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00:03Hudson Williams
00:10and Connor Story
00:18Congratulations
00:19Thank you
00:22Thank you
00:22I was listening, watching the audience reactions
00:27they were squealing
00:29panting, laughing
00:32at all the right times
00:33If you're panting at the wrong time
00:36see a doctor
00:37and if you're laughing at the wrong times
00:40ouch
00:43Jacob
00:43I'm going to start with you
00:45so you listened to
00:47Rachel Reid's
00:49Game Changers series on audiobook
00:51then you reached out
00:54to acquire the rights
00:56I did
00:57I followed her on Instagram
00:58I slid into her DMs
01:00I followed her on Instagram
01:01she followed me back
01:02and then we started
01:03we started chatting
01:04So from then to now
01:06Yeah
01:07you wanting to adapt
01:08the book
01:09to now
01:10how does it feel?
01:12How are you?
01:12You good?
01:13Great, I'm good. Are you good?
01:14Yes, I feel good
01:15It's great
01:16Yeah, it's crazy
01:19It's
01:20This show
01:21that was three summers ago
01:24How does math work?
01:25That was
01:27the first season of the Traders
01:29that's how I can remember it
01:31I was on set on
01:31season one of the Traders Canada
01:33so it was two summers ago
01:34and that's when I
01:36I followed Rachel on Instagram
01:38so in TV language
01:40that is like lightning speed
01:42it's very, very, very fast
01:46and I am very happy
01:49I'm very tired
01:50and I'm very overwhelmed
01:52So what was it about Shane and Ilya's story
01:56Holonoff that made you want to start here?
01:59I mean
02:01it's
02:02it's the
02:02I mean
02:03I love the books
02:05I love them all
02:06Rachel, you know I do
02:07and
02:08Heated Rivalry
02:09it's the
02:10iconic one
02:11and I think it's the iconic one for a reason
02:14it doesn't follow
02:16a lot of the normal tropes of a romance novel
02:21and they're
02:22I mean Rachel's writing is so good in general
02:25but these
02:25these characters are so well written
02:27they're so alive
02:28they're funny
02:29their dynamic is interesting
02:31you care about them
02:32and then fundamentally there's something incredibly sweet about the fact that they meet
02:37when they're rookies
02:38and
02:39the whole show
02:40spoilers
02:41takes place over eight years
02:42and it's like
02:43it's this long
02:45smutty
02:46love story
02:46but ultimately
02:47they're each other's first love
02:49which is
02:49ultimately really
02:50sweet
02:51and
02:52very conservative
02:53and very romantic
02:54and I
02:55and I like that
02:56Let me come back to the smutty in a minute
02:59Hudson
02:59let's talk about Shane
03:00he is between the two characters
03:02more reserved
03:03and in the book
03:04you know
03:06we learn about him through the inner monologue
03:08right?
03:08the expectations placed on him
03:10his worries
03:12his frustration
03:13so how did you bring all that emotion to life from the page?
03:18a good director
03:19a good writer
03:21I think it came down to
03:25I think letting the fans in
03:27it started with Jacob's scripts
03:28and that was a lot
03:30clearly he was
03:31he was always going through something
03:32and then reading the book
03:35he means
03:35he means shade
03:36not me
03:37yeah
03:38clearly Jacob was always going through something
03:40it was always a new thing
03:41on sad new neuroses
03:42and he just
03:43take us
03:43take it out on us
03:44I hate it here
03:46no
03:46no
03:47but then
03:48Rachel also
03:50her book
03:51like
03:52gave so much more inner monologue
03:53that I wasn't thinking
03:54when I read those scenes
03:55in the script
03:56and then
03:58I made the great choice
03:59to go on twitter
04:00and reddit
04:01and everywhere
04:01just to get everyone's opinion
04:03on Shane
04:04because I wanted to bring it all in
04:07and then they had so many opinions
04:10and so many ideas
04:11of what he was going through
04:13in these moments
04:13and what he was thinking
04:14and how he must have felt
04:16and so
04:17at first I was like
04:18fuck
04:18sorry
04:19do I choose one of these
04:20and then I never did
04:22and it was always
04:23so many things rattling around
04:25in my brain
04:25and I never made a choice
04:28and hopefully
04:30it just worked
04:31and if it didn't
04:33I am so sorry
04:35yeah
04:36that's my answer
04:40Connor
04:40Ilya's
04:42charismatic
04:45he has a more
04:46his charismatic
04:47and like assertive exterior
04:49kind of conceals
04:50a vulnerability
04:51so what was it
04:53that clicked for you
04:54in understanding
04:55who he is?
