Heated Rivalry fame Hudson Williams reveals the big Hollywood director that he wants to work with

Hudson Williams, one of the leads from the Canadian show called Heated Rivalry, has named the director he would like to work with in a future film. It's Call Me by Your Name director Luca Guadagnino, who is also said to be directing a fresh new take on Bret Easton Ellis's novel American Psycho, with Austin Butler rumored to lead.

Since 1999, Guadagnino has directed 10 feature films, including The Protagonists (1999), Melissa P. (2005), A Bigger Splash (2015), I Am Love (2009), Call Me by Your Name (2017), Suspiria (2018), Challengers (2024), Bones and All (2022), Queer (2024), and After the Hunt (2025).

As for his accolades, the director has won a Silver Lion, an Independent Spirit Award, a Gotham Independent Film Award, and more. Moreover, he has also been nominated for major accolades, including BAFTA, Golden Globes, and Academy Awards.

Luca Guadagnino isn't the only big name he has expressed interest in working with. He also wants to play Nightwing in a rumored Teen Titans film being developed by James Gunn for his new DCU.

Heated Rivalry is Hudson Williams' breakout role

The actor began his career by writing and directing short films. He also appeared as an actor in many of them, including Chad GPT (2025), Rancid (2024), Devil Makes Three (2023), and more. He has also appeared in a couple of feature films called Nobody Dumps My Daughter (2024) and All I Need for Christmas (2024).

However, his breakthrough came with Heated Rivalry, where he is seen playing Shane Hollander opposite Connor Storrie's Ilya Grigoryevich Rozanov. The two characters develop a romantic relationship in the TV show. Heated Rivalry's synopsis (via Rotten Tomatoes) reads,

"A romance set in the world of hockey; Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov are two stars in Major League Hockey, bound by ambition, rivalry, and a magnetic pull neither of them fully understands."

As of this writing, it has a Tomatometer score of 98%, with the critics' consensus saying,

"Jacob Tierney lovingly adapts Rachel Reid's hockey-set romance novels into an all-consuming, steamy, dreamy love fest of true queer intent, making Heated Rivalry a bona fide winner."

The audience score is close, with 95% on the website’s Popcornmeter.

Following the show's release, it became a streaming hit in different countries and on multiple platforms. TV Time, a viewership tracker with 25 million users, placed the show in sixth place between December 6 and December 14 last year. Moreover, it was also one of the top shows on HBO Max in November 2025.

Next, the Heated Rivalry star is set to appear in a couple of feature films called Encore and 8, both of which are currently in post-production as of this writing.

For his future TV appearance, the actor will appear in a series called The Altruists, which is about one of the biggest crypto collapses in the industry that's often considered a scam. There's no detail on his role, but Julia Garner (Weapons, The Fantastic Four: First Steps) and Anthony Boyle (The Lost City of Z) are in the lead roles.

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