Catch Connor Storrie movies and TV shows: Ilya hits

Connor Storrie’s turn as Ilya Rozanov in Heated Rivalry turned a supporting character in a Canadian sports romance into the series’ undisputed center of gravity. The 2025 Crave and HBO Max hit now sits at the center of the conversation whenever people search for Connor Storrie movies and TV shows, because the performance feels lived-in, funny, and quietly devastating all at once. Audiences are still catching up to how one role can reset an actor’s trajectory overnight.

Early roles before the spotlight

Storrie’s first feature, the 2023 indie Riley, gave him a lead credit but almost no press circuit. The film played festivals and slipped quietly onto streaming, yet it marked the moment studios began filing his name away for larger parts.

A year later he appeared as a young Arkham inmate in Joker: Folie à Deux. The cameo stayed under wraps until the press tour, and the secrecy itself became minor lore among fans tracking his rise. It was a small scene, but it placed him on a major studio set months before anyone knew his name.

Also in 2023 he booked a supporting turn on Hulu’s limited series Tiny Beautiful Things. The anthology format kept his screen time brief, but the credit added another U.S. streaming line to a résumé that still lacked a signature role.

Landing the role of Ilya Rozanov

Creator Jacob Tierney sent the full pilot script to Storrie without a formal audition. The actor read it in one sitting, then told Tierney he wanted every scene that involved Ilya’s family, his accent, and his private grief. That single conversation locked the casting.

Storrie spent three months studying Russian with a dialect coach and another two learning to skate at an elite level. He refused body doubles for the game sequences, which meant daily 5 a.m. rink calls before the rest of the cast arrived.

Co-star Hudson Williams later said the chemistry read felt less like an audition and more like two people remembering an old argument. The network green-lit the six-episode order the same afternoon.

Bringing Ilya to life on set

Storrie built Ilya’s physical vocabulary first: a loose-shouldered walk, a habit of cracking his neck before every confrontation, and a half-smile that never quite reaches his eyes. Those choices made the character legible even when the dialogue turned to Russian.

He also insisted on filming the family scenes in chronological order. The dementia storyline with Ilya’s father required Storrie to age the performance across three episodes without relying on prosthetics. Crew members say the final take left the set silent for several minutes.

Costume designer Avery Klein gave Ilya a wardrobe of tailored black and charcoal pieces that read expensive but slightly off, as if the character never quite felt at home in North American luxury. The details fed directly into how viewers read his outsider status.

Fan reaction and cultural ripple

Within two weeks of the premiere, clips of Ilya’s post-game interviews were being remixed on TikTok with Russian pop tracks. The accent work became a running joke among hockey fans who insisted Storrie sounded more convincing than most real imports.

Storrie’s February 2026 SNL hosting gig leaned into the character without ever naming him. A cold-open sketch about a Russian goalie trying to order coffee in Texas went viral, and the ratings bump carried into the second quarter of the season.

Charity tie-ins followed quickly. Fans raised six figures for dementia research on what they declared “Ilya’s birthday,” and Storrie matched the total on the spot during a Paris Fashion Week appearance.

Accent and physical preparation

The Russian accent was never meant to be perfect. Storrie and the dialect coach decided on a light Moscow cadence that softened around English speakers and hardened when Ilya felt cornered. Viewers clocked the shift without subtitles.

Skating training included weekly sessions with a former NHL player who drilled Storrie on edge work and body positioning. The footage leaked on Instagram stories and became instant proof that the production cared about authenticity.

Storrie has said the hardest part was not the accent or the skating but learning to cry on cue while wearing full hockey gear. The padding made every emotional beat feel physically distant, which he used to sell Ilya’s emotional repression.

Season two expectations

Renewal came before the first-season finale aired. Season two begins filming in summer 2026 with an April 2027 target date, and the writers’ room has already mapped a longer arc for Ilya’s family back in Russia.

Storrie has lobbied for more on-ice sequences next season, including a potential line brawl that would force Ilya and Shane to choose sides in public. Tierney has not confirmed the scene but has not ruled it out either.

Marketing plans include a limited theatrical run of the first three episodes in select Canadian cities, a move designed to court the same sports audience that made the books bestsellers.

Other projects on the horizon

Storrie’s next confirmed credit is a supporting role in an indie thriller slated for 2027 release. He has not disclosed the title, but the director has a track record of casting actors between prestige TV and awards-season features.

He has also expressed interest in writing and directing, though he has not attached himself to any specific project yet. Industry chatter suggests he is fielding offers that would keep him in the sports-romance lane for at least one more season.

His Saint Laurent ambassadorship continues through 2027, which means red-carpet appearances will likely double as soft promotion for Heated Rivalry season two.

Where to watch Connor Storrie movies and TV shows now

Heated Rivalry streams on Crave in Canada and HBO Max in the U.S., with season one available in full. The six episodes run roughly forty-five minutes each and drop weekly on Fridays.

Joker: Folie à Deux remains on Max and on premium VOD. Storrie’s scene lasts under two minutes but sits in the middle of the film, making it easy to locate with a quick scrub.

Riley and Tiny Beautiful Things are both on their original platforms—Riley on the festival circuit’s streaming partner and Tiny Beautiful Things on Hulu—though neither has seen a major re-release since Storrie’s profile rose.

What the performance changed

Storrie’s Ilya gave the sports-romance genre a new benchmark for physical commitment and emotional layering. Casting directors now cite the role when they need an actor who can sell both athleticism and interiority in the same scene.

The performance also widened the lane for openly queer leads in prestige cable sports stories. Networks that once treated LGBTQ+ romance as a niche subplot are now green-lighting entire seasons built around those relationships.

For viewers still searching Connor Storrie movies and TV shows, the answer right now is simple: start with Heated Rivalry, then trace the smaller credits backward to see how quickly one performance can rewrite a résumé.

Looking ahead

Storrie’s next public appearance is expected at the Met Gala in May, where Saint Laurent will likely use the moment to tease season-two footage. The timing aligns with renewed press cycles that keep Heated Rivalry in the cultural conversation between seasons.

Whether he steps behind the camera or stays in front of it, the role of Ilya Rozanov has already secured Storrie a place in the current wave of actors who move easily between prestige television and mainstream film. The only open question is how long the character will continue to define him.