Hudson Williams is still grappling with his newfound fame and the success of the wildly popular television show Heated Rivalry, where he plays a closeted hockey player. The Crave/HBO Max series has had definite real-world impact. During a recent appearance on Andy Cohen's SiriusXM show Radio Andy, Williams said he's received DMs from professional athletes who are still in the closet.
"The people who reach out, somewhat anonymously, who are like, ‘I'm a professional player still, and I'm still in the closet,’” he said in a clip posted on Wednesday. "They’re [also] reaching out to Rachel [Reid], our author, who will then kind of relay these lovely anonymous emails.”
He says he's heard not just from closeted hockey players but also from football and basketball players, and it's made him realize the gravity of what representation means through the show. "Sometimes they’re just reaching out privately through Instagram, and those ones are the ones that really just kind of hit you and go, ‘Oh, so this is a fun show, and it’s celebratory, but also sometimes it’s just hitting people right in the nerve.'"
In an interview with CNN News Central, Williams also spoke about the pressure of making sure he felt trying get to the queer representation correct. "I felt like the specificity was really the thing I just wanted to nail," Williams says. "Because to like try to like comment or understand everything of, you know, trans, gay, you know, bisexual, I was like, OK, no, that's too overwhelming. Let me focus on just this one character."
The success of the first season quickly led to its renewal for season 2, and the Canadian streaming service Crave announced it would begin production on the second season. During Williams's late-night debut onThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, he started teasing what fans can expect for season 2.
"There are some meanies. There are some big baddies," the 24-year-old actor told the late-night host. "If season 1 is an internal battle, season 2 is an external battle."
