Connor Storrie’s biggest roles before ‘Heated Rivalry’

Connor Storrie’s résumé before *Heated Rivalry* tells a tight story about range and timing. The actor’s 2018-to-2024 credits moved from low-budget horror to studio sets, giving casting directors proof he could handle both intimate drama and sudden violence. Those jobs positioned him for the Russian hockey captain who now dominates the Crave and Max charts.

Early grind in shorts

Storrie began auditioning in 2018 while waiting tables in Los Angeles. He landed small parts in *Ridester Professionals*, *Ménage à Trois*, and *Watch and Guide*. The clips were enough to join SAG-AFTRA and build a reel that agents could forward to casting offices.

During those years he also trained at the Groundlings and studied clowning, skills that later helped him land quick, memorable beats in prestige television. The improv work kept him flexible when scripts called for only a minute of screen time.

By 2022 the short-film phase was ending. Storrie had union eligibility, festival credits, and a reputation for showing up prepared, the exact ingredients needed for his first named feature role.

First feature credit

*Headless Horseman* gave Storrie his first listed feature part in 2022. He played Tom, a supporting character who meets an early death in the low-budget horror retelling. The schedule was tight, yet the job supplied a full arc and a reel moment that producers could watch in real time.

Because the film stayed on the festival circuit, few mainstream viewers saw it. Still, the credit proved he could handle genre pressure and late-night shoots without losing focus.

That experience cleared the path for a larger dramatic role the following year, moving him out of horror and into character-driven indie territory.

Indie lead arrives

In 2023 Storrie stepped into his first substantial lead as Liam Hauser in the coming-of-age drama *Riley*. The film followed a queer high-school athlete navigating identity and small-town expectations. Longer scenes allowed him to stretch beyond the quick cuts of previous work.

A dance sequence featuring Storrie in a crop top later resurfaced in fan edits after *Heated Rivalry* premiered. The footage reminded viewers that his physicality had been on display long before the hockey rink.

Regional festival screenings kept the film modest, yet the role widened his casting pool and paired naturally with another 2023 credit that introduced him to streaming audiences.

Prestige guest spot

*Tiny Beautiful Things* placed Storrie opposite Kathryn Hahn in Hulu’s limited series based on Cheryl Strayed’s advice columns. He appeared in the pilot as “Shitty Apartment Guy,” a walk-on that lasted roughly ninety seconds.

The part proved he could hold focus next to an established lead and deliver under a writers’-room schedule. For casting directors, the credit signaled that Storrie understood the shorthand of prestige television.

Combined with the *Riley* lead, the Hulu job created a 2023 one-two punch that showed both range and reliability, two qualities that would matter when bigger opportunities arrived.

Studio cameo secured

By 2024 Storrie had booked a single scene in *Joker: Folie à Deux*. He played a young Arkham inmate who attacks Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck. The role required secrecy agreements that lasted nearly two years.

Storrie later recalled that he knew almost nothing about the rest of the production. The discipline paid off when the cameo surfaced on screen and placed his name on a major studio release.

The credit also completed his SAG eligibility cycle and gave fan communities a new thread to pull once *Heated Rivalry* turned him into a household name.

Building the reel

Across these projects, Storrie accumulated footage that covered quiet emotional beats, quick genre kills, and brief but charged interactions with A-list stars. Agents could show casting directors a compact sampler rather than scattered shorts.

Each role also expanded his network. Directors and producers from the indie world overlapped with assistants who later moved to larger sets, creating informal recommendations that helped surface his name for *Heated Rivalry* auditions.

The progression was steady rather than meteoric, yet it matched the timeline of a series that needed an actor ready to carry both romance and accent work.

Russian preparation

Before filming began, Storrie studied Russian and developed an accent for Ilya Rozanov. The earlier credits had already shown he could learn physical skills quickly, whether a dance routine or a violent confrontation.

That adaptability reassured the showrunners that he could handle the bilingual demands of the role without months of additional coaching. The accent work became part of the character’s texture rather than an afterthought.

Fans who later revisited *Riley* and *Joker: Folie à Deux* noticed the same focused preparation that made the hockey captain feel lived-in from the first episode.

Visibility shift

Once *Heated Rivalry* premiered, earlier titles gained new audiences. Streaming queues filled with viewers chasing every Storrie credit, and festival prints of *Riley* saw renewed requests for virtual screenings.

The *Joker* cameo, previously a footnote, now appeared on highlight reels and late-night clips. The secrecy that once kept the role quiet now added to its cult status among fans tracing the actor’s path.

That rediscovery cycle continues as Season 2 films and red-carpet coverage keeps Connor Storrie in daily conversation.

Looking ahead

The pre-*Heated Rivalry* credits form a clear ladder from short-film grind to studio sets. Each step supplied a different skill set that the series later required in larger doses.

Future projects will test whether the same progression repeats on a bigger scale, yet the early work already demonstrates that Connor Storrie arrived prepared for the spotlight rather than surprised by it.