François Arnaud from Heated Rivalry on Scott and Kip’s Kiss, Ilya and Shane
SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for Episode 5 of “Heated Rivalry,” now streaming on HBO Max.
If Season 2 of ‘Heated Rivalry’ stays true to Rachel Reid’s ‘Game Changers’ novel series, Stanley Cup winner Scott Hunter will buy gay bar Kingfisher Tavern.
François Arnaud, who plays Scott, already knows who he would like to guest-star as the watering hole’s patron.
“If I’m the bartender, I want Jennifer Coolidge as the barfly,” says Arnaud. “I want her to always be there.”
Based on Reid’s queer romances, ‘Heated Rivalry’ was adapted and directed by Jacob Tierney. HBO Max acquired the show from Canadian streamer Crave and premiered the first two of the six episodes over Thanksgiving weekend.
In Episode 3, Scott has a hot and heavy romance with smoothie barista Kip (Robbie GK), but they call it quits when a deeply closeted Scott refuses to celebrate Kip’s birthday at the Kingfisher. But in episode 5, Kip sits in the stands and watches Scott and his team win the Stanley Cup. In an eye-popping twist, Scott not only gestures for Kip to join him on the ice at the end of the game, but he also comes out of the closet by kissing him.
“He can’t believe it himself, and yet he falls for it,” Arnaud says about Scott. “There’s so many things happening at once. There’s giddiness, excitement and some fear, for sure, but he also pushes through that fear. I think it plays really well.”
François Arnaud as Scott Hunter and Robbie GK as Kip Grady
Courtesy of HBOMax
Arnaud says he cried when he first watched the last part of the scene. “When I saw it afterwards with all the people added with CGI, I felt like I was watching this at a real hockey game,” he says. “It was like, ‘Fuck, this is epic.'”
After the kiss, Ilya Rosanov (Connor Storrie) is seen calling Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams). Ilya tells Shane that despite previous hesitations, he will take him up on his offer to spend part of the summer together at his vacation home, uttering the now viral phrase, “I’m coming to the cottage.”
“I think they live a kind of vicarious life through Scott,” says Arnaud. “They see the possibilities for themselves. It becomes a comforting aspect. That’s why Scott and Kip’s book in the original books is called ‘Game Changer’. That’s really what he does for them. He changes the game.”
Arnaud becomes emotional and even tears as he continues to talk about the scene. “I have so much tenderness for Scott. I feel like he deserves it. It’s so deserved,” he says. ‘And then see [Shane and Ilya] watching from home and the song [Wolf Parade’s “I’ll Believe in Anything”] that was used for fear at the top of episode 3 and then used again for this liberating moment. I heard the lyrics to that song for the first time, singing about sunshine he deserves.
Arnaud teases the season 1 finale next week with another “big moment” for Scott: “Jacob texted me and said he just rewatched the beginning of episode 6. He said, ‘Oh God, you made me cry again.’”
Episode 6 of “Heated Rivalry” premieres December 26 on HBO Max.
