Thanks to Crave and HBO Max’s Heated Rivalry, co-stars Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams‘ celebrity status shot to new heights. The Canadian LGBTQ sports series follows Connor as the fictional Russian-American hockey captain Ilya Rozanov and Hudson as Canadian rival hockey star Shane Hollander, who engage in a secret, long-standing sexual relationship.
During a November 2025 interview with Out Magazine, both actors described how much they clicked during the auditions, which called for instant and steamy chemistry.
“Hudson was the third actor that I read with,” Connor told the publication. “The first two [actors], I was like, ‘Okay, this is cool,’ and then, Hudson came on. [Showrunner] Jacob [Tierney] actually texted me directly and was like, ‘What do you think?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, Hudson, for sure.’ Instantly.”
For Hudson’s part, he echoed his co-star’s sentiment by saying, “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.”
News47.us has compiled everything we know about Connor and his acting career below.
Despite his convincing Russian accent in Heated Rivalry, Connor is actually a Texas native, according to multiple outlets. During an interview with Etalk, Connor discussed why he was drawn to perfecting his dialect skills.
“Honestly, I’ve always just thought Russian language and Russian culture was really cool,” the actor said. “It’s so different from American culture, so it feels really exotic and out there. … Getting to play anything that is as far away from me as possible, I feel like is really enlightening. It’s also just fun to put on that sort of posture. It lets you discover things about yourself and about the world. It’s easier to play that way too because I’m not so concerned about being Connor.”
