLINE: Another thing I loved, as great as the sex scenes are, I noticed that episode 5, there’s not as many sex scene.
TIERNEY: There’s none.
DEADLINE: But there’s a lot of more emotional intimacy, and it made it feel so earned and real. Like when Ilya tells Shane “I love you” in Russian.
TIERNEY: I think that’s part of the evolution too, it’s a story. It was really important to me that you have to earn these moments. That’s why episode 3 is where it is, and that’s why 5 ends the way it does. This stuff, it has to imprint on you, and then, you get that those big feelings like that. And I don’t think you get those big feelings that you get in 5 if you haven’t sat through how painful 4 was for them, or the ending of 2, where you’re like, “Oh God, will these two ever f*cking learn to talk to each other?” And then when they do in 5, it’s in two different languages. I think that’s also part of what’s amazing when romance works, that you’re just endlessly watching two people bypass each other. When they hit, you’re like, “No, wait! It’s not that.” And that aching. Yeah, it’s been so fun to see people react to that.
Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov and Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander in the ‘Heated Rivalry’, Season 1 finale episode ‘The Cottage’
DEADLINE: Where are you at with Season 2, or are you just kind of letting it ruminate?
TIERNEY: It’s all gonna be underwater. It takes place in the lost city of Atlantis—no, listen, Season 2 will be based around The Long Game. I don’t have details. I have not started writing, so I’m not just trying to be evasive. I genuinely don’t know yet. I’m so lucky to have a whole world of books here to grab things from, to use, to add color, to add context, to add story. I can tell you I’m really excited to get back to writing. I’m excited to get back into this world with them, and I’m looking forward to it. I guess, here’s what I can say too, is that Heated Rivalry will always be centered around Shane and Ilya, this show. But we have a whole universe here, and so there’s loads of other things that we’re thinking about and that we’re gonna explore and that we’re gonna start to take more seriously now that we know that there’s an audience for it. And that’s pretty exciting, so I’m looking forward to really digging into this world.
SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from “The Cottage,” the Season 1 finale of “Heated Rivalry,” now streaming on HBO Max.
“Heated Rivalry” finally took its hockey lover boys to the cottage, and everything has changed.
In the Season 1 finale of HBO Max’s smash-hit romance, Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rosanov (Connor Storrie) settled in for two weeks at Shane’s remote cottage, and immediately made a pact. For the first time in their more-than-a-decade-long history, they would use their uninterrupted alone time to tell each other the truth about how they feel. No more burying their emotions or expressing them in a language the other can’t understand –– no matter how beautiful Ilya’s Russian revelation was in Episode 5.
It didn’t take long for them to make good on that promise. Ilya teased Shane about maybe marrying his best friend, Svetlana (Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova), or another woman so as not to blow their cover. But then he admitted he had a problem –– none of those women were Shane. Shane, in turn, pulled an all-nighter churning out a plan for them to slowly ease the world into the idea of their relationship, starting with Ilya joining the Ottawa team to be closer to him in Montreal, and then they would co-found a charity to start melting the supposedly frigid animosity between them. It was a long-game plan, but the mere mental gymnastics of trying to set up their future together moved Ilya to tears, and left him coughing up those three words–– “I love you.” Shane immediately reciprocated it with lightning-fast urgency, obliterating one of the last barriers between them.
Hudson Williams, Connor Storrie, Dylan Walsh and Christina Chang
Courtesy of Sabrina Lantos/HBO Max
From there, the tenor of their cottage getaway changed, and ultimately felt more romantic than ever. That is, until Shane’s dad, David (Dylan Walsh), walked in on them kissing and fled before his son could explain. Shane had put off telling his parents about being gay or loving his archrival. But now, Shane and Ilya both went to see David and Yuna (Christina Chang) to break the news. It was a tough pill to swallow, but not because they don’t approve of their son. Rather, it completely shatters his hockey-loving parents’ 10-year-plus belief they hated each other. Instead, they finally see two young men, who have been crazy about each other since rookie year (or rather, the summer before!), now sitting at the Hollanders’ dinner table as a couple.Ilya even comforts Shane in a moment of panic by calling him his boyfriend, a simple but monumental step for Hollanov, as the internet has dubbed them.
Season 1 ends as the boys drive back to their refuge away from the world, staring down a beautiful sunset that hides everything that waits on the other side of their cottage chapter, which will play out in an already-ordered Season 2. That’s a little different from the conclusion of Rachel Reid’s book, on which the series is based, in which they launch their foundation to lay the groundwork for the future. However, series creator/writer/director Jacob Tierney wanted something more romantic for his final shot, just in case the series didn’t become the phenomenon that it has.
