too good to be true

François Arnaud first sensed the molecule shift during a January night out in Koreatown. 

For years, the actor could seamlessly blend in with the crowd in and around Los Angeles. But during a "very quiet" dinner with friends amid the densely populated ethnic neighborhood, he was shocked when two Korean families stopped by his table on their way out to say hello and share their fandom. 

"I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is insane!’" he recalls. "The show has completely crossed over into the mainstream in a way we didn’t expect. Everybody really seems to be watching it."

The show is Heated Rivalry, and it’s currently on fire in the cultural zeitgeist. Thanks to its steamy sex scenes and depiction of heartwarming romance, the six-episode Canadian-produced drama — about two gay star-crossed hockey players, Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) and Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) — has sparked a fan frenzy ever since it started streaming on HBO Max in late November. Want numbers? It has amassed more than 600 million minutes watched in the U.S. alone. Want one more metaphor? The series is so hot that it’s prompted a half-dozen think pieces in The New York Times — including one with the lofty headline-slash-proclamation, "Heated Rivalry Is Gay Culture’s Next Frontier."

Arnaud portrays Scott Hunter, the congenial captain of the fictional New York Admirals hockey team who embarks on his own gay relationship. After a Meet Cute with Kip (Robbie Graham-Kuntz) at a local smoothie shop in the third episode, the two get serious in a hurry and seal their romance in the most PDA of ways. "I’m so grateful that people responded to the character because it was always pitched to me as very orbital," he says. "I never expected to get so much attention and such a warm response."

Pre-Rivalry, the Montreal native was best known for playing David Rose’s boyfriend Sebastian on Schitt’s Creek. He’s also appeared on the period drama The Borgias, UnREAL and Yellowjackets. Through it all, he jokes, "I’m very Canadian. I’m polite and amicable and apologize all the time for things I didn’t do."

Arnaud breaks the ice with the Television Academy. 

The Television Academy: How are you? Is it fair to say your life has changed drastically over the past month? 

François Arnaud: Yes, drastically. It’s so crazy. I’m just so grateful that people responded to the character as well as the show. I assumed things would die down by now, but it seems to be getting bigger and bigger. 

You’re making the rounds at awards shows, too. Which celebrity fans have approached you? 

I really like Eva Victor’s movie Sorry, Baby — and she was like, "I love you." Busy Philipps wrote me a really nice message on Instagram. Kristin Davis wrote me something really warm, too. She has a lot of love for the show. 

How did you first get involved with Heated Rivalry?

Well, I have known Jacob Tierney — the writer, director, creator and producer of the show — for almost 17 years now. He directed a couple of episodes of a show I did for Fox called The Moodys. He called me and told me he was working on this series. My agent and I read the script for the first episode at the same time, and I was like, "Oh my God, this is porn — I don't know that this is for me." But because I knew Jacob's wit and smarts and taste and intellect, I knew there was something more. And the more I read, the more emotionally involved I got with the characters. I really liked Scott and Kip's story; I liked how it allowed Shane and Ilya’s story to develop, as well. I think that's also why the show is such a success.

So you didn’t have to audition? 

Yeah, I thought it was an offer! But the network first wanted me to do a chemistry read with Robbie. Partly because in the books [written by Rachel Reid] the character is described as this all-American blonde with blue eyes. Like a corn-fed type. I have a more European edge in my looks. After Jacob asked me, I was like, "This career is just endlessly humiliating." But we just did it. A half-hour later, I was told I had the part — they were convinced.

And did you have the hockey experience? You look convincing on the ice. 

After Jacob called me, I told him, "You're literally calling the one Canadian actor who can't skate properly." I did some of it when I was a kid, but I had flat feet. I also never found a pair of skates that [felt] comfortable. I'm a really great skier, though! So they molded a really good pair of skates around my feet, and I got into training right away with Hudson and Connor. Connor is from Texas, and he had never seen ice. Hudson is Canadian, but [he] also couldn't skate. We all started from scratch together and worked many, many times a week. We were also in the gym because we wanted to look like professional athletes. 

All right, let’s talk about the sex. Were the scenes technically difficult to film?

I think actors love to answer "yes" to that question, but I feel like there are so many harder things to do. Like, we're paid to do this job with people who are generally lovely and attractive. I've done a bunch of sex things in my life, I guess more with women. But, it's really the same in that it’s choreographed — you're just making sure that everybody feels respected. We had an amazing intimacy coordinator, who kept a sense of humor through it all. [They] met us where we were, emotionally. And Robbie was also really trusting, and we talked through it. You know, it’s not sexy. You have a whole crew of people watching you.

That’s what they all say! 

They do say that! And sometimes you get, like, sweaty and nervous and it is a bit weird. But you push through it. What I loved about the script, and Jacob's direction, is that the sex scenes are never just sex scenes. They’re beautifully written. Forget the titillating part — you have to remember that you don’t stop acting just because you’re doing a sex scene. 

What can you share about filming the fifth episode’s big championship Cup scene? 

We were in Guelph, which is a suburb of Toronto. And this scene was at the very end of the shoot so I could continue to work on my hockey. By the time we got to it, I was this crazy mixture of contradicting emotions — like excitement and fear. I wanted to get it over with, but I also wanted to enjoy making the most of that moment.

And I feel like Scott goes through all of that, too, in a span of a few minutes — there’s an elation of having achieved his lifelong dream and then having no one to share it with in the moment. We only shot the kiss once. We shot me lifting the Cup twice. We had to re-do it because the producers hated the way the Cup looked. So they made a different Cup that was three times the size, but I lost my balance and fell and started pissing blood. 

What do you mean? What happened?

It was my last scene, on my last day. I passed the Cup to my friend. I held on to it for a bit too long, I lost my balance and fell onto my hand, and my skate went over my head. I cut, like, a square-inch of my skin down to the muscle. The producers were panicking, [they] offered to send a doctor and take a break. I said, "Absolutely not. If I take a break, I have to get back on the horse." So I went right back on the ice. And I really gained the respect from the stunt coordinators and the real hockey players on the ice. They were like, "Way to go, brother."

That episode achieved a rare 10/10 score on IMDb. What do you think it did right? 

There’s an epic quality to the episode. You see the low-camera angle, the music, the cutaways to Ilya and Shane. I felt all those emotions, and I even got goosebumps watching it. You’d have to be cold-hearted to not succumb to it. 

What’s going on for the second season? 

I don’t know what I’m allowed to say! I think there will definitely be more Scott and more Kip. I don't know if that's part of Season 2 or a spinoff or what. I think Jacob's biggest challenge for a second season is honing in on the thing that people love so much about the first season — whether it's for Shane and Ilya, or for Scott and Kip. I think there are certainly other things to explore other than the yearning.

Given the show’s unexpected popularity, what’s the overall lesson here? 

It’s also like. It’s about the pacing. Buck and Tommy have been apart for a year because there hasn’t been time to have them have a reconciliation arc. They needed all of 9A to resolve Athena and Eddie’s grief and a little bit of Chimney’s promotion and Harry and May joining the main cast, and 9B starts with a Hen and Buck storyline because they will likely have the longer overarching stories and for Hen, we already know it’s the mystery illness, but for Buck, it will likely be his love life once again.