“There are certain characters that are super easy to get into. Ilya is one of them,” @connorstorrieofficial tells writer @robfrank__ of Ilya Rozanov, his closeted bad-boy character on @heatedrivalrycrave. “It was such a departure from who I am that the role may as well have been, like, a hobbit or something.”⁠ ⁠ The 25-year-old actor—and CULTURED digital cover star—did a lot of character work to access Ilya’s dark side (not to mention hours of coaching for his Russian dialogue scenes), but the character’s physicality came naturally to Storrie. In fact, in the weeks since the show’s release, much of the internet’s attention has been directed toward Storrie’s physical presence—or, really, his physique: the canonically accurate “hockey butt” that’s spawned a million TikToks and made him the patron saint of leg day. ⁠ ⁠ But Storrie is nonchalant about the ‘hunk’ label. He attributes his “playfulness” around sex and nudity to his years in LA’s alt clown scene, and gives the impression of seeing his body as more of a tool than an objet d’art. “Making things that are taboo comfortable—that’s very much a part of my personal artistic interest,” Storrie tells Franklin for Storrie’s digital cover feature. ⁠

LORD I JUST FUCKING FAINTED. OMGGGG!!!!!!

Every Shane & Ilya Kiss: Season 1

heated rivalry ☆ season one first & last touch + bonus credits:

THE WRAP: Was there any moment that came up organically during filming of the finale that you just had to include in the episode?

TIERNEY: The one thing was Ilya smacking Shane while he’s giving him that blowjob, that was a delightful surprise. It really made me laugh. Because again, if we’re talking about the evolution of the sex on this show, of going from it being like very tentative and impersonal and very physical and distanced, to being incredibly intimate and incredibly personal, and then also to being funny and fun — the way that a real couple will have sex together, where they’re not just doing one thing all the time. So when Connor started smacking Hudson’s face, we were all chuckling behind the camera. And at the end — God bless Connor, he’s very much the kind of actor — he was like, “Is that OK?” I told him, “You can keep doing that as long as Hudson doesn’t mind getting smacked around a bit.” And Hudson, as you can probably tell from his interviews, does not mind getting smacked around a bit. So, it was another moment of them speaking to how comfortable they felt with their characters, and how free they felt to bring their real connection into these moments where they can be playful and they don’t have to be serious or fake some kind of intensity that isn’t necessary for that moment.