Queer actor Justice Smith and Canadian actor/musician Charlie Gillespie have been announced in major roles for the second season of the smash-hit series Heated Rivalry.
Smith, who starred in Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw The TV Glow and alongside Pokemon in Detective Pikachu, will join Ilya Rozanov’s (Connor Storrie) new team the Ottawa Centaurs as their social media manager with a big personality, Harris Drover.
Known for his role as Luke Patterson in Netflix’s Julie and the Phantoms, Gillespie will also join the Centaurs as Troy Barrett, a new player who is still coming to terms with his sexuality.
Earlier this year, author of the Game Changers novels the series is based on, Rachel Reid, spilled there would be a new romance in season two.
Drover and Barrett are both key characters in her fifth novel Role Model, which explores their blossoming relationship.
The second season will be set 10 years after Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) first met, with a focus on the changing acceptance of LGBTIQA+ people in the world of ice hockey.
Heated Rivalry season two is coming to HBO Max in 2027.
