Heated Rivalry – Hudson Williams, Connor Storrie, and François Arnaud turned down Variety’s yearly Actors on Actors feature, and co-editor Ramin Setoodeh says the timing tied to Emmy eligibility rules is at the center of it.
For Hudson Williams, Connor Storrie, and François Arnaud, the door was open—at least on paper.
Variety’s co-editor-in-chief and co-president Ramin Setoodeh wrote in a Sunday column published on May 31 that he invited all three of the breakout Heated Rivalry stars to take part in the outlet’s annual Actors on Actors conversations. The trio, he said, turned the invitation down.
Setoodeh didn’t frame it as a scheduling issue. Instead, he described it as a matter of eligibility and timing tied to the Emmys—rules that, in his view, put everyone in an uncomfortable position.
“I’m going to break my cardinal rule of Actors on Actors: I’m going to talk about a few of the stars who got away. ” Setoodeh wrote. explaining that he usually resists telling how the feature comes together behind the scenes. He said he didn’t include any actors from Heated Rivalry “and it was not for a lack of trying. ” before naming Storrie. Williams. and Arnaud as the performers he had reached out to.
Then came the key detail. Setoodeh said the show isn’t eligible for this year’s Emmys due to a rule technicality. Because Heated Rivalry is made by Bell Media’s Crave—a Canadian streamer that airs in the U.S. on HBO Max—the series and its stars “weren’t submitted for consideration. ” leaving the actors “aren’t campaigning right now.”.
That matters for Actors on Actors in a very specific way. Setoodeh said the conversations are published in Variety during the early days of Emmy Phase One voting. The timing, he wrote, is precisely why the feature is positioned to help with the nomination process.
He also weighed the possibility that the stars were wary of appearing presumptuous by participating in an Emmy-adjacent event for an award they “categorically could not win.” Setoodeh called the idea unsettling. writing that “the Emmys might feel ‘strange’ without acknowledging the series” under those eligibility constraints.
Setoodeh argued that Heated Rivalry didn’t need that boost either. He described it as “a genuine hit. ” not only with its core audience but also among casual viewers drawn in by its “steamy romance” and the series’ “carefully wrought character development.” He added that there would have been plenty of veteran actors willing to sit across from “three of Hollywood’s most exciting new stars. ” and plenty of awards voters ready to support the series.
His column closed with another contrast: at the 2026 Canadian Screen Awards, put on by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, Heated Rivalry picked up every award they were nominated for.
Even with that momentum, the Actors on Actors invite went unanswered.
Heated Rivalry Hudson Williams Connor Storrie François Arnaud Variety Actors on Actors Ramin Setoodeh Emmys Crave HBO Max Bell Media Canadian Screen Awards