Heated Rivalry casts Resident Evil’s Milla Jovovich, Gossip Girl’s Kevin Zegers in Season 2

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The cast of Heated Rivalry is getting hotter by the week, with the Canadian-made hockey drama recruiting three more stars for its second season roster.

Heated Rivalry, a production of Bell Media’s Crave streaming service, became a global phenomenon in its inaugural six-episode season, after being picked up by HBO in the U.S. and internationally, and catapulted the careers of its lead stars — B.C.-born Hudson Williams, U.S. actor Connor Storrie and Quebec’s François Arnaud.

Rookie cast members announced Thursday include:

Ukrainian-American actress Milla Jovovich, star of the Resident Evil franchise and Luc Besson’s sci-fi classic The Fifth Element.
Kevin Zegers, originally from Woodstock, Ont., who had a recurring role in the CW series Gossip Girl, Paramount+’s The Madison and films such as Transamerica.
And, Canadian film, television and theatre stalwart Paul Gross, known for the CTV-CBS series Due South and the films Men With Brooms and Passchendaele, both of which he also wrote and directed.

“I’m so glad I don’t have to keep these three a secret any more,” Nova Scotia author Rachel Reid, whose Game Changers books inspired the streaming series, commented on an Instagram post about the casting announcement.

WATCH | Heated Rivalry author Rachel Reid shares her success with rural libraries:

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The series follows the secret romance between two young rivals on the rink — Shane Hollander (Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Storrie) — as their careers are taking off.

Gross, who recently starred in the Stratford Festival production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, is set to play hockey league commissioner Roger Crowell.

Zegers will play Coach Wiebe, head of the Ottawa Centaurs — the fictitious team Hollander plays for.

Jovovich will take on the role of Dr. Galina Molchalina, a Russian-speaking therapist who supports Rozanov.

“Let’s bring up the heat baby,” Jovovich said on her Instagram account.

Connor Storrie, left, and Hudson Williams in Heated Rivalry. — Connor Storrie, left, and Hudson Williams steamed up screens in Heated Rivalry as hockey players Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander, who are rivals in the rink but lovers off the ice. (Crave)

New cast includes Schitt’s Creek star

Bell Media previously announced that Season 1 actors Robbie G.K., Sophie Nélisse, Christina Chang and Dylan Walsh, among others, would return to their roles.

The production has also drafted an array of Canadian talent for the new season, including:

New Brunswick-born Charlie Gillespie will star as Ottawa Centaurs forward Troy Barrett, who falls for team social media manager Harris Drover, played by American actor Justice Smith.
Daniel Diemer, known for Percy Jackson and the Olympians, is cast as hockey player Ryan Price who falls for aspiring musician Fabian Salah, played by Welsh actor Shaheen Jafargholi.
Schitt’s Creek star Emily Hampshire, who grew up in the Montreal area, joins as sex shop worker Vanessa, a confidante to Fabian.
Canada’s Drag Race Season 1 winner Priyanka is in the role of Tarek, a friend of Vanessa and Fabian.

Hampshire, in an interview with CBC Montreal’s Let’s Go last week, said that series creator and director Jacob Tierney is one of her “oldest and bestest friends.”

“I’ve been in every single one of his things, so it would be sad if I wasn’t in this one,” she told host Sabrina Marandola, noting that she actually made an uncredited voiceover appearance in the show’s first season.

Hampshire said the phenomenon of Heated Rivalry is beyond anything she saw with Schitt’s Creek, the CBC show that also garnered a huge international audience and went on to sweep every major comedy category at the 2020 Primetime Emmy awards in its final season.

LISTEN | Heated Rivalry’s Emily Hampshire on going from one Canadian hit series to another:

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The Montreal actress lent her support to the third annual Smash Out Skin Cancer Celebrity Pickleball Tournament in Dollard-Des Ormeaux. She’ll join us with the details.

Despite its popularity, Heated Rivalry is not eligible for this year’s Primetime Emmys, but Storrie is up for his first-ever award for his hosting gig on Saturday Night Live in February.

Heated Rivalry did, however, dominate this year’s Canadian Screen Awards, collecting 13 statuettes, including the prize for best drama and Williams’s win for best lead performer.

Tierney confirmed on Aug. 17 that shooting of the second season had begun. It’s set to premiere on Crave in Spring 2027.