Connor Storrie in the finale of the heated rivalry, Ilya Rozanov’s I Love You
SPOILER ALERT: This article contains details about the “Heated Rivalry” Season 1 finale, now streaming on HBO Max.
“Heated Rivalry” star Connor Storrie knew early on that he wanted to be an actor.
He made this perfectly clear in YouTube videos he made at the age of 12 under the name Actorboy222. The adorable videos were discovered by avid “Heated Rivalry” fans shortly after Storrie became an instant star when the first two episodes of the queer hockey romance series premiered on HBO Max a month ago.
“He was on to something,” Storrie says, looking back on his pre-teen self. “He got me here. He was part of it.”
What would 25-year-old Storrie say to his younger self now? “I’d say, ‘Cut the damn hair,’” he cracks, before pausing to think about it. “I would tell him to make more stuff sooner, make more of his own stuff sooner. Just be more diligent in not just being an actor, as in trying to get cast in something and waiting for opportunities. I would say, ‘Try to immerse yourself in your own stuff.'”
Storrie continues, “I love that little guy. I love him. I didn’t like him before.”
It wasn’t easy for a boy like him growing up in Odessa, Texas.
“I was an artist, a wimp in West Texas who didn’t want to play football,” he explains. “I wanted to pretend and dress up and disappear into strange worlds and entertain people that way and try to connect with people, and that just wasn’t the norm there.”
That kid is now one of Hollywood’s hottest young talents.
Storrie stars in “Heated Rivalry” as Ilya Rozanov, a Russian hockey champion who has a years-long sex-filled affair with his Canadian counterpart Shane Hollander (played by Hudson Williams). The show – an adaptation of the “Game Changers” novels – chronicles the relationship between Rozanov and Hollander as it evolves from something purely physical to a deeply romantic and emotional one.
In the sixth and final episode of season 1, Rozanov visits Hollander in his house. They finally admit to each other that they are in love. But then Hollander unexpectedly comes out to his parents because not only is he gay, but he’s in a relationship with his career nemesis, while his father walks in on the couple kissing after making an unannounced trip to the cottage.
I spoke with Storrie via Zoom video from his home in Los Angeles ahead of the season finale.
Were you surprised that Ilya was the first to say “I love you”? He said it in the Russian monologue in episode 5, but this was different because he said it in English and in person.
Yeah, but I think this shows that Ilya is in it for the long haul and he’s excited about it.
He is also the first to call them friends.
That’s the problem with these Eastern Europeans. They won’t let you in. But once you’re in, you’re in for life.
What was it like walking into the house for the first time?
That was the element of the story I was most excited about, because it’s really cool the way Jacob Tierney wrote it. There’s this kind of cool crescendo where it happened so quickly and quickly – the editing, the writing – with so much energy beforehand, and then it lands and we’re just two people in one house for a few days. As an actor, those are where a lot of the cool acting moments happen, where we can actually stay in some of those scenes for a really long time. It’s kind of an episode where there’s officially a catharsis. People don’t realize it because of all the intimate scenes, but this story is really about people falling in love from a distance. To see that finally come together is cathartic.
I think viewers are going into episode 6 thinking it’s going to be a sex party because Shane and Ilya are alone. There is some sex, but the episode is about much more than that.
You get a little breath. They become normal on some level, and that’s what Jacob is talking about when he says the “happy ending.” I think he’s referring to being emotionally regulated, emotionally aware enough to look each other in the eye and say, “I love you, let’s do this.” And whatever that looks like after that, they’re like, “We’re going to sign up for it. We signed up and we’re locked in.”
And then you literally drive off into the sunset as Shane and Ilya get in the car and leave Shane’s parents’ house.
We filmed that twice. I don’t know which take they ended up using, but the first take, because we sit there for three or four minutes – we do the full length of that song, which I fucking love – Hudson and I just rode in silence and just cried during that whole scene. As actors, we were like, “We’re killing. We’re in it. This is real, we’re so in love.” Then the music stops and Jacob comes over and says, “Okay, let’s do one where you guys don’t look like you want to kill yourself. Let’s start over.” He said, “Be cute. This is happy. This is fun.” We interpreted it in a very dramatic way. But yes, we literally get to ride into the sunset.
I think Shane and his mom’s conversation outside will resonate so much with people. Every child wants to hear their parents apologize for something they did or didn’t do.
They both accept the truth of the matter, and that allows them to actually heal from it, instead of it just being a comforting thing for each other.
My friend Ben texted me this morning and said the show has “rewired” his brain and he feels like he can finally be in a relationship now.
Wow. It’s all about love, honey, and realizing that the things we internalize from the outside world hurt and affect us. But at the end of the day, you have to do your thing, whatever that is.
You talked about being left out in high school when some classmates found those Actorboy222 videos. What would you say to those people now?
I don’t have any feeling about it. I don’t really piss anyone off, no matter how mean they are, because I fully believe that people are doing their best. I think people are hurt. I think everyone is so insecure and sad, and we all have these things that are so tender to us, and I feel blessed that I’ve had a human experience that has been just robust enough to give me that perspective, to say, “I don’t really care what words you use to describe me, or if you’re trying to embarrass me because I’ve embarrassed myself a million times. I don’t care anymore. So bring it on. I don’t feel bad about it because, mostly how visible everything is now on the internet, if you’re a mean person, I think it just makes you look nasty. I don’t have to try to make you look nasty. I just try to control myself with grace and understanding. It’s probably because I felt so big. [he pinches a thumb and finger together]. I felt a little small.
Before we go, I have to ask: do you actually like tuna melts?
I don’t think I’ve had a real tuna melt. I may have had one from Subway once. When I was growing up, we didn’t eat the best.
This Q&A has been edited and condensed.
