Although some Heated Rivalry fans are cross over the show’s ineligibility at US awards shows, one star doesn’t think the Canadian series could have been made in Hollywood.
François Arnaud, who stars in the Crave/HBO Max series as gay hockey player Scott Hunter, recently explained how the show is “a huge lesson” for the industry after creator Jacob Tierney fought to adapt Rachel Reid‘s Game Changer books in his vision.
“I don’t think this show could’ve been made in the US,” he said on CBS Mornings. “It was set up at a big streamer before, and they had so many notes and so many thoughts about what that show could be that Jacob decided to leave them and get it made in Canada, where it was—granted, a much smaller budget—but he was like, ‘I can do the show I want to make.’
“I think that is what people are responding to. And I think, in way, it’s a huge lesson for Hollywood people. Like, this is a ‘niche show’ with no movie stars, and it’s a much bigger sensation,” said Arnaud.
Arnaud claimed that execs at the show’s former streaming home suggested, “‘No kissing until episode five,’ and [Tierney] was like, ‘Well that’s not what we’re doing!’”
While speaking with Deadline about the recent Season 1 finale, Tierney praised the team at Canadian streamer Crave for supporting him while others wanted him to compromise his vision.
“Sure, there were moments along the way … my execs at Crave were so f*cking amazing about that,” he said. “There were people along the way. But my execs, they didn’t want it toned down at all.”