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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
17:37and i think there's something very interesting that happens when you read a book and your character's name is Shane
17:43Hollander that your brain can whitewash him in a really easy way
17:46and there was never a question to me like this character had to be Asian and I think it just
17:53brings something much more interesting to the story besides just honoring what's in the book
17:57I mean like it was never a question because in the book like I would question that period but
18:02then I also wanted to and we talked about this I wanted to address it like I wanted him to
18:07talk
18:07about it a little bit because there aren't besides and this show is not Nick Suzuki fan fiction
18:15Rachel Reed will tell you that though it because and it's not it was published before he was the
18:19captain of the Habs but like the fact that there is a half Asian captain of the Montreal hockey team
18:25right now aside there are not that many Asian characters there are many Asian players in
18:30hockey and so I thought like that is it just makes the whole thing more interesting and yeah it would
18:36be monstrous just to make him white well as you said yeah a confession I'll tell you something
18:44admit it to you okay I was reading just chatting now right no when I was reading the book even
18:48though
18:49I am of East Asian background yeah Shane Hollander in my mind right was not Asian yeah even as an
18:57East
18:57Asian person yeah so I really appreciate this effort and so to you Hudson what does it mean to you
19:03coming from your background to be able to play this character in this story that so many people
19:08are going to see it means a lot my mom told me at one point that when I wanted I
19:15told her I was going
19:16to be an actor she said it scared her because she thought her being an Asian lady that it would
19:24kind of
19:25limit my possibilities for roles I could get because she hadn't really seen people like her on the
19:32screen and then when I booked a role due to the fact there was a prerequisite that I am half
19:39Asian
19:41I think it just kind of made her see that things are changing and there are new possibilities so that
19:57the majority of the fans of this book are women and queer and this show serves that audience
20:07prioritizes that audience as a part of this team how do you feel to be part of a show that
20:17prioritizes an audience that is often neglected underserved yeah how do I how do I feel
20:24you personally yeah yeah I mean 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 Ilya being a foreigner both of them being
20:44queer I think getting into these really niche specific human experiences actually really give you
20:51a chance to open up and let people connect you know if it was super generic then it's kind of
20:56like
20:56it's so vanilla that there's kind of nothing to stick you know I was really surprised when I found out
21:02that
21:02most of the demographics of people who um love Rachel's books um are predominantly women um because I think on
21:10the
21:10surface you would think you know mm romance and you would think men um I think I think those two
21:17communities just really relate to the feeling of being I'm in a box that box says I can be a
21:24b or c
21:25and I feel capable of more than that and I think these two characters feel that way you know living
21:31in
21:31the gray on some level feeling like what's expected of me what the world wants from me and what I
21:36am or not
21:36always cohesive so and I definitely relate to that too you know so it feels very good to
21:42to be in that conversation it's also just way more interesting to I think appeal to that than
21:48you know middle middle middle middle America or something you know this ain't the Taylor Sheridan
21:56universe 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 think I agree no I think uh I think that what we've seen is a
22:38lot of it 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
23:09bang we do that bang bang bang bang 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
24:03three minutes left so we're gonna do a lightning round ready 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 uh 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
25:11that's the front of both of them that doesn't make any sense well y'all decide i'm not gonna
25:17shit myself
25:25this is a thing i'm asking okay okay what was the hudcon is the hudcon we didn't agree to that
25:34okay we're at hudcon five
25:38what is shane and ilia's theme song um i really want um ilia at some point to sing
25:51um 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
26:03do you you can't tell if he's flunking with me i think i think we'll do that
26:07um just collectively for both of us you get a say yeah it's up literally it's my say it's up
26:12to me
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 in
26:26anything
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 in love
26:44which castmate would be the worst in an actual hockey fight
26:49france or no
26:52worst meaning do the most damage
26:54or lose or lose the hardest however you want to answer hudson hudson used to do mma right yeah so
27:01hudson used to do mma so he would win yeah i would cry yeah francois would would run also cry
27:09yeah
27:10and then francois and i would cry together and have a competition over that you can cry harder okay
27:16before i let you go final question you heard what justin stockman said earlier there are more books yeah
27:22so have you been thinking about oh yeah 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
28:14thank you thank you all of you thank you congratulations
28:20thank you remember tell everyone on crave heated robbery friday thank you tonight
28:33thank you
28:36thank you
28:36thank you
28:43thank you
28:45thank you
28:57oh and rachel
29:15um
29:16well yeah rachel i want to start with you
29:25okay
