Posted in: HBO, Max, TV | Tagged: Heated Rivalry

Heated Rivalry: Daniel Diemer & Shaheen Jafargholi Join Season 2 Cast

Daniel Diemer and Shaheen Jafargholi have joined the cast of Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams-starring Heated Rivalry Season 2.

As production continues on the second season of series creator Jacob Tierney's Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams-starring Heated Rivalry, we've got some new casting news to pass along. Daniel Diemer (Percy Jackson and the Olympians) and Shaheen Jafargholi (The Agency) have been tapped for the roles of Ryan Price and Fabian Salah, respectively. Price and Salah are the main couple in author Rachel Reid's third "Game Changers" novel, Tough Guy. In the literary universe, Ryan is a Canadian player in the National Hockey League who struggles with anxiety and body image issues as he moves from team to team, while Fabian is a Lebanese Canadian indie musician who is openly gay.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Tierney offered additional insights into the second season, including what it's been like working with co-writer Mike Goldbach and his goal for it. Here are some of the highlights:

Tierney on Why Series Doesn't Really Have Spoilers: "What's so funny about the level of secrecy is like there's a book – you can just look at it. It'll tell you honestly, 90 percent of what you'd like to know is in that book." Just as the first season focused on Reid's second novel, along with elements from the first book, the second season will focus on one book (the sixth, The Long Game) while also including storylines from another (the fifth, Role Model).

"Heated Rivalry" Is About "Feelings and Sensations," Not "Secrets": Tierney: "This is not the usual suspects. Like, we're not trying to hide a villain from you… there are books, read them, and then make two guesses, three guesses, and I bet two of them will be right. This show is not built on secrets. It's built on feelings and sensation. It's a very visceral show. It's very sensual in that way, and it's all in the execution of it."

Tierney on Co-Writer Mike Goldbach: "Mike is such a good writer, and he's been so amazingly helpful to me," Tierney said, "We're very happy with where we're at with the scripts. We're really happy with this cast."

Tierney on His Goal for "Heated Rivalry" Season 2: "I've never experienced fandom like this before, and I have to just trust myself the way I trusted myself last time. I'm gonna try to make the best show I can make — that's really all I can do. I can never make everybody happy at the same time. I hope I can make a majority of you happy, and I hope you also just cut me the slack to wait and see."

Previously, we learned that Emily Hampshire (Schitt's Creek, VisionQuest), Edvin Ryding (The Young Royals, 28 Years Later), Robert Naylor (Mile End Kicks, Cardinal), Sabrina Jalees (I Used to Be Funny, Black Mirror), and Priyanka (Drag Brunch Saved My Life, Meet Me Next Christmas) have joined the Season 2 cast. Hampshire will play Vanessa, with Ryding tapped to play Luca Haas. Naylor is set as Wyatt Hayes, with Jalees as Farah Jalali and Priyanka as Tarek. The seven join previously cast Justice Smith (I Saw the TV Glow) and Charlie Gillespie (One Night Only), who were tapped for the roles of Harris Drover and Troy Barrett, respectively. In the book series, Troy is a hockey player who gets traded to Ottawa after some big issues with the Toronto team (no spoilers), while Ottawa social media manager Harris looks to help Troy start over.

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