04:56Understanding who he is
04:57underneath the
04:58the sort of exterior
04:59however you want to
05:01interpret that question
05:02and whether or not
05:02you went on reddit too
05:03I don't know
05:04yeah
05:04I did not
05:08no I mean honestly
05:09it was very
05:10his character is pretty
05:11straightforward for me
05:12actually
05:13if you look at his
05:14circumstances
05:15based on
05:16not only heated rivalry
05:17but also long game
05:18but we'll stick to
05:19heated rivalry
05:20his background is so
05:22specific
05:22that you kind of
05:24can't help but
05:25have a really distinct
05:26idea of what that
05:27person looks like
05:28you know
05:28coming from Russia
05:30being secretly
05:32bisexual
05:32or you know
05:33and having already
05:35come to terms
05:36with that
05:37having you know
05:38a shitty bro
05:40brother
05:40having you know
05:42dead mom
05:43having an Alzheimer's
05:44ridden father
05:45being a professional
05:46hockey player
05:47like it's also so specific
05:48that you kind of
05:49can't help but
05:51I don't know
05:52have an idea of what
05:52that must feel like
05:53and what that must be like
05:54so I think the pressure
05:55is just on and he kind of
05:56runs from it
05:57with that exterior
05:58you both do such a great job
06:01playing your respective
06:03characters
06:04but then of course
06:05it's the chemistry between
06:07Shane and Iliad
06:08I mean
06:09I believed every finger touch
06:12every kiss
06:18I told you only when we're
06:20paying you
06:22you don't get it for free
06:23you don't get it for free
06:24you don't get it for free
06:26I'm sure everyone else here
06:27did too
06:28every charged gaze
06:31all of that
06:32so
06:34how did you build
06:35this relationship
06:36off screen
06:37to bring it
06:39on screen
06:40to this point
06:41we've gotten this question
06:43a lot
06:44I know
06:44and I want to hear it again
06:46yeah
06:46and I think that
06:48every time I answer it
06:49I'm just
06:49it's the same thing
06:50and it just makes me
06:52realize it even more
06:53I mean
06:54I think we just have
06:55very compatible energies
06:56and I think we're both
06:57very bold
06:59and kind of
07:00we're game to get
07:01like intimate
07:02and vulnerable
07:03and get two inches
07:04from each other's face
07:05and we're both
07:06comfortable with that
07:07and when you have someone
07:08who matches that energy
07:09it just becomes
07:09you know
07:10even more kinetic
07:12yeah
07:12match our freak
07:13match our freak
07:14and I also think
07:16we just have
07:17an ability to look like fools
07:19and try a bunch of things
07:20that Jacob hates
07:22and I think a lot of that
07:24is like just given options
07:25you know
07:26just try this
07:27try that
07:27you know
07:28give like Shane a nervous tick
07:30and then
07:30he's like we'll leave that
07:31on the editing room floor
07:32and then just all shaped up
07:34nice and dandy
07:35but we both have that ability
07:37thank you
07:38thank you for hearing
07:40to just try stuff
07:40he loves it
07:42I know you know
07:44the fans of this book
07:46are very intense
07:47about this book
07:49and this
07:50relationship
07:53and they're
07:53they care very much
07:55about signature scenes
07:57tuna melt
07:59Russian phone call
08:01confession scene
08:02all of that
08:04it's all gonna be there
08:04so
08:06was there a scene
08:08in particular
08:08Jacob
08:09that you were most excited
08:11to tackle
08:11or more nervous
08:12or
08:14whatever
08:16I haven't answered this
08:17version of this yet
08:18you know what was exciting
08:19for me to write
08:21was
08:22the scene on the phone
08:23from Russia
08:24because
08:25it's not
08:26kind of
08:27it's
08:27I mean obviously it's in the book
08:29but it's not written what he's actually saying
08:30so I wrote him a whole
08:33fucking very long
08:35monologue
08:36and
08:36and that was fun
08:38it was really fun
08:39to do that
08:39it was fun to
08:41add more Svetlana
08:43it was kind of fun to help build a bit more of the world out
08:47I took great pleasure in that
08:49while I hope and think honoring the like the spirit of the story
08:54I was very aware of the tuna melt
08:56I was very aware of the cottage
09:01I was
09:01there's a lot
09:02that I mean yeah
09:03like they're big moments for me too
09:05I'm a fan
09:05like I wanted to do them
09:07to do them all
09:08I mean a lot of them are in that
09:09like that
09:10the Vegas rooftop is like
09:12huge
09:13and
09:14so is that shower
09:16so
09:16I mean there's so much that is like
09:18so
09:18I mean that's what's so great about this book
09:21is that it kind of hops from these
09:23incredibly memorable scenes
09:24to another
09:25incredibly memorable scene
09:28Hudson and Connor
09:28is there a scene that you predict
09:30fans will
09:31lose it over
09:32once it airs?