29:29so how did this start with the 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
29:41two characters just appeared in my head and i just immediately
29:43sat down and wrote what became the prologue of the book in one sitting so and then it just went
29:49from there
29:50and are you a hockey fan
29:53yes
29:54okay it starts there
29:57very very young yeah
29:59and um the relationship between the two guys was that just
30:04something that popped into your head yeah i just thought it would be funny
30:14okay 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 that really makes
30:55just human connection is really important especially like for queer people
30:59that connection is so important
31:10that's 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
31:36okay 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 true i'm a big reader and i never listened to audible and i had friends be like
31:50you listen to podcasts like and i couldn't read nobody else remembers this and i could not finish
31:56a book i was like why is my attention span so short so i started listening and the first thing
32:00i did was
32:00listen to these books and i loved them and then i did a pretty big deep dive into the genre
32:07which i discovered that i was writing some of these are rachel's a real writer and the books are funny
32:14and smart and genuine and the connections between the characters are real i agree with you like there's
32:20something and not you know romance is a largely uncritically reviewed genre and so to learn what's
32:29good at it you just have to kind of listen or read you have to participate in it and i
32:33i listen to a
32:34lot and i can never shake the books um i love them and then as i kind of saw them
32:39get a bit more into
32:40the mainstream it was really i said i feel like i said this washington post article and it was just
32:45like
32:45oh my god if somebody else options these they think i'll feel crazy and so i was like brendan brady
32:52sitting 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 turned into
33:08a premium smut company i like our origin story i like i'm assuming it's a villain arc
33:17i'm really excited
33:19well so i would think and and gay sex would be like snakes on a plane to sell like people
33:25wouldn't want this wasn't that easy for you guys to get this made
33:30legendary mits
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 it uh but like i did but what happened was we didn't pitch i knew i was
34:04like i'm going to
34:05write the first one in that way i'm going to use this as a group of concept because i don't
34:08i don't
34:08know if people are going to make i'm going to get execs to read this book and as soon as
34:12we started
34:12talking about it though brend and i were talking we would tell people we were like oh we're not ready
34:17for this isn't ready yet but we have we optioned this series of gay hockey romances the level of
34:23like sorry 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 it was the
34:44but the question that i was you know i was kind of nervous with craig too was just like you
34:48say you
34:49want this but do you like do you want this in theory and then when you see the scripts you
34:55start seeing
34:55the footage you're like oh that's more than we thought we were getting for this um and craig did
35:02right have been amazing the entire way through but uh so once it was once it happened and craig was
35:08a place where i've done all the tv shows that i've been larry canning with and so i knew all
35:11these people
35:12and uh but it was a departure and it was a big swing for them because they don't yeah because
35:17they
35:17they also just don't they're only recently starting to do one hour dramas at all and so this was a
35:23big
35:24swing in a lot of ways i think it worked yeah um so i want to know about how you
35:33found your boys um
35:37um because i feel like that chemistry so then i'm going to ask okay so i want to you know
35:42what i'm
35:43looking at you've talked enough um i do want to know what the casting process was like for both of
35:49you um did you maybe too long too long and it was drawn out there was like but and uh
35:57it was very
35:59straightforward besides when you read the script was that straightforward like just you're a wednesday
36:06yeah i think immediately as soon as i read the script i kind of just fell in love with it
36:10or at
36:10least it decides it got sent immediately it sort of made sense to me in a way um and i
36:17just wanted to do
36:18it and get my hands dirty and just jump all the way in there i think for me is this
36:27working yeah
36:27i always had like an adjustment period where i'm like how loud um yeah i remember i remember
36:35the original uh breakdown it was like 6-3 russian bisexual hockey player
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 think it was like i love it
37:28let's change a fun story about connor's audition i uh a friend of ours a bunch of ours
37:34here's sarah gadden 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 for russian law
37:50that one's not right so you fooled her and the blue beginning
37:59well but the chemistry between them is palpable and like so much though that you saw before i can't
38:06not think of 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 reading it was very
38:25obvious and 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 things to say i was like play it like you're a bit more tired and you don't want
39:04that energy and it worked but yeah your chemistry read was amazing from the from the like and yeah
39:11it was just very it became very clear at least to me very quickly um francois yeah
39:18francois 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
39:34you don't know what's coming it's amazing you might actually because you've got the books
39:39but what i loved was when your little like little thumbnail up there showed those girls were like
39:44please so um how did you become involved in this
39:50uh 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 i'm just so
