Two new actors have joined the cast of Heated Rivalry, Variety reports.
Justice Smith and Charlie Gillespie will play major roles in the second season of the series based on Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series of romance novels.
Heated Rivalry, the Canadian series that airs on HBO Max in the U.S., premiered last November and quickly became a huge hit, with a fandom that has been clamoring for a second season. The series follows professional hockey players Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, who embark on a secret sexual relationship that eventually develops into something more. The show made overnight stars of Hudson Williams, who plays Hollander, and Connor Storrie, who portrays Rozanov.
The first season of the show was chiefly based on Reid’s novel Heated Rivalry, while the second will adapt The Long Game, which also focuses on the relationship between Hollander and Rozanov.
Smith, whose previous credits include Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and I Saw the TV Glow, will play Harris Drover, a social media manager for the Ottawa Centaurs hockey team, while Gillespie, known for his roles in films including Splitsville and One Night Only, will star as Troy Barrett, a forward for the Centaurs.
Heated Rivalry creator Jacob Tierney and executive producer Brendan Brady said in a statement, “From the start of the casting process, we knew we were looking for actors who could create something truly special together and bring that same depth and heart to the screen. Justice and Charlie do exactly that. They immediately connected with the vulnerability and resilience at the core of these characters, bringing an instinctive understanding of who Harris and Troy are.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
