Justice Smith and Charlie Gillespie Join Heated Rivalry Season Two as Casting Sparks Fan Debate

Justice Smith and Charlie Gillespie have been cast in leading roles in season two of the Crave-HBO Max series Heated Rivalry, joining returning cast members Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie (The Hollywood Reporter).

Smith, 31, will play Harris Drover, while Gillespie takes on Troy Barrett. The two characters' relationship drives Role Model, the fifth book in Rachel Reid's Game Changers novel series, on which the television adaptation is based. Williams plays Shane Hollander and Storrie plays Ilya Rozanov, the main character who moves to a low-ranking Ottawa team in the new season.

Season two is currently in production, with shooting expected to continue this month and a target release window of spring 2027. Crave renewed Heated Rivalry early into its first season's run, and HBO Max confirmed it will continue to air the series across its markets. Crave is Bell Media's Canadian streaming platform, and the show is a co-production shared with HBO Max for international audiences.

The casting announcement drew a strong reaction online. Some fans noted that Harris is described in Reid's novel as chubbier than the hockey players around him, and criticised the decision to cast Smith, who is not a plus-size actor, in the role. Reid defended the casting choices in an Instagram story post following the announcement. Showrunner Jacob Tierney and executive producer Brendan Brady issued a statement praising Smith and Gillespie's additions to the cast.

Smith himself addressed the response. He said he was moved by the support and love coming through his direct messages from fans of the books and the show.

Behind the camera, Tierney serves as writer, director and executive producer. He is joined on the writing side for season two by Mike Goldbach, who comes aboard as co-writer. Brendan Brady and Jayme Alter Wilson are executive producers; Lori Fischburg and Liane Cunje produce; and Reid, the original author, holds a consulting producer credit.

Crave had not yet released official character descriptions for season two at the time of the casting announcement, according to Variety. That left fans to piece together the roles from the source novels and the show's first season.

For viewers unfamiliar with the property, Heated Rivalry follows the intersecting lives and rivalries of professional hockey players, drawing from Reid's Game Changers book series. The first season established Williams and Storrie's characters; season two broadens the ensemble by pulling in Harris and Troy, two figures whose dynamic is central to one of the novels' most-discussed storylines.

What gives the casting its edge is the gap between page and screen. Fans who know Harris from the books had a particular image in mind, and the production's choice to cast Smith put that expectation directly up against the realities of television adaptation — where a character's physical description in a novel does not always survive the casting process intact. Reid's defence suggests the production team anticipated the conversation and stands by its decisions.

The cameras are already rolling. Fans will see the results when Heated Rivalry season two arrives, targeting spring 2027 on Crave and HBO Max.