09:34I'm very bad at gauging that now
09:37because
09:37like recently the
09:39the gym scene was released
09:40I was like oh that's pretty tame
09:42people might just be like
09:43oh that's cute
09:44but they just were feral and frothy
09:46on the mountain
09:47and
09:47so I'm just a horrible
09:50horrible gauge for everything
09:52clearly
09:53um
09:53but hopefully all of it
09:55I hopefully just you know
09:56I'm trying to think of other iconic moments
09:58from the book
09:59that
10:00um
10:00will become
10:01that'll come to life like that
10:03like highlight points
10:04oh
10:05I hope the
10:05a scene
10:06can I spoil
10:07um the scene
10:08whoa
10:11does it spoil anything?
10:13there is a whole
10:14book out there
10:15no that's fine
10:15I like
10:16but there are things
10:17yeah
10:18I think you're talking about the scene
10:20uh
10:21before
10:22this
10:22Vegas hotel room
10:24in the bathroom
10:25yep
10:25that's the one
10:26do you mean?
10:27yes it is
10:28uh yeah that's a great scene
10:29that's an episode
10:30that's an episode too
10:31and I hope it
10:32makes them
10:33wait I don't
10:34wait I don't know what we're talking about
10:35after
10:36you guys present
10:37uh
10:38oh yeah
10:39yes
10:40there's a
10:41there's a
10:42like a hard to find
10:43vodka involved
10:44yes
10:44yes
10:45no I mean that seems great
10:46that seems great
10:47that's in Vegas right?
10:49it's very long
10:49the scene before though
10:51that's like
10:52when they're discussed
10:53when they have a
10:54they kind of have a fight
10:54post awards
10:55a fight
10:56so it's not that hot and heavy
10:58but it's um
10:59it's hot and heavy
11:00yeah
11:02um
11:04you are
11:05the stars of the show
11:07but of course
11:08it wouldn't be complete
11:10without your colleagues
11:11without your co-stars
11:12a few of them are here tonight
11:14right?
11:15Dylan Walsh
11:16Dylan Walsh
11:17oh my god
11:18Senya Daniella
11:20we have so many other
11:21one uh
11:22Callan Potter's here
11:23uh with Hayden
11:24whoo
11:25whoo
11:26I know he matters a lot to you
11:28uh
11:29and we have
11:30not with us Sophie Nellis
11:31who plays Rose
11:32and Francois Arnault
11:33obviously who plays Scott Hunter
11:35and all kinds of other
11:37brilliant talented actors
11:38all over the place
11:39and yeah
11:41it's a great cast
11:42we were very lucky
11:45no
11:45was there
11:47no I don't want you to
11:48wait
11:48what were you supposed to say that?
11:50was there a question in there?
11:51I wanted you to talk about your co-stars
11:53and working with the ensemble cast
11:55and what that meant to you
11:56oh
11:56it was fantastic
11:58I
12:00it was
12:01um
12:01and I think
12:03just you know
12:04you haven't met these people
12:05they're playing
12:06people you need to have chemistry with
12:08they already come in
12:10with this kind of
12:10expectation of
12:11a relationship
12:12and
12:13I think us sort of
12:15overwhelmed
12:15by just
12:16everyone having the best attitude
12:18um
12:19and just being so friendly
12:20and
12:21really
12:23careful
12:24with the
12:25their characters
12:26and the text
12:27and they really cared
12:28none of it felt like
12:29they were just kind of showing up
12:30to do a
12:31paycheck
12:32or something
12:33they were
12:33they were in it
12:34to win it
12:35and we were both in
12:36we were both in very new circumstances
12:38I mean me
12:39not speaking Russian
12:40and not playing hockey
12:42Hudson also not playing hockey
12:43it was really great
12:44because we
12:45also can't speak Russian
12:46fun fun
12:47but can speak Russian
12:48I can do Russian
12:50давай
12:51spasibo
12:51that's
12:53that's my thing
12:54um
12:56but I mean we were in a lot of scenarios where
12:59you know
13:00we were kind of out there
13:01and we really need some help and assistance
13:02and it was great
13:03I mean
13:04Alexei
13:05my brother is here
13:07um
13:08also
13:08um
13:09Dania
13:10who plays Svetlana
13:11like I mean
13:12it was just great to have people who actually know
13:14and they were so incredibly supportive
13:16and that was so nerve-wracking
13:17everyone who helped us do
13:19um
13:20all things hockey
13:21were so supportive
13:22like
13:22it's so scary to show up
13:25and like
13:25not look like an idiot
13:27and then look like an idiot
13:29and someone would be like
13:30you don't look that bad
13:31it's like
13:32is
13:33is a really great experience
13:34on and editing around you looking like an idiot
13:37hearing your directors say that you have to edit around you
13:41you know
13:42there's a lot of hurtful possibilities here
13:44they did a really
13:44they did a very good job with the hockey
13:45I think we should also
13:46uh
13:47I don't know if
13:47even if she made it tonight
13:48but our intimacy coordinator
13:50Jayla Hunt
13:51she is here
13:51I saw her
13:52where is she
13:54that's nice to hear
13:57a hero
13:58a hero
13:59a hero
13:59this show would not have been what it was without her
14:01and uh
14:02just made an enormous
14:04there's obviously
14:06I mean this was essentially a full-time job for Jayla as you can imagine
14:09she was there almost every day
14:10um
14:12and
14:12we
14:14the
14:14the way that that
14:15you know
14:16that was something
14:17uh frankly
14:18I'm just inventing my own questions now Eleni sorry
14:20I had never
14:21my next question was about getting smutty and horny
14:23let's get dirty
14:24like tell me about the horny and the smutty
14:26I've never shot a lot
14:27I've shot sex scenes before as a director and as an actor
14:31but
14:31to this extent
14:32and this elaborate and this volume
14:34where it was such a part of the language of the show
14:36and we
14:37we rehearsed them
14:38uh