“I wanted to leave the viewer with what the book left me with emotionally, which was the warm, fuzzy feeling of them getting to be happy together,” Tierney tells Variety. “I thought of doing something with just a bit of elegance, and there’s a simplicity to the two of them in a car, driving off into the sunset, and not over a cliff. That was all I ever wanted out of this story.”
Below, Tierney tells Variety about how he pulled the much-anticipated cottage episode together; whether fan-favorite couple Scott (François Arnaud) and Kip (Robbie GK) will play a bigger role in Season 2 — and why he thinks women have gravitated toward this unabashedly queer love story between two men.
There are some things that happen at the cottage in Rachel Reid’s book that aren’t here in the finale. Shane and Illya playing against each other in Shane’s hockey training facility, and a pretty explosive oral sex scene that could have been an homage to the beginning of “Queer As Folk.” How did you figure out what would make the cut for your version for this chapter for Shane and Ilya?
I wanted to make sure we were still on the same journey with them, and still learning things about them. If we are talking specifically about the sex scenes in the book, they’d eaten ass in Episode 2, so I didn’t really feel like I needed to hit that hard here. I wanted to make sure that we were still watching this change and evolve for them, and the sex that we were seeing this time around was more intimate, playful and sweet. And as evolved as it could be, particularly from the stuff that we were seeing in Episodes 1 and 2. Ultimately, the stuff that mattered to me at the cottage was the stuff that continued the journey of understanding them and their relationship. There was no set agenda. It ended up being the stuff I remember from reading it, if I’m being honest.
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Courtesy of Sabrina Lantos/HBO Max
By the end of the episode, they have learned to better communicate with each other. Not perfectly, but previously sex was their only means of doing that. Does that mean you envision less sex in Season 2, and more sitting on the couch scrolling their phones and touching toes now that they can use their words more efficiently?
Oh, the touching toes! I love that scene. You know, Rachel talks a lot about the promise that I made to her to take her characters seriously. She takes them very seriously in “The Long Game,” and that doesn’t mean there’s no sex. There’s quite a bit of sex in “The Long Game.” But I think it functions differently in the second book, and that’s just what I want to do. The journey of this show, no matter how long it goes on for, will always be centered around the relationship between Shane and Ilya. Sex will always be a big part of it, like it is with any romantic relationship. But it’s really about continuing that progress of what happens after that first blush of love, what happens after you decide you’re in love and how do you sustain it? That’s a very adult question: “We love each other, and now what? Does that mean everything’s easy?” No, it does not. There’s loads of challenges that get thrown Shane and Ilya’s way. Beyond what’s in the books, I really don’t have an agenda besides that I love this couple and I love these characters, and I want to just hang out with them more and watch them grow more and watch them become better for each other.
Since you loved the touching toes scene, was that something you planned ahead of time or was it a choice you and Hudson and Connor made in the moment while filming?
No, that was planned. What I really wanted to be part of the cottage episode was that, when you’re in a relationship, you’re just doing things like being on your phones at the same time. I want them to live in the real world, and to do those little things that people do when they are in a relationship, because Shane and Ilya are. They can’t always be fucking. God knows, that’s just exhausting! I just wanted to capture little normal couple moments and I don’t think I’m the only one in a relationship who occasionally sits on a couch scrolling on our phones separately and then showing our partner what we are seeing.
It certainly shows how far they have come since their fleeting hotel meetups. But there is still a little bit of Reid’s book that you don’t cover in the finale. In the book, months later they announce Shane’s big plan to start a foundation together, the first step in chipping away at their rivalry until they can come out as a couple. But your season ends with them riding home from Shane’s parents’ house in the car, just holding hands and laughing. Do you see Season 2 starting with that announcement, or was this your end to the first book?
Well, books are so different from TV and I didn’t know if I was even going to get to make more of these. As much as I care about their charity and what they’re going to do, I don’t know that we need a bunch of exposition at the end of a season of TV like this. I wanted to leave the viewer with what the book left me with emotionally, which was the kind of warm, fuzzy feeling of them getting to be happy together. I thought of doing something with just a bit of elegance, and there’s a simplicity to the two of them in a car, driving off into the sunset, and not over a cliff. That was all I ever wanted out of this story.
Part of the balancing act of the storytelling for me was always that you get this big moment with Scott and Kip in the last episode. It is this massive rom-com public declaration of love, and what I love about Shane and Ilya’s story is that you get another version of that kind of happiness, which is this small moment with the two of them just being allowed to be in love. That was the sweetest ending I could come up with for them, for now.
