Connor Storrie’s Biggest Roles Before ‘Heated Rivalry’
Connor Storrie’s path to playing bisexual Russian hockey captain Ilya Rozanov in *Heated Rivalry* runs through four early credits that now circulate on fan accounts and clip pages. These roles show an actor moving from indie features to studio cameos while waiting tables in Los Angeles, a timeline that gained new attention once the sports romance became a global hit and Storrie booked an *SNL* hosting slot that led to a 2026 Emmy nomination.
Headless Horseman
Storrie’s first listed feature credit arrived in 2022 with the horror retelling *Headless Horseman*. He played Tom, a supporting role in a low-budget production that gave him on-set experience and a line on his résumé.
The film never reached wide release, yet horror fans occasionally surface it on streaming platforms. For completists tracing his career, the part marks the start of his transition from short films to features.
Storrie has described this period as one where he balanced auditions with shifts at a restaurant, a routine that continued until larger opportunities appeared.
Tiny Beautiful Things
In 2023 he booked a single-episode appearance on Hulu’s limited series *Tiny Beautiful Things*. Credited simply as “Apartment Guy,” the role placed him inside an established writers’ room and gave him a network credit before his next projects screened.
The part was small, yet it signaled movement from festival features toward television. Casting directors now cite the appearance as evidence he could handle serialized dialogue under tight schedules.
Viewers rewatching the pilot after *Heated Rivalry* airings sometimes pause on the brief scene, adding another data point to the timeline fans assemble online.
Riley
Also in 2023, Storrie took the lead in the coming-of-age drama *Riley*, playing Liam Hauser, a queer high-school senior navigating identity and first relationships. The film screened at festivals and later appeared on streaming, where a dance sequence featuring Storrie in a crop top resurfaced after *Heated Rivalry* fans began clipping his earlier work.
Director Benjamin Howard cast him partly for his gymnastics background, which informed the physicality of the performance. The role let Storrie explore emotional range that later informed Ilya Rozanov’s guarded vulnerability.
Outlets covering the series have noted that the queer-coded performance in *Riley* foreshadowed the chemistry-driven romance audiences embraced two years later.
Joker Folie à Deux
Storrie’s most visible pre-*Heated Rivalry* credit came in 2024’s *Joker: Folie à Deux*. He appears as a young Arkham inmate who attacks and ultimately kills Arthur Fleck, a cameo kept secret until the film’s release.
Less than four minutes of screen time still placed him inside a major studio production with Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga. He auditioned for a smaller part that expanded during production, yet the scene did not immediately translate into steady offers.
After the film wrapped, Storrie returned to restaurant work while the footage sat in post-production. The cameo now functions as a recognizable entry point for viewers tracing his résumé backward from *Heated Rivalry*.
Short film years
Before any of those projects, Storrie accumulated credits on shorts between 2018 and 2021, including *Ménage à Trois*, *Watch and Guide*, *The Internet Kills*, *White Terror*, *A Letter on Loss*, and *Twenty-Two*. These low-stakes sets let him test material and build reel footage while living in Los Angeles.
During this stretch he studied clowning, a technique he later credited with loosening his approach to difficult scenes. Competitive tumbling and bodybuilding routines also became part of his preparation habits.
The shorts rarely screened widely, yet they established the work ethic that later supported rapid accent study and physical training once *Heated Rivalry* entered production.
Accent and physical prep
When Storrie read for Ilya Rozanov, producers asked whether he could handle Russian dialogue. He studied the language for roughly six weeks with a dialect coach, an intensity that echoed the focused prep he had applied to smaller roles.
His gymnastics background helped during hockey choreography sessions, while clowning exercises aided the comedic beats written into the character’s banter. These skills, honed on earlier sets, shortened the learning curve once cameras rolled.
Costars have noted in recent roundtables that Storrie arrived with the accent already functional, allowing rehearsal time to focus on on-ice movement and scene chemistry.
Waiting tables to guest host
Between *Riley* and the *Joker* release, Storrie continued shifts at a Los Angeles restaurant. The routine ended only after *Heated Rivalry* premiered and the series became a streaming event watched on multiple continents.
That trajectory now circulates in interviews timed to his February 2026 *SNL* appearance. Stories of early credits serve as contrast to the current schedule of press events and upcoming films such as *The Bell Jar* and A24’s *Peaked*.
Fans on social platforms compile side-by-side clips from *Riley* and *Heated Rivalry*, underscoring how quickly the supporting parts gave way to leading billing.
Industry recalibration
Storrie’s pre-breakout credits illustrate a compressed timeline common among actors who move from festival features to tentpole cameos within two years. Studios tracking *Heated Rivalry* metrics now review similar supporting résumés for future casting slates.
His ability to keep the *Joker* involvement quiet for nearly two years also signals comfort with long production cycles, an asset when negotiating multi-picture deals that may stretch across several years.
Agents and managers point to the combination of indie drama, horror, and blockbuster exposure as a template for building versatile reels without early typecasting.
Future visibility
With *Heated Rivalry* renewed and Storrie attached to prestige adaptations, earlier roles gain archival value. Streaming services have already added *Riley* to recommendation queues that surface beside the sports romance.
Upcoming projects will likely reference this foundation in press materials, positioning the pre-2025 work as proof of range rather than a footnote.
For audiences mapping the actor’s rise, the four credits remain the clearest map of the steps that preceded global recognition.
Next chapter
Storrie’s early filmography now functions as context for an actor whose next moves will unfold under heightened scrutiny. The supporting parts established technical habits and professional relationships that larger productions later relied upon, and those same credits continue to surface whenever new episodes or casting announcements appear.
