Events got unexpectedly heated for a View Royal artist at Victoria International Airport.
While waiting to pick up a University of Victoria international student Sunday (March 1), Jen Emile was surprised to spot the star of the runaway hit show Heated Rivalry, Hudson Williams, among the arrivals.
“I noticed him right away,” she said. “But I had just seen him on TV on Saturday Night Live in New York – how could he be here so soon?”
Dark sunglasses and a baseball cap also made her second-guess herself. Even a brief interaction, when Emile politely told the man his paper bag was ripping, could shed no light on his identity.
Only after another international student host parent approached Williams and shook his hand was Emile able to confirm she was standing steps away from the Canadian actor she has watched repeatedly since January.
“He told me it was ‘some actor from Heated Rivalry’,” she recalls.
After plucking up the courage to introduce herself, Emile told Williams how much Heated Rivalry means to her.
“I told him that I love his show, I’m a big fan, and that it’s gotten me through some darker days,” she said. “It’s such a great love story.”
Emile says Williams told her he had just returned from New York, where he was supporting Heated Rivalry co-star Connor Storrie during his hosting stint on Saturday Night Live.
“But he had to be back, so he flew all night to get back to Victoria,” said Emile.
Williams is believed to be on Vancouver Island for the filming of Yaga, a new eight-episode drama series for Canadian streamer Crave, which also stars The Matrix’s Carrie-Anne Moss, Schitt’s Creek’s Noah Reid and Letterkenny’s Clark Backo
The series is based on the hit play by Kat Sandler, which reimagines the Slavic myth of Baba Yaga – a child-eating witch that dwells deep in the forest – as a contemporary mystery thriller set in a small coastal town.
Williams plays the role of Henry Park, a young heir to a powerful fishery, whose mysterious disappearance sparks an investigation.
Emile says she did not press Williams about his reasons for being in Greater Victoria – she was happy to bask in the moment.
“I kind of wanted to give him his space,” she said. “And nobody else came up to him at all, so it was really nice to just have his full attention.”
Emile’s connection to Heated Rivalry runs deep. After a friend’s recommendation, Emile first watched the series in January – and she’s been hooked ever since.
“I’ll watch an episode or two every night,” she said. “There’s only six episodes, and I’ve never watched a show on repeat, but this has blown my mind – it’s just so amazing.”
Emile is not alone.
The fictional romance drama about the secret relationship between two closeted male professional hockey players has built a devoted global following, particularly among women.
“It’s a show that’s taught a lot of people about hockey, and it’s taught a lot of straight women that their sexuality is ‘gay guy,’” joked actor Storrie during his Saturday Night Live opening monologue.
Emile says she understands the appeal for women.
“I think because there’s no misogyny in it, and it’s just a very beautiful, fictional depiction of the tenderness you can see in men,” she said. “And there’s consent – there’s a lot of things in the show you don’t see all the time.”
The series has also sparked creative inspiration for Emile. The already established Metis beader designed and made Heated Rivalry-themed fringe earrings for a Valentine’s Day Indigenous artists’ market she organized. She also sells her line of jewelry online via her Instagram page ‘OceanLoverJen’.
Within days of posting her photo with Williams – a post that has reached over 230,000 people and climbing – the earrings became hot property among fans worldwide.
“Somebody from Australia has already ordered a pair – a few Canadians too,” said Emile.
But even as the orders roll in, Emile has no plans to press pause on her new obsession. You can be sure she will still find time to sit back, relax and revisit the love story of Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov.
“There’s so many little nuances and expressions – you have to go back and see it over and over,” she said. “There’s more to it than you realize.”