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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-drive or anything
16:07but here'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
16:26alright
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
16:38alright
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
17:29i i think it's it's a lot about Shane's personality
17:33um is that he is this kind of outsider and i think there's something very interesting
17:40that happens when you read a book and your characters name is Shane Hollander that your brain
17:44can whitewash him in a really easy way and uh there was never a question to me like this character
17:49had to be uh asian and i think it just brings something much more interesting to the story
17:56besides just honoring what's in the book i mean like it was never a question because in the book
17:59like i wouldn't question that period but then i also wanted to and we talked about this i wanted
18:05to address it like i wanted him to talk about it a little bit because there aren't besides and this
18:12show is not nick suzuki fan fiction uh rachel reed will tell you that though it because it and it's
18:18not it was published before he was the captain of the haves but like the fact that there is a
18:22half
18:23asian captain of the montreal hockey team right now aside there are not that many asian characters
18:28there are many asian players in hockey and so i thought like that is it just makes the whole thing
18:34more interesting and yeah it would be monstrous just to make him white well as you said yeah
18:41a confession i'll tell you something admit it to you okay i was reading just chatting now right
18:46no when i was reading the book even though i am of east asian background yeah shane hollander in my
18:53mind right was not asian yeah even as an east asian person yeah so i really appreciate this effort and
19:01so to you hudson what does it mean to you coming from your background to be able to play this
19:06character
19:07in this story that so many people are going to see it it means a lot um my mom told
19:13me at one point
19:14that uh when i wanted i told her i was going to be an actor she said it it scared
19:19her because
19:19um she thought her being an asian lady that it would kind of limit my possibilities for roles i could
19:27get because she hadn't really seen um people uh like her um on the screen and then when i booked
19:34a
19:34role due to the fact there was a prerequisite that i am half asian um i think it just kind
19:42of
19:44made her see that things are changing and and there are new possibilities so that really
19:48felt amazing um the majority of the fans of this book are women and queer and this show serves that
20:06audience prioritizes that audience as a part of this team how do you feel to be part of a show
20:17that
20:17prioritizes an audience that is often neglected underserved how do i how do i feel like you
20:25personally yeah yeah i mean i i i've said this before i feel like getting into niche specific human
20:35experiences whether it's um shane being you know half asian or ilia being a foreigner both of them
20:43being queer i think getting into these really niche specific human experiences actually really
20:50give you a chance to open up and let people connect you know if it was super generic then it's
20:56kind of
20:56like it's so vanilla that there's kind of nothing to stick you know i was really surprised when i found
21:02out that most of the demographics of people who um love rachel's books um are predominantly women
21:08um because i think on the surface you would think you know mm romance and you would think men um
21:14i
21:15think i think those two communities just really relate to the feeling of being i'm in a box that
21:22box says i can be a b or c and i feel capable of more than that and i think
21:28these two characters feel
21:29that way you know living in the gray on some level feeling like what's expected of me what the world
21:34wants for me and what i am or not always cohesive so and i definitely relate to that too you
21:40know so
21:41it feels very good to to be in that conversation it's also just way more interesting to i think
21:47appeal to that than you know middle middle middle america or something you know this ain't the taylor
21:55sheridan universe thank you um i guess that i do have a show called land man
22:04it's gonna be land man oil man truck man it's so filthy um you mentioned mm fiction right huge on
22:12tiktok a book talk sorry um bl boys love is exploding in popularity in the eastern markets in broadcast but
22:22we haven't seen shows the books yes but the shows in the western market really take off you are leading
22:31a movement you are i agree no i think uh i think that what we've seen is a lot of
22:38it skewing ya
22:39in the west right and i think i've said this a bunch of times like i would love to be
22:44a gay 14 year
22:45old or 15 year old now like to have to have grown up with heart stopper and young royals and
22:50all these
22:51like they're wonderful they're also for young people so they're sexually neutered and i think
22:56that this is that for grown-ups um because we get to have our fun too and as cool as
23:03it is to wait
23:04six 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
23:18i think that that's that that's the part that besides uh uh happy endings uh that's what gay