Speaking of Scott and Kip, there has been such an enthusiasm for them, maybe more than some people expected. Last week’s episode, which ended on Scott bringing Kip out on the ice to announce their relationship, now shares the top spot on IMDb’s list of the highest-rated episodes of television of all time. Does that encourage you to include more of their story in Season 2, or do you foresee keeping this format of seeing them when they intersect with Shane and Ilya?
This will continue to be Shane and Ilya’s story, and Scott and Kip will continue to intersect with them on occasion. But just because “Heated Rivalry” is Shane and Ilya’s story doesn’t mean that precludes potentially doing stuff with Scott and Kip outside of that specific show. We optioned all Rachel’s books, and part of the reason we did that was because, obviously, these characters appear throughout all the books. There’s a real richness to a lot of the stories there, and fans will know that Scott and Kip feature very strongly in “Common Goal.” They are all over the place. I don’t know exactly what we’re going to do yet, but there are places we could go with them that I would definitely be excited to explore.
Courtesy of Sabrina Lantos/HBO Max
In the finale, we get a scene with Shane and his mom, Yuna, after he comes out. This is a bit of a change from the book, where the conversation is entirely between Shane, Ilya, Yuna and David. Why did you give Shane and his mom this separate moment?
Yuna is such a crucial character in the story. I know it’s not always on display in this season, but as fans of the books know, Yuna is such a big part of both Shane and Ilya’s lives moving forward. In trying to take this stuff seriously, I wanted to show complicated, interesting adult relationships here, and that includes the parents. It was just really important to me for Shane and Yuna to have a conversation. They needed to have a moment together. They’re obviously very close. They’re obviously very similar, and his mom has very similar blinders that he does. So there’s something really important about reminding people that even though we can hurt each other in these relationships, and they can be difficult, there is love and allyship there as well. Sometimes, it just requires a little conversation.
The queer community is understandably hooked by this show, but there has also been an intense embrace from female viewers, specifically straight women. Why do you think that is?
I think that’s a very complicated question, and there are a lot of answers to it. Women love these books. These are books written by a woman. These are books largely consumed by women. So I wouldn’t want to speak on behalf of a female audience, but I think that what women are presented in romance is not always something that interests them in that way. I think that women are also, in real life and in culture, endlessly exposed to sexual violence. Seeing things like this, that are depictions ultimately of male vulnerability, can be very refreshing. From what I’ve heard, from the women who have written to me and Rachel and the boys, there’s a safety in seeing a woman being removed from the conversation. So you’re watching something happen between two men, and there is no fear of violence. There is no fear of things turning into stuff that women have to deal with too much in real life, and don’t want to deal with in their fantasies, and ultimately, this is a romantic fantasy. I think it’s also that maybe romance — which is a genre that women love and write and read and are the primary consumers of — just doesn’t get treated with a lot of respect. Nor do the people that make it, or those that adapt it either. So I think that they are responding to, at least I hope, the fact that we came to it pretty fullhearted, and as fans and as people who want to honor this material and want to honor the genre and make it as romantic as we can. That’s certainly what I wanted to do.
Every week, despite the soaring success of your show, you have had to respond to controversies and people wanting to tear it down. This week, Hudson responded to Deuxmoi’s comments about his personal life, and who he might be dating. But Deuxmoi also said the show has no plot and bad acting. What do you say to opinions like that?
This show wouldn’t work if any of that were true. I mean, it just wouldn’t. Nobody would give a shit about this if the acting was bad, or if there was no story. I think this is a show that actually requires you to pay attention. If you’re glib and you’re on your phone the whole time, or you’re looking to not pay attention, then God bless, and do whatever you want. But you have to be there in the moment if you want to watch. This is a show where there’s a lot of communication between the lines. It’s a lot about behavior. It’s a lot about watching. And if you don’t have the attention span for it or the interest, then I’m gonna be super honest with you. I could give a fuck what Deuxmoi’s criticism is of the show. I literally don’t even know who these people are. I don’t give a fuck what they think about anything. But I understand that, from what I have read multiple times now, people say this is a show that is not a co-viewing experience. You can’t be on your phone. If you wanna get what it’s doing, you have to pay attention to it. It’s definitely made to hold your attention. And if it doesn’t, then that’s a good criticism too. This is not for everybody, and that is A-OK. But I think at a certain point, the show speaks for itself, and the reaction to it speaks for itself, and there’s no way that these boys would be on the receiving end of the attention that they’re getting if they weren’t good. The papa bear in me does not like comments like this, obviously, because I know how hard they work. I think they’re fucking amazing. But we also live in a time where everybody gets their opinion, then they get to put it out on whatever platform they have, and so I get it. Keep doing your thing, Deuxmoi!
