Hudson Williams draws four-block queue at TIFF for Heated Rivalry talk
The queue stretched around four city blocks an hour before showtime. That was for Hudson Williams.
Williams, who plays Shane Hollander opposite Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov in Heated Rivalry, appeared on Sept. 17 at the Toronto International Film Festival for Making Waves With… Hudson Williams at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, according to Variety.
The session was hosted by Keith Bennie, TIFF vice president of public programming. It started late after ushers’ ticket readers broke and staff could not scan attendees in.
Heated Rivalry premiered in November 2025 on Crave in Canada and HBO Max in the United States. The series is adapted from Rachel Reid’s Game Changers novels and was created by Jacob Tierney.
Williams won Best Leading Performance in a Drama Series at the 2026 Canadian Screen Awards for the role. He was 25 at the time, making him the youngest winner in that category.
TIFF billed the talk as a discussion of his roles in Heated Rivalry and the Crave Original series YAGA, described on the festival site as an award-winning series adapted from bestselling novels, per TIFF.
YAGA is the other reason he was in Toronto. The horror series from Kat Sandler premieres Oct. 23 on Crave and AMC. Williams plays Henry Park, described as a commercial fishery heir and local party boy whose disappearance pushes Carson into a reluctant partnership with Rapp, according to TIFF.
Williams named Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight as his biggest inspiration as a young actor. TIFF also lists an upcoming independent feature titled Apparatus among his projects.
Talk of a second season of Heated Rivalry was already in motion before Toronto. Williams and Tierney discussed the spice level of Season 2 in a Sharp Magazine interview published June 4, 2026.
Williams was announced as a keynote conversation guest at this year’s festival alongside Chris Rock, who was set to world premiere his film Misty Green in Toronto, per The Hollywood Reporter.
For fans, this means two timelines to watch. One is awards-season momentum for Heated Rivalry. The other is Oct. 23, when Williams returns in a very different register in YAGA.
