Hudson Williams has swiftly become the name everyone’s talking about, thanks to his breakout role in Crave and HBO Max’s Heated Rivalry, the buzzy sports-romance adaptation of Rachel Reid’s Game Changers.
If you’ve been scrolling through social media lately, chances are Hudson has popped up on your feed—his portrayal of Shane Hollander catapulted him to “internet boyfriend” status almost overnight.
Now navigating the sudden surge of attention, the rising actor is learning to balance fandom, fame, and the fast-paced world of Hollywood.
With his blend of charm, chaotic appeal, and surprisingly sharp hockey skills, he’s quickly carving out a distinctive on-screen presence.
Here are few things to know about him.
HUDSON WILLIAM'S BACKGROUND
Hudson Williams was born on February 13, 2001, in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada.
Though Kamloops is a relatively small city, Hudson described it in his GQ interview as a “pocket desert.”
Despite its size, it has become an unexpected backdrop for major Hollywood productions, including Jurassic World: Dominion and The Last of Us.
Hudson is of mixed Asian-Canadian heritage. He was raised by his Korean mother—an interior designer who later transitioned into transportation coordination for major film and TV productions like FX’s Shogun, according to GQ—and his father, a mechanical engineer of British and Dutch descent.
he has kept his parents' names private, but has spoken openly about how supportive his mother has been throughout his career.
He even brought her as his guest to the Toronto premiere of Heated Rivalry, a moment he described as especially meaningful given that she's also part of the industry.
Sharing more about their closeness, Hudson described their open communication style.
"Me and my mom are very sex positive ... She talks about her boyfriends. You know, I talk about my s--t."
Meanwhile, Hudson has spoken with deep pride about his father’s brilliance—including in a December 2025 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, where he shared how his dad’s exceptional intellect and experience on the autism spectrum shaped both their relationship and his performance as Shane Hollander in Heated Rivalry.
"Socially… I think he’d admit he doesn’t want to deal with emotions," Hudson joked, recalling his father once telling him, "I relate more with Vulcan than human."
Years of observing and understanding his dad helped Hudson instantly connect with Shane.
"When I read the script, I took a huge page out of living my life with him. Rachel Reid has said Shane is autistic, so I knew how it should look. I empathized with him a lot, immediately."
Despite his father’s logical, introverted nature, Hudson emphasized the closeness and warmth that define their bond.
“I love my dad to death, and I’ve always felt very connected to him. He has a sensitivity to him that is very boyish."
HUDSON WILLIAM'S EDUCATION
Hudson Williams attended Sa-Hali Secondary School in Kamloops, British Columbia, where he was active in sports and played on the basketball team.
He was a member of the Sa-Hali Sabres, competing in the British Columbia High School Boys Basketball Association as a Grade 11 Guard wearing #4 during their notable 2018 championship run.
After high school, he relocated to Vancouver to pursue acting more seriously.
According to Langara College's official website and alumni feature, Hudson graduated with a Certificate in Film Arts (Acting) in 2020.
HUDSON WILLIAM'S CAREER
Before securing his breakout role, Williams worked a variety of jobs as he steadily built his portfolio.
He told The Hollywood Reporter that after graduation, he supported himself by working as a server at the Old Spaghetti Factory in New Westminster while auditioning for roles and creating his own short films as a writer and director.
Reflecting on that period, he recalled, "I loved it. That was how I paid my rent. It was paycheck to paycheck.
"Vancouver is more expensive than Los Angeles, so it was very hard," he said of his former job.
"I had a great outlook. In a lot of ways, it was a lot easier than what it’s like now."
His early screen credits included smaller appearances in the TV series Allegiance (2024) for CBC and Tracker (2024) for CBS, as well as the television film Nobody Dumps My Daughter (2024), as listed on IMDb.
Hudson was cast in Heated Rivalry through the standard audition process, where his chemistry read with co-star Connor Storrie immediately stood out to director Jacob Tierney.
According to Out Magazine in 2025, Connor recalled that Hudson was the third actor he read with and that he instantly felt, “Yeah, Hudson, for sure.”
Hudson echoed that sentiment in interviews, telling the publication that while another actor performed well, his dynamic with Connor had "an inexplicable X-factor that just felt real-er."
Hudson left his job as a waiter only days before Heated Rivalry's production started.
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HUDSON WILLIAM'S: HEADTED RIVALVRY
Heated Rivalry emerged as one of 2025’s most unexpected TV sensations, despite originally being produced for Crave, a smaller Canadian streaming service with just over four million subscribers.