There’s so many new characters that are going to be really fun to bring in. But I think that next season will end up feeling different because it’s a more focused book. It takes place over a shorter amount of time. There’s more a sense of getting to know that team in Ottawa that Ilya is going to play for and getting to know Hayden and Jackie more. And there’s more Yuna and David. Hopefully what will happen, like with any good second season in general, is that we will get to enrich the stuff you already know and how those threads began, and then pull on them and really get into it. But I’m also really looking forward to seeing Ilya in therapy. It’s probably a really good thing for him. I know that my therapist has been crucial to getting through the past few months.
As Heated Rivalry is closely approaching the end of Season 1, Connor Storrie is still being humble about his fame.
The 25-year-old actor blossomed into fame with the Canadian gay hockey show with his co-star Hudson Williams, and he’s having fun while doing so. However, what comes with starring in a show that’s focused on the romance of two male hockey players is an onslaught of people speculating their real-life sexualities and partners.
To creator and director, Jacob Tierney, their sexualities did not matter while casting. “I don’t think there’s any reason to get into that stuff,” he told Xtra Magazine. “I’ll tell you something about the casting of both of these roles. You can’t ask questions like that when you’re casting, right? It’s actually against the law. So what you have to gauge is somebody’s enthusiasm and willingness to do the work. And that’s what’s so impressive about both of these guys is they came into this being like, ‘Yeah, we’re here to do this, and we are here to make this story feel authentic and to be as real as possible.’ And they fucking hit it out of the park. “
Who is Connor Storrie dating in real life?
Connor Storrie hasn’t disclosed who he’s dating, and he will go to great lengths to protect his privacy. The actor told Vulture that he wants to protect his private life on behalf of himself and people who didn’t sign up to have all eyes on them. “This is the first time in my life I’m having this many eyes on me,” he told the site. “They’ve seen me naked, they’ve seen me kiss, they’ve seen me be in love with a man on screen — it’s only normal for people to try to transfer that over to mine and Hudson’s real life.”
“I feel honored to be able to bring someone to life that so many people feel seen, understood, and represented by, and I think that transcends whoever I’m sleeping with in my real life,” he continued.
In an earlier interview with Deadline, the actor emphasized that it’s important for him to “have a little bit of separation from the character in the show.”
“All I can really say is that I love Ilya, I love the community that this is a part of and that this caters to. I think that’s so much more interesting and valuable than doing just another run-of-the-mill, straight story,” he explained.
After DeuxMoi leaked the details of Hudson Williams’ alleged girlfriend, Hudson Williams commented on their Instagram page: “You know what, I’ve grown quite unfond of you deuxmoi.”
The two co-stars have gushed about their close friendship. They have matching tattoos and Storrie recounted in the Vulture article that they lived next door to each other. We would literally just go to set, go home, cook, work out together, and geek out over how excited we were to finally be working on this level,” he told the outlet. “If we were any less close, we probably would’ve gotten annoyed with each other really quick.”
Heated Rivalry has become the internet’s latest obsession, with its steamy and smutty storyline about two hockey players who are locked in a forbidden romance.
The Canadian TV series stars Connor Storie as Ilya Rozanov, a Russian American player for the Boston Raiders, and Hudson Williams as Canadian-born Shane Hollander of the fictitious Montreal Metros. The show is adapted from Rachel Reid’s novel of the same name, and it has no shortage of bittersweet romance and sex scenes—some fans also say that it’s a pretty faithful adaptation in terms of sex content.
“What I loved about [the story] and why I did ultimately think it was adaptable is because sex is the language of their love,” creator Jacob Tierney told The Hollywood Reporter. “Sex is how you tell the story because their sex changes as they get to know each other, as they get to know themselves.”
Are Connor Storrie & Hudson Williams Gay?
Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams haven’t said anything about their own sexualities publicly. However, creator Jacob Tierney answered a question in Xtra Magazine about casting queer actors for queer characters, and the actors blending their personal lives with their professional.