14:38at the very beginning of the
14:40but
14:40with Jayla
14:41but then
14:42having her there and her input
14:44it was
14:45it was
14:46uh
14:47it just
14:48she helped us all have a language where we could just become so comfortable with it
14:52and
14:53obviously as you can imagine by the end
14:55it was like
14:56oh my god
14:56put on a robe
14:57like they're so
14:58they're too comfortable
14:59to remind like the nudity stuff is also for the crew
15:02like you have to put on clothes
15:03um
15:05and uh
15:06but like
15:07the level of facilitation
15:09and
15:10what it gave us
15:13we have to do so much with the sex in the show
15:15because the sex is about character
15:16for it
15:17you
15:17their connection changes
15:19they start off so young
15:20they get to be 25
15:21they realize they're in love
15:22like that
15:23that the sex can't be static
15:24and it's boring
15:25we all love smut
15:27but like
15:27it's boring if it's the same thing over and over again
15:30you don't want to see that
15:31you want to see something different
15:32you want it to feel different
15:33to have a different level of engagement
15:35you really are learning about this relationship through it
15:37so to have chayla as an ally
15:39as a
15:40as a guide
15:41throughout this was just amazing
15:43and i know that
15:44the boys loved her too
15:45thank you for your work
15:47thank you for your work
15:48thank you for your work
15:51thank you for your work
15:54um
15:57is he wait is he also watching the show and he's like
16:01so
16:02he
16:02he introduced you to e-driveler
16:06here's how i'll sell the show to people
16:08he dropped me off at the train station this morning
16:11and i was like
16:12i am so excited tonight
16:14fucking going to moderate this gay hot romance show
16:18and i'm so horny about it
16:21and he was like show me a scene
16:24i showed him a scene and he was like
16:26all right
16:28he was like i'm coming on the train with you dad
16:30and he was like
16:31he was like can't wait for you to get home
16:33and i'm like you better wait up
16:36um
16:37anyway
16:38all right
16:39so uh
16:40thank you for
16:41that's the right answer
16:42everybody
16:42my smutty and horny
16:44um
16:45jacob
16:47switching gears a little bit
16:48no
16:50please
16:52um
16:53you said in a recent interview that it was really
16:56that you wanted to maintain Shane Hollander's cultural identity
17:00yeah of course
17:01that you did not want to whitewash this character in this sport
17:04can you talk about why that was important to you
17:08um
17:08yeah i mean i for
17:10i guess kind of for me for the obvious reasons there are not a lot of
17:15there are not a lot of people who are not white in the nhl
17:18and there are not a lot of people who are not white as leads in romances either
17:25and so that was a huge part of it and i think it's a lot about i i think it
17:31it's it's a lot about
17:32Shane's personality um is that he is this kind of outsider and i think there's something very interesting that happens
17:40when you read a book and your character's name is Shane Hollander that your brain can whitewash him in a
17:45really easy way and uh there was never a question to me like this character had to be Asian and
17:51i think it just brings something much more interesting to me and i think it just brings something much more
17:55interesting to me and i think it just brings a lot of
17:55interesting to the story besides just honoring what's in the book i mean like it was never a question because
17:59in the book like i wouldn't question that period but then i also wanted to and we talked about this
18:05i wanted to address it like i wanted him to talk about it a little bit because there aren't besides
18:11and this show is not nick suzuki fan fiction uh
18:15rachel reed will tell you that though it because and it's not it was published before he was the captain
18:20of the haves but like the fact that there is a half asian captain of the montreal hockey team right
18:25now aside there are not that many asian characters there are many asian players in hockey and so i thought
18:31like that is it just makes the whole thing more interesting and yeah it would be monstrous just to make
18:38him white
18:39well as you said yeah a confession i'll tell you something admit it to you okay i was just chatting
18:46now right no when i was reading the book even though i am of east asian background yeah shane hollander
18:52in my mind right was not asian yeah even as an east asian person yeah so i really appreciate this
19:00effort and so to you hudson what does it mean to you coming from your background to be able to
19:06play this character in this story that so many people are going to
19:09see it means a lot um my mom told me at one point that uh when i wanted i told
19:15her i was going to be an actor she said it it scared her because um she thought her being
19:22an asian lady that it would kind of limit my possibilities for roles i could get because she hadn't really
19:27seen um people uh like her um on the screen and then when i booked a role due to the
19:36fact there was a prerequisite
19:38that i am half asian um i think it just kind of made her see that things are changing and
19:46and there are new possibilities so that really felt amazing
19:57um the majority of the fans of this book are women and queer
20:04and this show serves that audience prioritizes that audience as a part of this team
20:13how do you feel to be part of a show that prioritizes an audience that is often neglected underserved
20:23how do i how do i feel you personally yeah yeah i mean i i i've said this before i
20:30feel like
20:30getting into niche specific human experiences whether it's um shane being you know half asian
