Heated Rivalry's Connor Storrie Reveals The 'Most Scary Thing Ever' About Playing Ilya Rozanov

By Andy Swift
Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov in Season 1 of HBO Max's Heated Rivalry HBO Max

For "Heated Rivalry" star Connor Storrie, filming the first season of HBO Max's smash hit came with its fair share of obstacles to overcome, including honing his ice-skating skills enough to play a convincing professional hockey player. But that was nothing compared to what Storrie calls "the most scary thing ever" about bringing Ilya Rozanov to life on screen.

As revealed during his recent appearance on Owen Thiele's "In Your Dreams" podcast, the most difficult part of the process was learning to speak Russian, a skill he was forced to master in a very short amount of time. Texas-born Storrie was put in touch with a dialect coach as soon as he signed his contract, giving him just over a week to prepare before flying to the show's set in Ontario, Canada.

"For a week, or I think it was maybe a week and a half, before I left, I was doing Russian lessons, and then all the way through a month and a half of the shooting, I had Russian lessons every single day," he recalls.

Looking back at the filming of Season 1, Storrie says, "It's funny because everyone talks about, you know, mine and [Hudson Williams'] chemistry, the characters and stuff, and I'm like, not to water down the process or whatever, but at the end of the day, I'm like, I was f**king focused on sounding Russian when I speak Russian, and then not looking like a total idiot on skates. So all the other stuff that goes into that, I'm like, if I can just really master that, then I can feel comfortable and then just trust ... whatever talent or skill or emotional truth comes up in that to deliver on the moment."

And deliver he did, particularly in Episode 5 ("I'll Believe in Anything"), which required Storrie to speak a five-minute monologue entirely in Russian. That performance earned rave reviews from critics and viewers, including many of the show's Russian-speaking fans.

Of course, this was just one impressive moment of many during the show's first season. Storrie and Williams were named TVLine's Performers of the Week for their incredible work in the heartbreaking Dec. 26 finale.

Were you impressed with Storrie's performance as Russian hockey prince Ilya? Drop a comment with your thoughts on all things "Heated Rivalry" below.

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