“I don’t think there’s any reason to get into that stuff,” he told the outlet. “I’ll tell you something about the casting of both of these roles. You can’t ask questions like that when you’re casting, right? It’s actually against the law. So what you have to gauge is somebody’s enthusiasm and willingness to do the work. And that’s what’s so impressive about both of these guys is they came into this being like, ‘Yeah, we’re here to do this, and we are here to make this story feel authentic and to be as real as possible.’ And they fucking hit it out of the park. “
“Who I date, who I sleep with, who this, that, whatever, I’m gonna keep that to myself,” Storrie said. “All I can really say is that I love Ilya, I love the community that this is a part of and that this caters to. I think that’s so much more interesting and valuable than doing just another run-of-the-mill, straight story.”
The two actors gushed about their instant chemistry with each other during the audition process. “Hudson was the third actor that I read with,” Storrie told Out Magazine. “The first two, I was like, ‘OK, this is cool,’ and then Hudson came on. Jacob [Tierney] actually texted me directly and was like, ‘What do you think?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, Hudson, for sure.’ Instantly.”
“I read with one other possible Ilya, and it was good,” Williams recalled. “But something about Connor… There was an inexplicable X-factor that just felt realer than what I thought it could possibly be. And that was something. I had a quote I told Jacob, at one point, about my read with Connor in particular.”
“Hudson told me, ‘The other guy was good, but Connor felt like he was going to pin me down and fuck me,’” Tierney revealed. “That is literally what he said. And I was like, ‘Well, I think I cast this right.’”
“Is there only one way to have ‘authentic’ gay sex on tv?” asked Arnaud in an Instagram comment. “Should the sex that closeted hockey players have look like the sex that sceney LA gay guys have?”
Williams took the high road on his Instagram Story. “But truly go watch I Love LA! Jordan and the cast are great!!” he wrote.
The stars’ posts come after Firstman compared them to the sex scenes on his own HBO Max show, which he said a “straight guy could not write,” despite the fact that Heated Rivalry creator, writer and director Jacob Tierney being openly gay.
“Yeah, we’re going for it. It’s gay,” he told Vulture. “I’m sorry, I watched those first two episodes of Heated Rivalry, and it’s just not gay. It’s not how gay people f*ck. There’s so few things that actually show gay sex.”
Firstman later added that “a lot of people just want entertainment or to see two straight hockey players pretending to be gay and f*cking.”
After Heated Rivalry‘s two-episode premiere last month, LGBTQ fans have passionately taken to the show’s depiction of gay intimacy in the adaptation of Rachel Reid’s Game Changers novel series.
Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov and Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander in ‘Heated Rivalry’ (Sabrina Lantos)
Williams previously told Deadline, “The sex scenes, we rehearse them so heavily and we knew what we were gonna do going in, that they’re also a lot of fun.”
“Yeah, it’s a dance, added his romantic lead Connor Storrie.
Arnaud explained to Deadline, “They chose people who believed in the usefulness of these scenes to tell that story. … I liked that our scenes with Kip [played by Robbie GK] were showing another side of sexuality, which is tentative and repressed and like role-play almost, and it’s just two people who are actually just giving in, and the joy of that.”
Last week’s cutesy, comedy-less rom-com was all good and well — a little something for the moms watching — but thank god we’re finally back to the story between Ilya and Shane that got us invested in this show in the first place. Their long-distance, slow-burn situationship is well portrayed through a montage at the beginning of the episode that spans 2014 to 2016. We see them continue to text, Ilya partying and Shane shooting brand deals, and both checking their calendars for the next game they have against each other. Those games are intercut with glimpses of the sex they’re having afterwards, and after Shane wins two cups, Ilya texts him, “The only cup you’ll have next year is the one I’ll take off with my mouth.”
But naturally, over this long stretch of time, people are asking about their respective romantic lives. During a trip to the aquarium with Hayden and his four kids, who only appear off-screen (saving production money that they can then spend on body oil), he asks about an ex of Shane’s, and tries to set him up with one of his wife’s friends. Even Shane’s parents try to set him up with a Swedish princess — a brief break from their usual focus on his brand deals. Even Ilya gets pressed by Svetlana about whether he’s dating, and she asks about the mysterious “Jane” he’s texting. But neither of them seems open to any romantic prospects outside of one another.
Finally, the pair meet again at Ilya’s place, and waste no time kissing right there in the entryway, where Ilya lifts Shane up onto the counter. We then cut to Shane riding him in bed like a Zamboni, before getting spun around in a smooth position switch. Afterwards, when Shane suggests that he should go, Ilya asks him to spend the night, adding, “I’m not done with you.” Even hotter than the bare asses.