20:41or ilia being a foreigner both of them being queer i think getting into these really
20:47niche specific human experiences actually really give you a chance to open up and let people connect you
20:54know if it was super generic then it's kind of like it's so vanilla that there's kind of nothing to
20:59stick you know i was really surprised when i found out that most of the demographics of people who um
21:05love rachel's books um are predominantly women um because i think on the surface you would think you
21:11know mm romance and you would think men um i think i think those two communities just really relate to
21:19the
21:19feeling of being i'm in a box that box says i can be a b or c and i feel
21:26capable of more than that and
21:28i think these two characters feel that way you know living in the gray on some level feeling like
21:32what's expected of me what the world wants for me and what i am or not always cohesive so and
21:39i
21:39definitely relate to that too you know so it feels very good to to be in that conversation it's also
21:44just
21:44way more interesting to i think appeal to that than you know middle middle middle america or something
21:53you know this ain't the taylor sheridan universe thank you um i guess i do have a show called land
22:02man
22:04it's gonna be land man oil man truck man it's so filthy um you mentioned mm fiction right huge on
22:12tick tock a book talk sorry um bl boys love is exploding in popularity in the eastern markets
22:20in broadcast but we haven't seen shows the books yes but the shows in the western market really take
22:30off you are leading a movement you are i think i agree no i think uh i think that what
22:37we've seen
22:38is a lot of it skewing ya in the west right and i think i've said this a bunch of
22:42times like i would
22:43love to be a gay 14 year old or 15 year old now like to have to have grown up
22:48with heart stopper and
22:49young royals and all these like they're wonderful they're also for young people so they're sexually
22:55neutered and i think that this is that for grown-ups um because we get to have our fun too
23:02and as cool
23:03as it is to wait six episodes for people to hold hands it's also fun to watch them bang
23:11we do that thanks thanks thanks okay yeah so that's what this show but i think that like i think
23:19that
23:19that's the that's the part that besides uh uh happy endings uh that's what gay people really don't
23:26get i didn't even mean it that way i get it i hear it uh but like yeah we don't
23:32get happy endings and
23:33we don't get to see ourselves have satisfying sex we get like kind of like dirty secret trysts and then
23:40we get it's like you know that's that was the joy of this show to me and of rachel's books
23:45and getting to
23:46explore this world was just that these is this is a just a complete love story about two people who
23:52uh yeah who are obsessed with each other and can't stop bucking and then realize they're in love
23:58is great yeah agreed amen um all right we have three minutes left so we're gonna do a lightning round
24:05ready just one pop song okay ready who breaks character first what was the question who breaks
24:12character first hudson hudson i'm always you don't get to say that character right most like their
24:19character sophie sophie sophie yes yeah uh not francois
24:32okay so lightning round yes oh yeah it's lightening
24:37chain and ilia's couple name is holanov no it's shalia it's a horror oh shalia
24:44or holanov i won i won i won shalia is no no no okay okay um
24:54shalia sounds like a thing you have guys i think i have shalia um so how do we combine connor's
25:02story
25:03and hudson williams what are we on stories no uh yeah hudner
25:09con hud con that's the front of both of them that doesn't make any sense
25:15well y'all decide i'm constant myself constant constant constant williams
25:25this is a thing i'm asking okay okay what was it hudcon is the hudcon we didn't agree to that
25:34okay
25:34we're at hudcon five what is shane and ilia's theme song um i really want no i'm not gonna say
25:47i want i really i really want um ilia at some point to sing um that tattoo song remember
25:53all of what you said all the things you said i'm gonna do my life i'm gonna do my life
25:58that's a russian that's like a lesbian russian group they're super sick tattoo t-a-t-u
26:03t-a-t-u yep i can't tell if he's flunking with me i think i think we'll do that
26:07just collectively for both of us you get a say yeah it's up literally it's my say it's up to
26:12me
26:13they don't get a say right well say i think when you have seen the show you'll see there are
26:19some
26:19featured songs and i would guess that it is between my moon my man by feist and i'll believe
26:26in anything by wolf parade okay that's cute i'll take this one um i'm thinking the rocky theme song
26:32maybe i'm gonna fly now you know i think it could score everything i would do anything for love but
26:39i
26:39won't do that me love i don't understand which castmate would be the worst in an actual hockey fight
26:49or no worst meaning do the most damage or lose the hardest however you want to answer hudson hudson
26:58used to do mma right yeah so hudson used to do mma so he would win yeah i would cry
27:05yeah francois would
27:08would also cry yeah and then francois and i would cry together and have a competition over that you can
27:15cry harder okay before i let you go final question you heard what justin's dogma said earlier
27:19there are more books yeah so have you been thinking about more how far along are you on the more
27:27you've shot every single one not as far i'll tell you what i'm not i'm not as far i'm not
