Hudson Williams definitely felt the heat with Connor Storrie in real life.
The 24-year-old and 25-year-old stars of the hot new HBO Max series Heated Rivalry also had great chemistry during their audition.
Showrunner Jacob Tierney and the actors recently spoke out about how it all went down.
Keep reading to find out more…
“Hudson was the third actor that I read with. The first two I was like, ‘Okay, this is cool,’ and then Hudson came on. Jacob [showrunner] actually texted me directly and was like, ‘What do you think?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, Hudson, for sure.’ Instantly,” Connor said to Out.
“I read with one other possible Ilya, and it was good. 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. [To Jacob] Do you know it?” Hudson went on to say.
The showrunner added: “I do, but are we going to say it out loud?”
“I don’t remember the exact quote. Can you say it for me?” Hudson went on to reply.
“Hudson told me, ‘The other guy was good, but Connor felt like he was going to pin me down and f–k me,’” the showrunner confirmed.
“Damn! Is that what it is?!” Connor exclaimed.
“That is literally what he said. And I was like, ‘Well, I think I cast this right,’” the showrunner responded.
“They were essentially cast at the same time. It was very clear to us that we needed to find Shane and Ilya together. This show lives and dies with them, so we needed to make sure that this worked together. There are terrific actors who are in, you know… They’re just in different shows. You need to find the people who are going to be together in the same show, and that’s what the two of them had quite instantly.”
The gay romance series, based on the “Game Changers” book series, chronicles the story of rival hockey players Shane and Ilya. Shane Hollander (Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Storrie) are two of the biggest stars in Major League Hockey, bound by ambition, rivalry, and a magnetic pull neither of them fully understands. What begins as a secret fling between two fresh-faced rookies evolves into a years-long journey of love, denial, and self-discovery.
Heated Rivalry is airing on HBO Max in the U.S. and on Crave in Canada.
See the full episode guide, and check out every steamy photo released thus far!
Source: justjared.com
