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 It stands on the right side of what I think a parent should be because there are outdated notions.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.
This Q&A has been edited and condensed.
