Hudson Williams’ heated rivalry finale sex scene was improvised

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains details about Episode 6 of “Heated Rivalry,” now streaming on HBO Max.

‘Heated Rivalry’ has everything a primetime drama could want: very hot men, romance and of course sex. But what really sold star Hudson Williams on the series was the quiet yet intense scene in the season 1 finale, in which Shane’s mother (Christina Chang) asks her son for forgiveness for not allowing him to feel safe enough to come out to her as gay sooner.

“That scene was the scene that screwed me up the most when I read the script,” Williams says. “It was the scene where I thought, ‘If I don’t get to play Shane Hollander.’ It’s also a scene that doesn’t appear in the book, but to me it’s the quintessential closing scene of that arc for him and his mother. Period.”

For those who may not know, “Heated Rivalry” is Jacob Tierney’s six-episode adaptation of Rachel Reid’s queer hockey romance novel series “Game Changers.” The show, acquired for U.S. distribution by HBO Max from Canadian streamer Crave, follows Shane Hollander and Ilya Rosanov (Connor Storrie), two superstar hockey players who fall in love while navigating a secret yearlong affair. The series has been greenlit for a second season.

The mother-and-son scene was filmed over two days. “We couldn’t get through the first time because it started raining,” Hudson remembers. “And then we came back the next day to film it. Jacob says, “I rewrote it.” So Christina and I are in the little makeup room of this little house and remembering the scene, and it was so beautiful. It made so much sense. It’s on the right side of what I think a parent should be, because there are outdated views out there. There are old-fashioned ways of parenting that we may be able to leave behind in the past… As someone who is thinking about raising their children in the future and wanting to become a father, this is the environment you need to foster.”

We won’t really know until we see her accept him whether she’s going to accept or reject him. Will she say, “You just ruined your career?” But ultimately, she’s talking about how this could be good for endorsement deals.

Shane gets a release to some extent, but I’m not sure it’s a full release. I think Shane is still at a degree where it seems like part of me wanted a bigger release. I remember leaving and saying, “I wish I could throw myself into it and make myself completely vulnerable.” As an actor, that has never been that difficult for me. I was trying to retroactively figure out why I can’t get this completely. But then I thought, “Oh, it’s Shane who can’t fully understand that.” It’s a bit of a release he gets, but he still avoids her a bit. He can’t look her in the eye and feel like he’s lived by all the standards of what he thinks, this unwritten idea of ​​what a man is between them.

I love that Ilya was the first to say, “I love you.” He said it in the Russian monologue, but that doesn’t apply to Shane because he didn’t know what Ilya said.

The bastard defeated me.

Were you surprised he said it first?

Yeah, but even though Shane doesn’t say it at first, he says all these things that, if it’s not love, then what is? You know, “Let’s start a foundation.” He stays awake in the middle of the night and plots their path. When Ilya says: ‘Are you thinking that far ahead, Dutchman?’ “I’m doing this.” Hollander is not a planner. He is a diligent worker. He’s a routine guy: dial in, show up in the game today, show up in practice right now. Forgotten in five years. Be the best hockey player now. It’s out of character for him to let this game plan get so far ahead. But it’s because he loves Ilya so much. So I think even though he didn’t say it at first, he turned that little house into a home where Ilya could say it.

I thought the house, excuse my French, was going to be a fuckfest. But this was more about the emotional journey and being a couple.

Jacob Tierney said it recently: it’s a boyfriend.

But then there’s the blowjob scene. That was comedy.

That was improvising.

What?

Yes, to some extent. Connor and I were fooling around in the makeup trailer, a cabin a two minute drive from that cabin, getting ready. I spent all morning preparing my monologue. I prepare it, work on it. Then Connor, being the great scene partner that he is, said, “I’ll be here to do this.” Then he did something and we hit each other, fooling around. Then he hits me, hits me and he did this hit. I was filming myself with my phone doing this. I thought, “Do that again.” I couldn’t hold back my laughter because it was so brilliant. It’s so funny and it makes sense for where they are in the story. I remember showing that to the intimacy coordinator. She was cackling. She says, “You should do that.” Then Jacob said, “Go for it. Go crazy.” The first take was the first time I broke broke because Connor takes away all his freedoms. I push him. I’ll hit him back. I put the phone away to get into the sighs and groans. I’m so happy with how that scene turned out.

Shane and Ilya finally feel comfortable enough with each other for that. They let their guards down.

I heard Jacob say earlier today, “Those are friends.” You don’t get a blowjob on the phone from your fuck buddy or your friends with benefits. You notice that when you are in a relationship. In episodes 1 and 2 it’s fun: it’s charged and fast. But now we have humor and levity within sex.

What was it like filming in the house for the first time?

It was the moment where the sentiment of the show really matched the sentiment of where we’re filming. Those were the last two days of recording. In the last scene we shot, Ilya talks about his mother as he sits on my lap. I remember the first time we walked through there, I thought, “Damn, Mr. Real Estate! This is a pretty nice little house.” That was finally where Shane can be as boring as he wants and as fun as he wants. He can be anything. They have those two weeks.

And then you literally drive into the sunset.

It’s still bittersweet. A lot of people have said this is a very happy ending, but I think, “This isn’t a straight story.” This is not the happy ending, because they are still in the closet. They don’t come to Reebok, they don’t come to anyone. They got caught. It seems more like forgiveness than pride. That’s where they are. Forgiveness means that something has been done wrong.

It’s shame to be caught. The very word ‘caught’ implies something to be ashamed of.

And they were just kissing. They’re not standing fucking naked on the counter.

Do you have plans to leave the Internet?

I regularly leave the internet. I touch the internet. I’m trying to stay away, but luckily it’s been quite warm. The hateful comments are easy to ignore to some extent, either because they come from such despicable places of bias or because they are simply unpleasant. It’s closer to trolling than it is to criticism.

Moreover, ‘heated rivalry’ is not a reality. It’s like a good romcom where we can fantasize about love and romance.

It’s optimistic.

It’s okay to be optimistic. So many people just want to be negative.

Even strange storytellers sometimes want to double down on their pessimism. I think the reason our show does so well is because it doesn’t want to reinforce the worst fears.

Do you like tuna melts?

I do that, but I don’t eat carbs or cheese. But as a treat I have a tuna melt with a delicious brioche.

This Q&A has been edited and condensed.