23:25people really don't get i didn't mean it that way i get it i hear it uh but like yeah
23:31we don't get happy
23:32endings and we don't get to see ourselves have satisfying sex we get like kind of like
23:38dirty secret trysts and then we get it's like you know that's that was the joy of this show to
23:44me
23:44and of rachel's books and getting to explore this world was just that these is this is a just a
23:49complete love story about two people who uh yeah who are obsessed with each other and can't stop
23:56fucking and then realize they're in love fucking is great yeah agreed amen um all right we have three
24:03minutes left so we're gonna do a lightning round ready it's just one pop song okay ready who breaks
24:09character first who breaks character first hudson hudson i'm always in character you don't get to say
24:16then who's most like their character sophie sophie sophie yes yeah not francois
24:31okay so lightning round yes shane and ilia's couple name is holonov no it's shalia it's a holonov
24:40oh shalia or holonov i won i won i won shalia is no no no okay okay um shalia sounds
24:55like a thing you
24:56have guys i think i have shalia um so how do we combine connor story and hudson williams
25:12that doesn't make any sense well y'all decide i'm not gonna shit myself
25:25this is a thing i'm asking okay okay what was the hudcon is the hudcon we didn't agree to that
25:34we're at hudcon five
25:38what is shane and ilia's theme song
25:41um i really want i really want um ilia at some point to sing um that tattoo song remember
25:58it's a russian it's like a lesbian russian group they're super sick tattoo t-a-t-u
26:04do you you can't tell if he's flunking with me i think i think we'll do that uh just collectively
26:08for both of us you get a say yeah it's up literally it's my say it's up to me they
26:13don't
26:14get a say right well say i think when you have seen the show you'll see there are some featured
26:20songs and i would guess that it is between my moon my man by feist and i'll believe in anything
26:27by wolf parade okay that's cute i'll take this one um i'm thinking the rocky theme song maybe
26:33i'm gonna fly now you know i think it could score everything i would do anything for love but i
26:39won't do that me and love
26:44which castmate would be the worst in an actual hockey fight
26:49francois or no
26:52worst meaning do the most damage
26:54any of you ever you want to answer hudson hudson used to do mma right yeah so hudson used to
27:02do
27:02mma so he would win yeah i would cry yeah francois would would also cry yeah and then francois and
27:10i
27:11would cry together and have a competition over that you can cry harder okay before i let you go
27:17final question you heard what justin stockman said earlier there are more books yeah
27:22so 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 as i'm
27:33not as far as
27:34justin would like me to be so uh but listen if if literally justin wants more seasons that's up to
27:44yeah yeah fuck yeah let's do it we yes i do have a plan i have a plan okay help
27:50us make that happen
27:51remember heated rivalry premieres on crave on friday tell everyone i know you've seen it but watch it
27:58again on social media 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
28:13thank you all of you thank you congratulations
28:20thank you
28:22thank you remember tell everyone on crave heated robbery friday thank you good night
28:31and
28:57oh and rachel
29:16well yeah rachel i want to start with you
29:29so how did this start
29:31the books of the show
29:34it started 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 you could one sitting so and then it just went from there and are you a
29:52hockey fan
29:53yes okay it starts there
29:57very very young yeah
29:58and um the relationship between the two guys was that just something that popped into your head
30:07yeah i just thought it would be funny
30:13okay so that's when i as a comedy writer
30:18read it and was like oh fuck this is a sitcom
30:24i was sitting over there and that group of girls
30:30i really do want to know though what is it because watching this
30:36you guys it's it's better than 50 shades of gray for you guys this is this is huge and i
30:43actually i'm
30:44i'm not going to ask any questions of the audience but i do need to know will one person here
30:48tell me
30:49what it is about this
30:51that really makes
30:55just human connection is really important especially like for queer people
30:59yeah
31:00that 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
31:53i couldn't read nobody else remembers that i could not finish the book i was like why is my attention
31:57span so short so i started listening and the first thing i did was listen to these books and i
32:01loved them
32:02um and then i did a pretty big deep dive into the genre uh which i discovered that
32:08i was writing some of these are
32:11rachel's a real writer and her books are funny and smart and genuine and
32:17the connections between the characters are real i agree with you like there's something
32:20and 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 they 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 would you like to say now is we were trying to be like a low-budget comedy company and
33:07then we
33:08turned into a premium smut company
