As the Heated Rivalry craze continues for millions of fans around the world, the highly anticipated second season seems to be finally — pardon the pun — heating up. While creator Jacob Tierney has recently stated that he's hard at work writing the new scripts, the latest update ahead of production has given us a better idea about which characters from the books we could be meeting.
Social media went ablaze when the alleged descriptions for Heated Rivalry season 2 casting calls hit the timeline. The hit series is looking to cast at least eight new characters from across Rachel Reid's Game Changers book series, all of whom appear in The Long Game, the sixth book in the series that season 2 will adapt.
The casting call screenshots, which first originated on Threads by a user alleging their partner works for a Toronto talent agency, reveal that the production team is looking to fill the following roles: Ryan Price, Fabian Salah, Eric Bennett, Harris Drover, Wyatt Hayes, Luca Haas, Dallas Kent, and Dr. Galina Molchalina. Missing from the casting call are Troy Barrett and Coach Wiebe.
Each casting call features the characters' age range and a brief description of their character. These characters are designated for recurring status, with the role possibly requiring an "option." For those unaware, that would simply mean that signing on for the role might mean returning in future seasons beyond an appearance in season 2. But there's another detail in the castings that caught fans' eyes.
Heated Rivalry casting call teases new characters for season 2
For Ryan, Fabian, Eric, and Harris, the casting call made the following note: "This role will have implied sex, nudity and kissing. This character will be bare-chested, bare-buttocks—no full frontal nudity." Because these characters are the leads of their own books in the series, there's a chance we will see their love stories play out onscreen, just like we did with Scott and Kip in season 1's bottle episode.
Some fans took the line about sexuality and nudity in these casting calls to mean that Heated Rivalry season 2 was looking to fit too many storylines into a six-episode season and possibly adapting the other three novels that aren't about Shane and Ilya. However, we don't need to worry about that happening, and I will tell you exactly why we shouldn't stress yet.
Just because the casting calls feature a head's up about potential nudity and sexuality for these characters doesn't mean it's going to happen in season 2. Remember, the casting calls also allude to the roles being recurring and feature an option. While these characters need to be cast for season 2 because of their involvement in The Long Game, it doesn't mean their full stories will be told.
Ryan and Fabian are the leads of Tough Guy, Kyle (who already appeared in season 1 played by actor Matthew Finlan) and Eric are the leads of Common Goal, and Troy and Harris are the leads of Role Model. Since Role Model's narrative overlaps with The Long Game, we can definitely expect a standalone episode in season 2. But the other two? We'll have to wait and see!
Troy and Coach Wiebe were excluded from the castin calls
Now that we're on the same page about that aspect of the rumored casting calls, other characters like Luca and Dallas (as well as the rest of the hockey players) have been given the note of "skating or hockey is an asset but not necessary." As for Dr. Galina, the description notes that all of her scenes will be spoken in Russian, which isn't a surprise if you've read The Long Game.
It's unknown why Troy and Coach Wiebe aren't included in this batch of casting call announcements, but there's two possible theories. Either these roles have already been cast and will be played by bigger names or their casting calls will be announced in a separate batch in the near future. We'll surely begin to see official casting announcements arrive as production gears up this summer
There have been so many fan castings floating around, like Jack Innanen and Tyriq Withers, for various characters, but it's unclear what direction Tierney and the team are taking. These are highly anticipated characters, and after discovering Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, they will no doubt get it right again. I know I speak for every Heated Rivalry fan when I say I can't wait to see who will bring these characters to life!