François Arnaud revealed that he has a whole new team now post-Heated Rivalry — because his old managers “refused to read” the script for the show.
The actor, who plays Scott Hunter in the show, appeared in a video on CBS Mornings’ Instagram account on January 13. It started with Gayle King asking Arnaud what the show means to him, to which he responded, “It was made in a way that felt personal, intimate. No one knew that this would find the kind of audience that it has, and for it to resonate with people now is just…” King then asked if he was surprised at how big the show is now.
Arnaud responded that he “always believed in it, and I thought it would find an audience.” That was even against his management team’s wishes, as he revealed — “All my managers refused to read it,” he said. “They were like, ‘We can’t pitch you for big things if you’re gonna be doing a random miniseries abroad.’” Those are famous last words if ever we’ve heard them. And yes, Arnaud confirmed that he’s “with different managers now.”
King, a fan of the show herself, then told Arnaud that she believed that there were people watching who shared Hunter’s storyline. (As a refresher, episode three of Heated Rivalry shifts focus from Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov to Hunter and his meet-cute with Kip Grady, a barista at a smoothie shop. The pair embargo on a closeted relationship, which eventually reaches a breaking point, leading to Hunter coming out publicly by kissing Grady after winning the Stanley Cup)
Arnaud confirmed that “some people have reached out” to him since the show’s airing. “Actually, I’ve gotten messages from people who told me that their kid has come out to them, and it’s kind of altered the way that they received that message,” he continued. (I mean, how could you watch that last episode, and that scene between Hollander and his mother, and not have that alter the way you respond to your kid coming out?)
Beyond Heated Rivalry paving the way for greater acceptance for queer kids, other cast members — namely Hudson Williams, who plays Hollander — have revealed that closeted professional athletes have opened up to them. In a recent appearance on Andy Cohen Live, Williams said that he’s received various DMs from closeted athletes, spanning hockey to football. “Sometimes they’re just reaching out privately through Instagram, and those are the ones that really just kind of hit you and go, ‘Oh, so this is a fun show, and it’s celebratory, but also, sometimes it’s just hitting people right in the nerves,” he said.
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