33:13i like our origin story i like i'm assuming it's a villain arc
33:19well so i would think and gay sex would be like snakes on a plane to sell like people would
33:26want this
33:26it wasn't that easy for you guys to get this made
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 there's you've noticed not a lot of sex
33:58but i did but like i did but what happened was we didn't pitch i knew i was like i'm
34:05going to write
34:05the first one in that way i'm going to use this as a real concept because i don't i don't
34:08know if
34:09people are going to make i'm going to get execs to read this book and as soon as we started
34:12talking
34:13about it though brend and i were talking we would tell people we were like oh we're not ready for
34:17this
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 i was kind of nervous with craig too
34:48was just like
34:48you say you want this but do you like do you want this in theory and then when you see
34:54the scripts
34:55you start seeing the footage you're like oh that's more than we thought we were getting for this
35:01and craig did right have been amazing the entire way through but so once it was once it happened and
35:08craig was the place where i'd done other tv shows that i did larry canning with and so i knew
35:11all these
35:11people and uh but it was a departure and it was a big swing for them because they don't yeah
35:17because
35:17they they also just don't they're only recently starting to do one or dramas at all and so this
35:23was a big swing in a lot of ways i think it worked
35:27um so i want to know about how you found your boys um because i feel like that chemistry
35:39so i want to you know what i'm looking at you've talked enough um i do want to know what
35:46the casting
35:47process was like for both of you um did you um too long and it was drawn out there was
35:55like but
35:57it was very straightforward besides when you read the script was that straightforward like just
36:04you're a wednesday yeah i think immediately as soon as i read the script i kind of just
36:09fell in love with it or at least besides i got sent immediately it sort of made sense to me
36:14in a way
36:14um and i just wanted to do it and get my hands dirty and just jump all the way in
36:21there
36:24and connor i think for me is this working yeah i always had like an adjustment period where i'm like
36:30how loud um yeah i remember i remember the original uh breakdown it was like six three russian bisexual
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're
37:18that's not that's not true
37:20i was in the mail
37:23and jake was like i love it
37:28last change a fun story about connor's audition a friend of ours a bunch of ours up here sarah gatton
37:35a wonderful actress who did the voiceover for the uh rookie of the year award uh she watched a bunch
37:41of
37:41the tapes and she loved connor so much this was before hudson had even auditioned and she said to
37:47me she was like we have to cast the russian one that was not russian
37:53you fooled her and the boobie gave me
37:59well but the chemistry between them is palpable and like so much though that you saw before i can't not
38:06think of you guys as shane and ilia like i i refuse to know your names properly
38:13that was a choice um but how did you because this feels like a tall order to be able to
38:18find
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 tape together
38:39where i was like i was like i don't even know what this note imagine getting this note i was
38:44like
38:44i don't know what this note means but play it like you're 30.
38:49all stupid fucking things to say
38:51i was like play it like you're a bit more tired and you don't feel like
38:55i think it sounds like a chore
38:5880 seconds
39:00like do this or a bit more that energy and it worked and it worked but yeah your chemistry
39:07read was amazing from the from the like and yeah it was just very it became very clear at least
39:13to me
39:14very quickly um francois yeah francois who i believe is one of the greatest actors we have in this country
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
39:35you might actually because you've got the books but what i loved was when your little like little
39:42thumbnail up there and showed those girls were like please come on so um how did you become involved in
39:50this
39:52um thank you emily
39:54of course this isn't working
39:55i don't think it was
40:00um that was not
40:01uh 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 to
40:51express that range so true uh that i was i just felt like i i had to save him at
40:59one point and um i'm just so
41:01glad to be in such good company i'm so proud of you
41:04i i did hear from a source that you wanted to dye your hair bleach blonde for this and is
41:13that just a
41:14character choice or the character is blonde with blue eyes in the books and i knew i was going to
41:18get
41:18shit from the fandom and i was also i had just know the things i had dyed my hair blonde
41:25for another movie
41:26and i was like can you just use this mic i was kind of tired uh and jacob was like
41:31no
41:32so i'm a little auburn
41:34um rachel when just so having something of yours adapted um what was that process like on a kind of
41:45day-to-day basis
41:47like an emotional one
41:49like 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 everybody