The entire series was filmed in a whirlwind 36 to 37 days.
Then the trailer went viral, and readers of the six-book series began swapping advice on how to access Canadian TV from abroad.
Fortunately, just days before the show’s late-November premiere, HBO swooped in and saved the series from relative obscurity, expanding its reach to roughly 54 million more households.
From that point on, fans began posting viral moments from the series on social media, helping spread the word about the so-called “gay hockey show.”
As clips circulated, more and more people started taking interest.
In the series, Hudson Williams plays Shane Hollander, a talented, anxious Japanese-Canadian hockey star who is secretly in a passionate, long-term romance with his biggest rival on the ice, Ilya Rozanov, played by Connor Storrie.
When talking about how they connected with their Heated Rivalry characters, Hudson told OUT Magazine that he "fell in love" with Shane right away.
"I mean, I was falling in love with him even when I read the sides, which were just the audition… like, two scenes I got for the audition.
"By the time I finished reading episode six, I was crying. I felt like no one else was allowed to play him. I needed to play him."
Hudson described Shane as "very affable," even though he’s quite different from himself.
"As much anxiety as I have, Shane has quadruple, tenfold more, and it's just pouring out of him at all times," Hudson added.
"And that was fun to play, even if sometimes my stomach hurt. I always thought of him as sort of this pretty, neurotic character; this little concoction of this flowery, determined, sort of alpha in some ways—or sort of wanting to appear so—and then just this pretty little sensitive painting in other ways."
But did Hudson read the books before stepping into his character?
Hudson admitted he hadn’t, explaining that he preferred to discover Shane’s journey organically while filming and didn’t want any spoilers about what was ahead for him.
He said: "I didn't want to read The Long Game, yet, while filming. I didn't want to know what happened to them yet. I wanted to sort of play it as I go.
"So I saved that for right after we finished. But I had Heated Rivalry read, and then read again, and annotated many times, on my Kindle.”
With the series featuring several intimate scenes, Hudson worked closely with Heated Rivalry’s intimacy coordinator, Chala Hunter.
Chala spent time on multiple phone calls with each actor, going through the script scene by scene to assess comfort levels and ensure everyone felt safe and supported on set.
Some scenes also required Hudson to appear nude.
In an interview with Variety, Hudson admitted that he was "uncomfortable being naked," but added that acting is where he ultimately feels the most free.
He said: "I was very uncomfortable being naked like in high school. It terrified me. But then acting freed me up.
"You have to be emotionally naked and physically naked. I worked in acting classes doing scenes where I’m very not clothed, doing short films where I’m doing sex scenes that are a lot less glamorous and lot less nicely lit than Heated Rivalry.
"I found a way to be comfortable with both my sexuality, my sensuality, and my naked body before the show."
Hudson was also asked what filming the series ultimately taught him.
Speaking to Variety, Hudson reflected: "That’s a good question. I think I had my own biases, maybe that would be too strong of a word, but my own discomfort if I expressed myself fully, physically and affectionately, both with women and men.
"It would feel inappropriate. I realized if you really do love someone—platonically or no—I’m such a tactile, sensory person. There are so many taboos. It’s much harder on men. I had to let that go, and I got to learn how freeing that is.
"That also went hand-in-hand with being myself, truly as an artist.
"Connor was also a great person to have at my side. I think we both opened each other up to just be freer, more fully expressive."
Fan speculation about the Heated Rivalry leads’ sexual orientation grew alongside the show’s popularity.
However, Hudson has consistently chosen not to label his personal sexuality, opting instead to keep that part of his life private.
In an interview with Deadline, Hudson noted that the curiosity is “just the nature of celebrity.”
He said: "I think there’s never a question for me, when I would dream of becoming in the public eye, that I would want just a level of privacy. But of course, I agree.
"I want queer people telling queer stories, but also, there’s the element of Connor and I—we’re best friends, and we love expressing that physically."
One thing is certain: Hudson hopes his portrayal of Shane will serve as meaningful inspiration.
In his GQ interview, he shared, “I hope that little Asian kids are like, 'Ooh, I want to become an actor,' after watching the show.
He recognized that, much like his character, he could emerge as a role model in his own right.
As he put it with a laugh, "A role model... for the next Asian kid that wants to get railed."
Hudson is signed on for three seasons of Heated Rivalry, and Crave has already given the green light for season two.
After the show’s success, Hudson and Connor reunited as voice actors for the erotic fantasy romance audiobook Ember and Ice.
Both actors are also set to return for the confirmed second season of Heated Rivalry, which is expected to premiere in the early months of 2027.
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