It’s also a marked shift from what we’re used to seeing between them, especially from Ilya. In the first two episodes, their relationship was predominantly physical, but naturally, over such a long stretch of time, a personal connection has grown. Amongst other things, a-yo! What happens when Shane stays is far more intimate and vulnerable than anything we’ve seen thus far — they cuddle, Ilya asks if Shane’s ginger ale is cold enough, and even offers to make him a tuna melt. A tuna melt! Get a room, you two, Jesus. But with this evolution comes confusion. Purely sexual or fully romantic are much easier connections for someone to wrap their head around than this grey, in-between area on that spectrum.
For example, when they’re sitting on the couch, Ilya mentions sleeping with Svetlana and dating women, which Shane seems to bristle at. In turn, Shane says he likes girls too, even though Ilya hasn’t seen any proof of this. “I like girls, but I also like you,” Ilya tells him. “Not as a person, of course. But you have a good mouth.” The barb points out the elephant slowly wandering into the room — are they just mouths (and butts), or are they people in each other’s lives? While the first half of this conversation points to the former, the next part, in which Shane asks if Ilya’s father is okay after overhearing a tense phone call, suggests the latter. “Oh, you speak Russian now?” he asks, to which Shane replies, “I know the word for father.” Yeah, I bet he knows the Russian word for daddy, too.
Cuddling on the couch quickly turns to Shane getting on top of Ilya yet again, this time jerking them both off. But post-completion, Shane suddenly has a change of heart and quickly decides to leave, saying, “I’m sorry. I can’t do this.” It’s like he’s reading off that Post-It note Berger left for Carrie Bradshaw. That grey area might just be too much for him to wrap his head around.
Later in the episode, Shane gets invited to a party where the show essentially presents him with his two potential paths. First, when he orders a drink, a seemingly flirtatious male bartender gives it to him for free — so that’s what’s available behind Door Number One. But behind Door Number Two is the actress Rose Landry (played by Yellowjackets’s Sophie Nélisse). Impossible to say which is the gayer choice: gay sex or hanging out with Young Melanie Lynskey. Ultimately, he chooses the latter. She’s in town shooting a new “X-Squad” movie, and being that she grew up in a family of hockey fans, the pair naturally hit it off.
But what’s really driving this connection? A high profile relationship would make sense if Shane was facing questions about his sexuality from the public, but any pressure to date has really just come from his close friends and family. There’s also the possibility that he’s actually into Rose. But the timing of this is interesting, with it happening right after Ilya mentioned sleeping with women himself. Is this some kind of competitive bi-off? Or maybe he’s scared that his connection with Ilya is beginning to shift more toward the romantic than the physical, and this is an attempt to run or course-correct.
In any case, the relationship soon goes public. Paparazzi photos of the pair are taken, Rose wears his jersey to a game, and they quickly become the hot celebrity/sports couple — like Travis and Taylor. Ilya, being the Karlie Kloss in this situation, is, of course, disgruntled by the coverage.
Two weeks later, they’re playing against each other again, and per usual, Shane is on his phone before the game. But this time it’s Rose he’s texting, who wants him to go out to the club with her afterwards. Old habits die hard, though, and we see him check his messages with Ilya…but nothing. Maybe that’s why they both end up underperforming in what turns out to be a dud of a game, though we do at least get one quick glimpse of Ilya throwing Shane up against the glass out on the ice. Oh, I didn’t realize this was an exhibition match.
After the game, Shane meets up with Rose as planned, and despite being exhausted, agrees to dance with her at the club. But guess who also decided to go to what seems to be Montreal’s only club after the game? Ilya, who watches on after spotting hockey’s new it-couple together across the dance floor. But two can play at that game, so Ilya finds a girl of his own and ups the ante by making out with her in front of Shane. I can already picture the fan edits of this scene set to “Dancing On My Own” by Robyn. But since this is a Crave Original, that of course isn’t the song actually playing, it’s “All The Things She Said” by (fittingly) Russian duo t.A.T.u.
But quick sidebar: what’s the deal with Rose’s friend Miles? He’s actively flirting with Shane at their table, makes eyes at Ilya at the bar, and then, in the strangest move of all, joins Shane and Rose on the dance floor and not only grinds up behind Shane, but kisses his neck like they’re in Challengers? And it goes completely unacknowledged by everyone. What the fuck is that about?
Perhaps because the club refused to play Robyn’s music, both of our hockey players soon leave. Shane has sex with Rose, which feels a little like watching a dog walk on its hind legs, whereas Ilya is left to jerk off alone in the shower. But as we cut back and forth between their respective completions, it feels like the moment they’re both actually still in is the brief eye contact they made on the dance floor.