27:33as far as
27:34justin would like me to be so uh but listen if if literally justin wants more seasons that's up to
27:44it yeah yeah fuck yeah let's do it we yes i do have a plan i have a plan okay
27:49help us make that happen
27:51remember heated rivalry premieres on crave on friday tell everyone i know you've seen it but watch
27:58it again on social media and all of that there's two episodes on friday and then episode as of next
28:04tell everyone who will like i did with my husband tell lady's husband remind him where she is
28:14thank you all of you thank you congratulations
28:30and
28:57oh and rachel
29:16um well yeah rachel i want to start with you
29:28so how did this start with the books of the show
29:36started with me at my dining room table just getting struck with um i don't know just these two
29:41characters just appeared in my head and i just immediately sat down and wrote what became the
29:45prologue of the book because one sitting so and then it just went from there and are you a hockey
29:52fan yes
29:54okay it starts there
29:57very very very young yeah and um the relationship between the two guys was that just something that popped into
30:06your head yeah i just thought it would be funny
30:13okay so that's when i as a comedy writer read it and was like oh fuck this is a sitcom
30:24i was sitting over there and that group of girls i really do want to know though what is it
30:34because
30:34watching this you guys it's better than 50 shades of gray for you guys this is this is huge and
30:42i actually i'm not going to ask any questions of the audience but i do need to know will one
30:47person here tell me
30:48what it is about this that really makes
30:55just human connection is really important especially like for queer people
30:59yeah it's just like that connection is so important
31:09um
31:11yeah what i'm interested in though too is because it's hot and it's two guys
31:17and it's just it is so hot for you guys you were embarrassed you were like
31:35okay but i want to ask you um so when did this come into your life
31:41so yeah so during the pandemic i started listening to audible and this was one of the first books i
31:48mean that's
31:54i could not finish the book i was like why is my attention span so short so i started listening
31:59the first thing i did was listen to these books and i loved them and then i did a pretty
32:04big deep dive
32:05into the genre uh which i discovered that i was writing about these are rachel's a real writer and
32:13the books are funny and smart and genuine and the connections between the characters are real i agree with
32:20like there's something like there's something and not you know romance is a largely uncritically
32:27reviewed genre and so to learn what's good at it you just have to kind of listen or read you
32:31have to
32:31participate in it and i i listen to a lot and i can never shake the books um i love
32:36them and then
32:37as i kind of saw them get a bit more into the mainstream it was really i said i feel
32:43like this
32:44washington post article and it was just like oh my god if somebody else options these i think i'll
32:49feel crazy and so i was like brendan brady sitting there who deserves a lot of credit for this
33:02what we like to say now is we were trying to be like a low-budget comedy company and then
33:08we
33:08turned into a premium smut company i like our origin story like i'm assuming it's a villain arc
33:19so i would think and gay sex would be like snakes on a plane to sell like people would want
33:26this
33:27was it that easy for you guys to get this made
33:30legendary
33:37we used to be roommates um yes no i you know what i had no idea we had no idea
33:44like here's the thing
33:45that happened i knew these books were popular i loved them i had no idea prior to that watching
33:51post article i was not sure it was adaptable you've noticed not a lot of sex and but i did
34:00but like i did but what happened was we didn't pitch i knew i was like i'm going to write
34:05the first one
34:05in that way i'm going to use this as a proven concept because i don't i don't know if people
34:09are
34:09going to make i'm going to get execs to read this book and as soon as we started talking about
34:13it
34:13though brennan and i would talk we would tell people we were like oh we're not ready for this
34:17this isn't ready yet but we have we optioned this series of gay hockey romances the level of like
34:23sorry what did you say the level of like leaning in was pretty extraordinary and then uh it didn't
34:29it did not take long it was way easier than i thought it would be that being said it was
34:35quite
34:35difficult initially we had we had another we had an adventure with another company and
34:41uh it was the but the question that i was you know like was kind of nervous with craig too
34:48was
34:48just like you say you want this but do you like do you want this in theory and then when
34:54you see
34:54the scripts you start seeing the footage you're like oh that's more than we thought we were getting
35:00for this um and craig did right have been amazing the entire way through but uh so once it was
35:06once it
35:07happened and craig was the place where i've done other tv shows that i did larry canning with and so
35:11i
35:11knew all these people and uh but it was a departure and it was a big swing for them because
35:16they don't
35:17yeah because they they also just don't they're only recently starting to do one or dramas at all
35:22and so this was a big swing in a lot of ways i think it worked
35:27yeah um so i want to know about how you found your boys um because i feel like that chemistry