41:01glad to be in such good company i'm so proud of you i did hear from a source that you
41:10wanted to dye your
41:11hair bleach blonde for this and is that just a character choice or the character is blonde with blue
41:17eyes in the books and i knew i was gonna get shit from the fandom and i was also i
41:23had just know the
41:24things i had dyed my hair blonde for another movie and i was like can we just use this man
41:27i was kind of
41:28tired um and jacob's like no so i'm a little auburn um rachel when just so having something of yours
41:40adapted um what was that process like on a kind of day-to-day basis
41:48like an emotional role like seeing somebody interpret what you've done yeah jacob this is
41:55not i don't do this every day ever it was an absolute dream from the very first moment that i
42:04i spoke to
42:05jacob the first time i like because you laid out exactly everything that was important about the books
42:12and the characters that you just got them right away so i never worried again after that because
42:17you know not everybody gets um a dream adaptation and gets to be this included and gets to be this
42:25respected of having their source material and respected this much and i don't know just thank you
42:46um i know that brendan is there and not here but if he was here would we talk about the
42:53sale to hbo
42:54yeah can you say it in french oh yeah oui uh ben je vais vous dire premier merci beaucoup d
43:03'être venu
43:04tous les amis
43:07les gens de francisco fray évidemment en doublage pour si vous voulez écouter comme ça puis la dernière chose
43:16c'est que oui on espèce c'était d'être d'être achetés par un hbo c'est un rêve
43:23pour nous d'être sur des zones comme ça
43:26c'est quelque chose de super spécial évidemment um and i'm just saying in french they were super happy
43:32the hbo bought the show uh for all the reasons i think it's just as exciting for us it's crazy
43:39and
43:40um and we're so excited that it's happening at the same time as in canada and of course our australian
43:45friends and i knew it as soon as i read it that it would sell the world go i didn't
43:50know it would be
43:50it's the same thing for me it was the first time
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 we were
44:14like oh there's fans they're gonna show up and we were like i don't know there's no obvious road map
44:24and i certainly uh never felt anything like what it what it's like to be supported by you guys rachel
44:31tried to warn me and uh but it's yeah it's just been absolutely crazy and we i don't i have
44:38you
44:39know people have asked me like did the fans make this up i don't know is the answer i don't
44:42know but
44:43i i know it did not hurt that was amazing and it was amazing for everybody to see online but
44:49like
44:50wow there's a vocal and active group of people that want to see the show and so that's it's that's
44:55crazy and it's amazing and it's very gratifying speaking to the fans one one small question so the
45:07sex scenes um yes so they were really hot like really hot and how was that i don't want to
45:21ask you
45:21how was that on set uh to to kind of you're going to get asked this a lot later on
45:29so i'm just
45:30just prepping you just to practice um maybe just speak like i don't want to say a word you stand
45:35where you know to be honest like i don't think Hudson and i are very squeamish or weird about any
45:44of that
45:44so 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 or has certain boundaries that need to be respected you know it's
45:55no boundaries yeah then it becomes then it becomes a dance right like you know you're always kind of
46:01being like is this okay is this okay we kind of from the jump with Jacob and Chayla our intimacy
46:07coordinator were like i was like you can do whatever you want to me however you want to me
46:13and it was kind of vice versa in the summer yeah if that makes any sense
46:19he's like i don't do anything let's go let's get in there
46:34what i'll say is because that was not a record we took a we they are both very
46:42comfortable this show would not be what it is without these two and without the particular
46:46chemistry that they have and their comfort level with each other which was amazing
46:50um and also a great reminder that some of the on-set nudity stuff is actually about the crew so
46:56when
46:56you see things like Hudson you have to wear a robe you can't just walk around like that
47:00walking around because it's hot in the hotel room or whatever uh it was a living experience for all of
47:07us
47:07in some ways right you remember that this is so much fun to be in my little ballerina slipper
47:13i loved his little pouch what it looks like i kept so many of them
47:21but we did we did have a wonderful intimacy coordinator and you chill off a hunter who's really
47:28i mean she was really good and we took this part very seriously we tried to choreograph these sex
47:35scenes like dances so that we were just going through beats and emotions so that we could allow
47:39for much like a dance for like you don't have to think about the next movement you can just think
47:43about the connection and do that because that was always you know the language of the show what the
47:48fans love what i love too is that like this is a sexual relationship and so we can't shy away
47:53from
47:53that but 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
48:07and you can see that anywhere you know it's not sexy either it's not sexy without that and it is
48:12so
48:12intimacy i know i'm not good at intimacy but this is inspiring
48:21so and thank you all for making this thank you guys
48:34thank you thank you to emily for coming into doing this and being amazing at it
48:46and thank you to everyone that's here in prairie mexime and this whole team we really appreciate
48:51everything uh from uh from prairie quebec thank you so much and thank you you guys for coming tonight we
48:56appreciate you
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