• 12:34: Shane’s butt in motion, grinding as he rides Ilya. Classless.
• 12:50: A rear shot of him walking toward Ilya in bed, fully nude. Tasteful.
• 41:28: Ilya’s hockey butt narrowly avoids shattering the glass as he jerks off in the shower. Christmas came early and so did he.
SPOILERS: This post contains details about the Heated Rivalry episode ‘Rose’
Never has hockey been more important to LGBTQ audiences than in the wake of Heated Rivalry‘s meteoric success, presenting many physical demands for the show’s stars—on and off the ice.
Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, who star in the Crave/HBO Max show as closeted hockey pros Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander, recently explained to Deadline why they would “rather [film] the sex scenes” than hockey sequences.
“Because the hockey scenes—my feet hurt and then I cramp and I’m not that good, so I have to be very diligent with making sure I don’t look like a phony,” explained Williams. “But with the sex scenes, we rehearse them so heavily and we knew what we were gonna do going in, that they’re also a lot of fun.”
Storrie echoed his co-star’s sentiment, noting, “The hockey stuff is not easy. I mean, it’s hard to believe yourself as an NHL player at the top of your craft. … It’s very physically demanding. It’s also, being on the ice for so long is almost nauseating. I don’t know, just the lights, it’s cold. It’s so not easy.”
Fortunately for the show’s devoted fans, this week’s episode ‘Rose’ features multiple intimate moments between Ilya and Shane. Meanwhile, the stars are aware of the fan speculation that’s grown around their own sexual orientations, which Williams notes is “just the nature of celebrity.”
‘Heated Rivalry’s Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams
Glenn Garner/Deadline
Williams said, “I think there’s never a question for me, when I would dream of becoming in the public eye, that I would want just a level of privacy. But of course, I agree. I want queer people telling queer stories, but also, there’s the element of Connor and I—we’re best friends, and we love expressing that physically.”
For Storrie, with “so much energy coming at us,” he explained, “It’s important for me to have a little bit of separation from the character in the show.”
Based on Rachel Reid’s Game Changers novels, the Jacob Tierney-created series follows the affair between Ilya and Shane as they begin to fall in love over several years, sneaking away to see each other when their teams are playing.
Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov and Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander in ‘Heated Rivalry’
Sabrina Lantos
The episode ‘Rose’, now available to stream, sees Ilya and Shane trading in their usual discreet hotel rendezvous for Ilya’s mansion. Despite the casual nature of their dynamic, the pair sticks around after their latest hookup for some cuddling and tuna melts. But when things start getting a little too real for Shane, he bolts, only to spark romance with famous actress Rose Landry (Sophie Nélisse).
Read on about the latest episode of Heated Rivalry.
DEADLINE: I know everybody on social media is loving Heated Rivalry, and I also saw that you guys went to Hi Tops last night. What was it like seeing the fan reaction in person?
CONNOR STORRIE: It’s so overwhelming. We did some fan events before the show came out, and that felt a little easier because it wasn’t so much about us. It was more about the story, but that was so weird to be around people, because it became not just about, “I love this story, I love these characters,” but like, “I love you on the show,” and it’s like, oh, I can’t accept that.
HUDSON WILLIAMS: Yeah, I almost just wish they didn’t give us mics and they just sent us into the crowd, because I can do person-to-person, but when they’re like, “say something,” and it’s like “What do you want me to say in front of everyone? Everyone’s looking at you and filming you, but it’s still grea. After the mics went down, we just got to meet these people, taking selfies, and they’re just saying how much it means to them. That is really special.
Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov in ‘Heated Rivalry’
Sabrina Lantos
DEADLINE: And obviously, the sex scenes have been incredibly popular. But I have to wonder what is more physically demanding, the intimate scenes or the hockey scenes? which would you rather spend the day filming?
WILLIAMS: I’d rather do the sex scenes because the hockey scenes—my feet hurt and then I cramp and I’m not that good, so I have to be very diligent with making sure I don’t look like a phony. But with the sex scenes, we rehearse them so heavily and we knew what we were gonna do going in, that they’re also a lot of fun.
STORRIE: Yeah, it’s a dance. I totally agree with that. The hockey stuff is not easy. I mean, it’s hard to believe yourself as an NHL player at the top of your craft. I mean, those people, they work their entire lives for that. So, getting in those skates, being next to these guys who have been doing this for like 20 years, you’re like, “I’m OK.” It’s very physically demanding. It’s also, being on the ice for so long is almost nauseating. I don’t know, just the lights, it’s cold. It’s so not easy.