35:39is okay so i want to you know what i'm looking at you've talked enough um i do want to
35:46know what the
35:46casting process was like for both of you um did you um too long
35:52too long and it was drawn out there was like but and uh it was very straightforward besides
36:00when you read the script was that straightforward like just you're a wednesday yeah i think immediately
36:07as soon as i read the script i kind of just fell in love with it or at least the
36:11size it got sent
36:11immediately it sort of made sense to me in a way um and i just wanted to do it and
36:18get my hands dirty
36:19and just jump all the way in there i think for me is this working yeah i always had like
36:28an adjustment
36:29period where i'm like how loud um yeah i remember i remember the original uh breakdown it was like
36:386'3 russian bisexual hockey player and i was like i'm not 6'3 i don't speak russian
36:48and uh yeah so i was like i'm never gonna get this this isn't gonna happen i did it heard
36:56back a month
36:56later and did like three three reads and yeah yeah because when i first saw this i really did not
37:07believe you were not rushing there we go i love that first the first iteration of it that i did
37:13was a
37:13little bit more like this is how we work that's not that's not true
37:20i was in the mail
37:23and um and jake was like i love it
37:28love's changing a fun story about connor's audition i uh a friend of ours a bunch of ours
37:34up here sarah gatton a wonderful actress who did the voiceover for the uh rookie of the year award
37:39uh she watched a bunch of the tapes and she loved connor so much this was before hudson had even
37:45auditioned and she said to me she was like we have to cast the russian law that was not russian
37:53so you fooled her and the blue beginning
37:59the chemistry between them is palpable and like so much though that you saw before i can't not think
38:06of you guys as shane and ilia like i i refuse to know your names properly
38:11um that was a choice um but how did you because this feels like a tall order to be able
38:18to find
38:18these guys so how what was that search like for you when they did the chemistry it was very obvious
38:25and full disclosure the chemistry was stacked for them and it worked um and then the network was
38:33concerned that they were too young and we had another i think they did another like take together
38:39where i was like i was like i was like i don't even know what this note imagine getting this
38:43note
38:43i was like i don't know what this note means but play it like you're 30.
38:48all the stupid things to say
38:51i was like play it like you're a bit more tired and you don't want to play
38:55i think it sounds like a chore
38:59eating sex
39:00like really do this or a bit more of that energy and it worked and it won
39:06but yeah your chemistry read was amazing from the from the like and yeah it was just very it became
39:13very clear at least to me very quickly
39:16um francois yeah francois who i believe is one of the greatest actors we have in this country
39:22um
39:29what i love so much is that so i've seen all of this and you don't know what's coming it's
39:35amazing you
39:36might actually because you've got the books but what i love is when your little like little thumbnail up
39:43there and showed those girls are like please come on so um how did you become involved in this
39:52um thank you emily um well i've known jacob for we were coming earlier 17 years now
40:08um and when he gave me the call for this i was unaware of the rachel reed game universe
40:17and uh i know that scott hunter now is a beloved character
40:25but there was something to the writing and i know you only have just like a tiny little tease of
40:32it but
40:32there's something in the writing of this um like alpha strong captain america male uh that is just
40:42profoundly good uh and there's something that really moved me and there's um the words that jacob found
40:51to express that range so true uh that i was i just felt like i i had to save him
40:59at one point and um
41:00um i'm just so glad to be in such good company i'm so proud of you i did hear from
41:08a source that you
41:10wanted to dye your hair bleach blonde for this and is that just a character choice or the character is
41:16blonde with blue eyes in the books and i knew i was going to get shit from the fandom and
41:22i was also
41:22i had just know the things i had dyed my hair blonde for another movie and i was like can
41:27you just use
41:27this mic i was kind of tired uh and jacob was like no so i'm a little auburn
41:37um rachel when just so having something of yours adapted um what was that process like on a kind of
41:46day-to-day basis
41:48are you getting emotional like seeing somebody interpret what you've done
41:54yeah jacob this is not i don't do this every day
41:58ever
42:00it was an absolute dream from the very first moment that i i spoke to jacob the first time
42:06like because you laid out exactly everything that was important about the books and the characters
42:12that you just got them right away so i never worried again after that because you know not
42:18everybody gets um a dream adaptation and gets to be this included and gets to be this respected
42:26having their source material respected this much and i don't know just thank you
42:46i know that brendan is there and not here but if he was here would we talk about the sale
42:53to hbo
42:54yeah yeah
42:57can you say it in french oh yeah
43:00oui uh
43:01ben je vais vous dire premier merci beaucoup d'être venu
43:04tous les amis
43:29And I'm just saying in French, they were super happy that HBO bought the show.
