Variety did separate interviews with Hudson and Connor, but I’m compiling them both together here.
– According to Hudson, his one one-on-one scene with Christina Chang (who plays his mom,Yuna Hollander) “was the scene that ruined me the most when I read the script”
– He speaks to how her reaction (in which she expresses how proud she is of him and asks for forgiveness for not creating a space where he could feel comfortable sharing that part of himself) is one that parents should aspire to move towards, unlike previous ways that should be left in the past.
– On Ilya saying “I love you” first:
He also discusses the improvisational nature of the bj on the couch scene and that it was something that Connor came up with when the two of them were play-fighting in the makeup trailer.
However, it wasn’t completely improved as they first brought it to Chala Hunter (the intimacy coordinator), who found it hilarious and then to Jacob Tierney, who encouraged them to do it.
According to Hudson, this was also the first time he really broke character during filming. In the end, he was really happy with how the scene turned out.
In Connor Storrie’s interview, they also discuss Ilya being the first one to say ILY and how Connor viewed it as Ilya enthusiastically being in it for the long haul.
When discussing the fan assumption that the whole episode would be a big old “sex fest”, Connor says that this episode was meant to allow the characters to breathe and feel a sense of normalcy. He refers to Jacob calling it a “happy ending” as the characters “being emotionally regulated, emotionally aware enough to look each other in the eyes and say ‘I love you, let’s do this.'” Connor goes on to say that the characters of Ilya and Shane are both “signed up and locked in”.
– On the episode’s final scene in the car.
What was your favourite funny bit of the Heated Rivalry finale? And was it Ilya absolutely housing spaghetti while Shane freaks out?