DEADLINE: I loved this episode because we’ve seen Shane just really putting his heart on his sleeve, but now we’re starting to see Ilya kind of give in a little bit. But then on top of that, we’re seeing Shane pull away. Tell me about tug of war and how you guys brought that to the screen.
STORRIE: For me, it’s always just moment to moment. I don’t really think of things in like arcs or plot or, “Oh this is so different from what we’ve done before.” I think we just kind of know these characters really well, and then it’s easy to kind of take that bass and plug and play it. I always look at Ilya as his own thing, and then I think if I’m really solid on that, then it naturally will provide whatever needs to be happening in the plot of the story. And then we have someone like Jacob who knows the story like the back of his hand and is willing to be like, “No, I think at this point, we need a little more of this, we need a little less that.” So, it’s just really knowing the person, and then you can plug that into any element of the story.
Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander in ‘Heated Rivalry’
Sabrina Lantos
WILLIAMS: Yes. To that point, knowing Shane, it felt like, of course he’s running. This is almost like when you go to pick up something you think is heavy and then it goes light, it’s almost like that moment where it’s like, “Oh my God.” He is like it, it looks like boyfriends. It looks like a partner, and it hasn’t up to this point. And that’s sort of terrifying. And [calling him by] the first name, it’s a lot of things that are just sort of scaring him in that moment, that it’s hard just to take that.
STORRIE: Right. There’s so many new things that you can’t help but feel altered or different.
DEADLINE: I also love the addition of Rose in this episode. What was it like bringing her into the fold? Because it’s kind of giving Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift.
WILLIAMS: Right. I’m not too familiar with them, so I can’t speak to that. But working with Sophie, it was fantastic, and the Rose character is also very interesting because, obviously Shane is in love with Ilya, but Rose, her character in a way adds pressure to who he’s meant to be or what he thinks he should look like. But then again, she’s a confidant and she’s someone who’s open and accepting and makes him feel really safe. And up to that point, it was really only Ilya who could provide that, and his emotions weren’t always handled with care, so it’s a super interesting connection.
STORRIE: Yes, another true connection.=-=[]aq
DEADLINE: And just being able to step out in public and have paparazzi take pictures of them—
WILLIAMS: Yeah, I think that’s the sort of tragic element for Shane is, because he’s able to do this with someone who he doesn’t feel truthful that this person he’s in love with in that same way, but it’s being celebrated in a way that he feels they never would be.
DEADLINE: GLAAD recently released a report that nearly half of LGBTQ characters are disappearing from television this year. What does it feel like to be part of a show that’s just so unapologetically queer and a lot of people are seeing themselves represented?
STORRIE: Yeah, it feels great. I think that this community that it really speaks to, is so culturally impactful, now more than ever, and I think that this is really showing people just how much this does resonate with the world, in and outside of that community. I just want people to know that we’re so enthusiastic about these people and we relate to them so much, and we love this form of love.
WILLIAMS: And we love this story.
DEADLINE: And I feel like anytime there’s a big queer project like this, it seems inevitable that people are going to be speculating about your sexuality.
WILLIAMS: Of course, it’s just the nature of celebrity as well too.
DEADLINE: Or just accusing you of gay baiting. How does it feel having to separate your personal from the professional?
WILLIAMS: I think there’s never a question for me, when I would dream of becoming in the public eye, that I would want just a level of privacy. But of course, I agree. I want queer people telling queer stories, but also, there’s the element of Connor and I—we’re best friends, and we love expressing that physically. You see people who infer or assume, and you kind of have to let that go. But then again, I never wanna stop expressing the love I have for Connor physically, and I’m never really going to, and I think multiple things can be true at once. We want queer people telling queer stories. There’s an element of, also you can’t ask that in an audition room. But I think what Jacob said really sums it up the best, which is, you have to gauge how enthusiastic they are about the story. And they could have paid me $10 and just fed me, and I’m doing the story. I really thought I was gonna get nothing for this, and I just loved the story so much, and I want to be a part of that. And Connor as well, I’m sure feels the same. So, I think that’s the only thing you can gauge.
STORRIE: Totally. I think there’s so much energy that is coming at us with the rise of this show, and for me, at least, I think it’s important for me to have a little bit of separation from the character in the show. All I can really say is that I love Ilya, I love the community that this is a part of and that this caters to. I think that’s so much more interesting and valuable than doing just another run-of-the-mill, straight story. Who I date, who I sleep with, who this, that, whatever, I’m gonna keep that to myself. But regardless, I think this is super important, and I think also on top of that, it’s just really cool.