43:35For all the reasons I think it's just as exciting for us, it's fucking crazy, and we're so excited that
43:42it's happening at the same time as in Canada, and of course our Australian friends, and...
43:47I knew it as soon as I read it, that it would sell worldwide and it would use the same
43:50code.
43:51It was the first time.
43:55And if you don't trust the master...
44:02No, the whole thing has been, you know, overwhelming, and I know there's a lot of fans here, and really,
44:07we owe so much of this to you.
44:11You know, we, Brendan and I, sold this show, we were like, oh, there's fans.
44:17They're gonna show up, and then we were like, I don't know, but there's no obvious roadmap, and I certainly
44:26never felt anything like what it's like to be supported by you guys.
44:31Rachel tried to warn me, and...
44:34But it's, yeah, it's just been absolutely crazy, and we, I don't...
44:38I have, you know, people have asked me, they're like, did the fans make this up?
44:41I don't know, is the answer?
44:42I don't know, but I know it did not hurt.
44:46That was amazing, and it was amazing for everybody to see online, but like, wow, there's a vocal and active
44:51group of people that want to see the show.
44:54And so that's, it's, that's crazy, and it's amazing, and it's very gratifying.
44:58Um, speaking to the fans, yes, I, I, what's going on in that?
45:03I just have, like, one, one small question.
45:06So the sex scenes.
45:09Um...
45:10Yes.
45:12So they were really fucking hot.
45:15Like, really hot.
45:17And how was that, I wanna ask you, how was that on set?
45:23Uh, to, to...
45:26Kind of...
45:27You're gonna get asked this a lot later on, so I'm just prepping you.
45:31Let's practice.
45:31This is practice.
45:32Um, maybe just speak, like, I don't want to say a word, you say a word, you say a word,
45:36you say a word.
45:37No.
45:38Okay.
45:39To be honest, like, I don't think Hudson and I are very squeamish or weird about any of that.
45:45So, I mean, it's one of those things where, you know, someone else is uncomfortable, or, you know, has a
45:50different way to think about things,
45:52or has certain boundaries that need to be respected, you know, it's...
45:55No boundaries.
45:56Yeah.
45:57Then it becomes, then it becomes a dance, right?
46:00Like, you know, you're always kind of being like, is this okay? Is this okay?
46:03We've kind of, from the jump, with Jacob and Cheyla, our intimacy coordinator, were like, I was like, you can
46:09do whatever you want to me, however you want to me.
46:13And it was kind of vice versa in the summer.
46:15Yeah.
46:17If that makes any sense.
46:19I was like, I don't do anything.
46:21I was like, oh, let's get in there.
46:28Okay.
46:34What I'll say is, cause, that's a record.
46:38We took a, we, they are both very comfortable.
46:42And this show would not be what it is without these two, and without the particular chemistry that they have,
46:47and their comfort level with each other, which is amazing.
46:50Um, and also a great reminder that some of the on-set nudity stuff is actually about the crew.
46:56So when you say things like, Hudson, you have to wear a robe.
46:58You can't just walk around like that, walking around, because it's hot in the hotel room, or whatever.
47:05Uh, it was a living experience for all of us, in some ways.
47:09Right?
47:09You remember that.
47:10It was so much fun to be in my little ballerina slipper.
47:13I know.
47:14I loved his little pouch.
47:15It was like, I kept so many of them.
47:20Yeah.
47:21Yeah.
47:21But we did.
47:24We did have a wonderful intimacy coordinator.
47:26I mean, Chela Hunter, who really, I mean, she was.
47:31And we took this part very seriously.
47:34We tried to choreograph these sex scenes like dances, so that we were just going through beats and emotions, so
47:38that we could allow for, much like a dance, for like, the connect, you don't have to think about the
47:42next movement.
47:42You could just think about the connection and do that, because that was always, you know, the language of this
47:48show, what the fans love, what I love too, is that like, this is a sexual relationship.
47:52And so we can't shy away from that.
47:54But we also have to make sure that these sex scenes are not just gratuitous sex scenes.
47:57We're learning about these guys, and we're learning about their relationship.
48:01And so it's quite important that they be very specific.
48:03And without specificity, it's not interesting.
48:05It's just like a mess of bodies.
48:07And you can see that anywhere.
48:08You know?
48:09It's not sexy either.
48:10It's not sexy without that.
48:12And it is so...
48:12Intimacy.
48:14Intimacy.
48:15I know I'm not good at intimacy, but this is inspiring.
48:21So, and thank you all for making this.
48:26Thank you guys.
48:34Thank you to everyone here at Imaginacion.
48:38Thank you to Emily for coming into doing this and being amazing at it.
48:46And thank you to everyone that's here at Prairie, Mexin, and this whole team.
48:50We really appreciate everything from Prairie Quebec.
48:53Thank you so much.
48:54And thank you guys for coming tonight.
48:56We appreciate you.
48:57Have a good night.