- - Connor Storrie Didn’t Think His Butt Would Be ‘Such a Topic of Conversation’ in “Heated Rivalry”: ‘Definitely Objectified'

Skyler CarusoDecember 24, 2025 at 2:23 AM

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Sabrina Lantos/HBO Max

Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams in "Heated Rivalry." -

Connor Storrie opened up to GQ about the lack of clothing he wore to film Heated Rivalry

The American actor, who stars as Ilya Rozanov, reflected on the intimate scenes he staged with costar Hudson Williams

Storrie joked about his friends sending him screenshots of his shower scenes

The show is set on ice, but its episodes are sizzling hot.

Connor Storrie didn't hold back in his interview with GQ when reflecting on his performance in Heated Rivalry, the new hockey-centric romance series that brings a fair share of stripping, sex and sports to the screen.

The American actor, 25, stars as Ilya Rozanov, a cocky Russian hockey player for the fictional Boston Raiders, throughout HBO Max's six-episode show based on Rachel Reid's book of the same name that drops weekly.

Sabrina Lantos/HBO Max

Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie in "Heated Rivalry."

Storrie's Rozanov develops a secret romance with his rival Shane Hollander, a Canadian-Asian hockey player brought to life by actor Hudson Williams. He is captain of the Montreal Metros, which makes the relationship dynamic even more complex.

Storrie and Williams, 24, chatted with GQ about their illicit, on-camera sex in the show as their characters navigate fame, careers and heavy pressures of being closeted athletes in a traditionally masculine sport.

"We’re definitely objectified," Storrie told the outlet. "I signed up knowing that would be a part of it. I really did not think my butt would be such a topic of conversation. I thought it would be more of a general, like, 'Oh, these guys really get into it on the show'."

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Sabrina Lantos

Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander and Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov in "Heated Rivalry."

Storrie acknowledged the scenes that required little clothing for his character and scene partner, joking that his friends often send him screenshotted X posts from clips taken from the intimate episodes.

"It’s usually GIFs of my butt from the shower," he revealed. "Thank you for tweeting about our butts. That’s where the real magic happens," he added.

Nudity was a nonnegotiable for the leads in Heated Rivalry, notes GQ, which gave insight into the conversations that were had between the actors and the show's intimacy coordinator prior to filming, especially since sex is a major theme in Reid’s books.

Storrie told the intimacy coordinator he was "okay with the most extreme form of kissing, I’m okay with the least amount of clothing. There’s no professional-sounding way to say that other than, I’m okay with doing anything outside of having actual sex. You know what I mean?"

Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander and Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov in "Heated Rivalry."

Williams had the same response, per GQ.

After filming, Storrie and Williams got matching tattoos that say, "sex sells." The costars opened up about them during an interview shared by HBO Max.

"We settled on 'sex sells' because I think it was just kind of like a tongue-in-cheek, kind of winky view of being a part of something like this," explained Storrie, adding that, for some viewers, getting to "watch these to [characters] fall madly in love" is the "cherry on top of the cake."

"There's sex that is selling and it's a very sort of alluring factor," added Williams, "but we believe it's sort of the worth and the merit beyond that."

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”