The Old Spaghetti Factory in New Westminster, British Columbia, keeps its servers busy. Hudson Williams knows this firsthand — he worked there while waiting for callbacks that took longer than anyone had promised they would.
The callback that eventually changed everything came from director Jacob Tierney, who was casting a sports romance series for Crave based on Rachel Reid's Game Changers novels. Williams submitted a self-tape. He got a chemistry read. Then another. Then a third. Then he got the role of Shane Hollander, the closeted Japanese-Canadian hockey captain of the Montreal Metros, and everything that follows from that moment is the story the rest of the world is now catching up to.
By the time Williams walked the 98th Academy Awards red carpet on March 15, 2026 — Katelyn Rose Larson on his arm, dressed in Balenciaga — Heated Rivalry had become Crave's most-watched original series ever, generated a fanbase that bypassed national borders entirely, and produced what /Film called some of "the best microexpression work currently on television." None of that happened because of luck. Most of it happened because of what Williams did with his face.
Hudson Williams' Age, Height, and the Mixed Heritage That Defined His Casting
Born February 13, 2001, in Kelowna, British Columbia, Williams grew up in Kamloops after his family relocated there. His father is of British and Dutch descent. His mother is Korean, a woman whose own career shifted from interior design into film production coordination — and who spent years quietly worrying that her son's mixed heritage would limit what the industry would offer him.
That concern proved unfounded in the most direct way possible. When Tierney created the Heated Rivalry casting call, Asian heritage was not an obstacle; it was a requirement built into the brief. Shane Hollander in Reid's novels is Japanese-Canadian. The production wanted that specificity onscreen.
Williams is 25 years old and stands at approximately 5 feet 11 inches. He trained at Beattie School of the Arts, attended Sa-Hali Secondary School, where he played basketball and competed in mixed martial arts, then moved to Vancouver after graduation to complete Langara College's Film Arts program in 2020.
The Autistic Character, the ADHD Actor, and Why the Performance Landed Differently
One of the things critics kept flagging about Williams' performance was something specific: how he conveyed Shane's internal life without dialogue, doing most of the work. Rachel Reid herself described it directly: what the actor does with his face tells the entire story of what the character is thinking and feeling, without a single word being spoken.
The reason this works is not purely technical. Williams has ADHD and drew on his own neurodivergence when building the portrayal of Shane's autism, which Reid developed across the novel series over several years. He also drew on his father's experience on the autism spectrum. The result is a character whose anxiety and internal conflict register as texture rather than symptom — something the critical response picked up on almost immediately.
Williams himself described Shane as a "beautiful, neurotic flower" in an interview with Fandom. For his performance references, he looked at Trevante Rhodes and Ashton Sanders in Moonlight, Timothée Chalamet in Call Me by Your Name, and Rooney Mara in Carol — actors known for doing the most with the least.
The Mayor of Ottawa proclaimed January 29, 2026, "Shane Hollander Day." Ottawa Tourism changed its social media bio to "birthplace of Shane Hollander." A fictional hockey captain from a streaming series became a Canadian tourism touchpoint. That is either absurd or a precise measure of how deeply the character penetrated culture, depending on your perspective.
Heated Rivalry Season 2 Release Date — What Hudson Williams Has Said
Williams and Storrie signed three-season contracts when they were cast. Crave and Bell Media have greenlight Season 2. Beyond that, the timeline is genuinely uncertain.
Showrunner Jacob Tierney told Variety he has not started writing yet and that Season 2 will arrive "a little bit later" than the first season's November window, meaning early 2027 is the realistic expectation. Williams told Variety that someone mentioned July or August for filming, but acknowledged he does not know. He also confirmed he is gaining ten pounds for the role. "Ten lean pounds," he specified.
Crave is considering a bonus special episode for 2026 — Bell Media's vice president of content development told the Toronto Star they are looking at what is feasible, without committing to a timeline.
What Williams said about his ambitions beyond the show is worth noting: in a Wonderland conversation with co-star Sophie Nélisse, he said he wants to "break the idea of Shane" before Season 2 begins filming. "I don't want every role to be 'square guy in a romance,'" he said. "I want to do other stuff. Eventually, I want to do theatre."
Who Is Katelyn Rose Larson — Hudson Williams' Girlfriend at the Oscars
Katelyn Rose Larson is a tattoo artist at Pulse Vancity in Vancouver, where she has worked since March 2023. The relationship with Williams predates his fame enough that his February 2026 Instagram post referenced his "gold Mazda Protege" that "smoked and squealed" and the period when he had no steady work. That is a specific kind of origin detail that is difficult to manufacture.
DeuxMoi had confirmed the relationship in December 2025, but Williams made it public himself in February. At the Oscars in March, he addressed the attention Larson had received directly from his fanbase. "Just to see everyone kind of take her in stride and all the lovely fans supporting her, even though she's not trying to be out there or be perceived," he said.
Larson has not sought a public platform beyond her tattoo work. The Oscars red carpet was the most visible she has been alongside Williams, and nothing about her appearance suggested she felt comfortable in front of the cameras. Williams appeared to find that unremarkable. He was there with her. That was the point.
Hello Magazine tracked the full arc of his rise alongside Storrie through the awards circuit. Capital FM profiled his background and career for the UK audience that found the show through Sky in January 2026.
For readers tracking other performers who navigated sudden global visibility after years of patient, unglamorous work, Mel Schilling waited 40 years between her first Oscar nomination and her first win — a different kind of timeline, but the same basic argument about what patience eventually produces.
Frequently Asked Questions About Hudson Williams
Who plays Shane Hollander in Heated Rivalry?
Hudson Williams plays Shane Hollander in Heated Rivalry, the Crave/HBO Max sports romance series based on Rachel Reid's Game Changers novels. Williams is a 25-year-old Canadian actor born on February 13, 2001, in Kelowna, British Columbia. He grew up in Kamloops and studied at Langara College's Film Arts program before being cast. Before Heated Rivalry, he was working as a server at The Old Spaghetti Factory in Vancouver.
When does Heated Rivalry Season 2 come out?
Crave and Bell Media have officially greenlighted Heated Rivalry Season 2, with both Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie contracted for three seasons. Showrunner Jacob Tierney has said he had not yet started writing as of early 2026 and that the season would arrive "a little bit later" than the first. Williams indicated filming could begin around July or August 2026, making an early 2027 release the most realistic expectation. Bell Media is also considering a bonus special episode for 2026.
Is Hudson Williams Korean?
He is of mixed heritage. His mother is Korean, and his father is of British and Dutch descent. He grew up in Kamloops, British Columbia. His Korean-Canadian background was integral to his casting as Shane Hollander — director Jacob Tierney specifically built the Heated Rivalry casting call around finding an actor of Asian descent, and Williams' heritage was described as a "crucial feature" of the decision.
Does Hudson Williams have ADHD?
Williams has publicly discussed having ADHD and drew on his own neurodivergence when portraying Shane Hollander's autism in Heated Rivalry. He also took inspiration from his father's experience on the autism spectrum. Rachel Reid, the author of the source novels, has said that Shane's autism became more explicit across the book series as her understanding of neurodivergence deepened. Williams' portrayal has been widely praised for normalizing autistic traits without making them the defining storyline of the character.
Who is Hudson Williams dating?
Hudson is in a relationship with Katelyn Rose Larson, a tattoo artist at Pulse Vancity in Vancouver. Williams confirmed the relationship publicly in February 2026 via Instagram, referencing the early years of their relationship when he was driving a broken-down Mazda Protege and had no steady acting work. Larson accompanied him to the 98th Academy Awards on March 15, 2026.