Exclusive Interview
‘Heated Rivalry’: Connor Storrie Teases Shane & Ilya’s Cottage Scenes
What To Know
- The cottage storyline plays a central role in Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov’s love story in Rachel Reid’s Heated Rivalry.
- Connor Storrie spoke with Swooon about why he was most excited to shoot the cottage scenes.
- Show creator Jacob Tierney revealed that Season 1 wrapped with the cottage scenes.
In just a matter of days, Heated Rivalry has amassed a following of new fans all foaming at the mouth for more of “the hot gay hockey show.” The first two episodes of the Canadian series dropped on HBO Max over Thanksgiving, lit social media on fire, and introduced the world to two new internet boyfriends — Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie. (If you need a reminder of the hottest moments so far, don’t worry, we already ranked them.)
But readers of Rachel Reid’s book, on which the show is based, know the first few episodes are merely a taste of what’s to come for enemies-to-lovers Shane Hollander (Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Storrie). One storyline, in fact, had Storrie excited from the beginning.
“As the story progresses, everything that takes place in the cottage was really satisfying from an actor’s perspective,” Storrie told Swooon. “Just because we get to a different level of their intimacy, their relationship. I think that’s the most exciting to me, and I also think some of the coolest revelations happen to the characters when they are there.”
We won’t spoil anything about what Storrie might be talking about, but for non-book readers, the cottage comes in the latter half of Reid’s novel and plays a central role in Shane and Ilya figuring out who they are and what they want — for themselves and from each other. For the now red-hot stars of the series, it was also the culmination of the entire production, meaning their friendship and their partnership on screen had grown into something they could really infuse into their characters at a pivotal moment.
“We finished shooting the show with Episode 6, and we finished at the cottage,” show creator Jacob Tierney revealed. “There’s a kind of sentimental memory with it. We’d all gotten very close. We’d worked very hard, and to end in this wonderful, small, pared-down, intimate setting was special.”
Special is one way to put the seriously sweet and steamy scenes that await fans at the cottage.
Heated Rivalry, Season 1, New Episodes, Fridays, HBO Max