42:18gets um a dream adaptation and gets to be this included and gets to be this respected having
42:27their source material respected this much and i don't know just thank you
42:41that's what it's like crazy um i know that brendan is there and not here but if he was here
42:51would we talk about the sale to hbo yeah
42:55how we went
42:57can you say it in french oh yeah
43:00oui euh ben je vais vous dire premièrement merci beaucoup d'être venu
43:04tous les amers
43:08les gens de francis de fray évidemment
43:11un oublage pour si vous voulez l'écouter comme ça puis euh la dernière chose c'est que oui
43:17on est super excités d'être d'être achetés par un trio
43:21star star en est mon star rêve nous d'être sur des zones comme ça
43:26on est aujourd'hui c'est quelque chose de super spécial évidemment
43:29um and i'm just saying in french they were super happy that hbo bought the show
43:35uh for all the reasons i think it's just as exciting for us it's fucking crazy
43:39and uh and we're so excited that it's happening at the same time as in canada and of course our
43:45australian friends and i knew it as soon as i read it that it would sell worldwide
43:50i don't know what he used to say
43:50he was a first man
43:52and if you don't trust the master
44:01uh no the whole thing has been you know overwhelming and i know there's a lot of fans
44:06here and really we owe so much of this to you um you know we brendan and i sold this
44:14show
44:14we were like oh there's fans they're gonna show up and we were like i don't know there's no obvious
44:24road map and i certainly uh never felt anything like what it what it's like to be supported by you
44:30guys rachel tried to warn me and uh but it's yeah it's just been absolutely crazy and we i don't
44:37i have
44:38but you know people have asked me like did the fans pick this up i don't know is the answer
44:42i don't
44:42know but i i know it did not hurt that was amazing and it was amazing for everybody to see
44:49online but
44:49like wow there's a vocal and active group of people that want to see the show and so that's it's
44:55that's crazy and it's amazing and it's very gratifying um speaking to the fans one one small
45:05question so the sex scenes um yes so they were really hot like really hot and how was that how
45:20was
45:22that on set uh to to kind of you're gonna get asked this a lot later on so i'm just
45:30prepping you
45:31just to practice um maybe just speak like i don't want to say a word you stand where you
45:36to be honest like i don't think Hudson and i are very squeamish or weird about any of that so
45:45i mean
45:46it's one of those things where you know someone else is uncomfortable or you know has a different way
45:51about things or has certain boundaries that need to be respected you know it's no boundaries yeah
45:57then it becomes then it becomes a dance right like you know you're always kind of being like is this
46:01okay is this okay we kind of from the jump with Jacob and Chayla our intimacy coordinator were like
46:07i was like you can do whatever you want to me however you want to me and it was kind
46:14of vice versa and so
46:15yeah if that makes any sense i was like i don't do anything let's go let's get in there
46:34what i'll say is because we took a we they are both very comfortable this show would not be what
46:43it
46:43is without these two and without the particular chemistry that they have and their comfort level
46:48with each other which was amazing um and also a great reminder that some of the onset neutering
46:54stuff is actually about the crew so when you see 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
47:05it was a living experience for all of us in some ways right you remember that so much fun to
47:11be in my
47:12little ballerina slipper i loved his little pouch which is what it looks like uh i kept so many of
47:18them
47:21we did have a wonderful intimacy coordinator and you chill off a hunter who really i mean
47:28she was very good and we took this part very seriously we tried to choreograph these sex scenes like
47:36dances so that we were just going through beats and emotions so that we could allow for much like a
47:40dance for like the connect you don't have to think about the next movement you can just think about
47:43the connection and do that because that was always you know the language of this show what the fans
47:48love what i love too is that like this is a sexual relationship and so we can't shy away from
47:53that
47:54but we also have to make sure these sex scenes are not just gratuitous sex scenes we're learning
47:58about these guys and we're learning about their relationship and so it's quite important that they
48:02be very specific and without specificity it's not interesting it's just like a mess of bodies and you can see
48:08that
48:08they were you know it's not sexy either it's not sexy without that and it is so intimacy i know
48:16i'm not
48:16good at intimacy but this is inspiring so and thank you all for making this thank you guys
48:34thank you
48:35thank you to emily for coming into doing this and being amazing at it
48:46and thank you to everyone that's here in prairie mexican and this whole team we really appreciate
48:50uh everything uh from uh from prairie quebec thank you so much and thank you you guys for coming
48:56tonight we appreciate you
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