By Dan Heching, CNN
(CNN) — Connor Storrie’s meteoric rise has left endless possibilities open for the Texas-born star of “Heated Rivalry,” whose name is surely being uttered in many a Hollywood casting room these days.
A sign of what’s next for the actor could come this weekend, as Storrie makes his hosting debut on “Saturday Night Live.”
It’s far from the first time “SNL” has put a newly buzzy star in the hosting seat — Sabrina Carpenter and Josh O’Connor are two recent examples.
And judging from the promos released on Instagram this week, Storrie is bringing a lot to the table at the famed NBC sketch show, including his ability to deliver a good accent. Fans of “Rivalry” — the romantic hockey-set series that has turned Storrie and costar Hudson Williams into the hottest male screen sirens of the moment — already know this about him, of course. The actor, who portrays surly Russian hockey captain Ilya Rozanov in the show, is in no way, shape or form Russian, and learned to speak the language rather flawlessly in just three weeks before filming. (This tweet sums up just how much of a quick study he is.)
“Selfishly, I just love Russian language. I love any opportunity to do an accent, learn a new skill, and this had all of it,” he told Out in November of the role.
Storrie’s appearance on “SNL” might be akin to a decisive slap shot on the ice. The star is hosting days after the US men’s hockey team won gold at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games and then went on to draw ire for partying with FBI director Kash Patel and laughing at a joke made by President Trump at the expense of the women’s Olympic hockey team (also gold medalists this year). It’s fair to say the likelihood is high that this chain of events, coupled with Storrie’s hockey player role on “Rivalry,” could come up this weekend.
A mere nine months ago, Storrie was working as a server at a Culver City, Los Angeles restaurant, and almost got fired the day he found out he landed one of the leads in “Heated Rivalry.”
Weeks later, the actor started filming the sleeper hit series, which aired on Crave in Canada before becoming a bona fide hit on HBO Max. Now it looks like his star is far from fading anytime soon. (HBO Max, like CNN, is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.)
Aside from blowing the lid off of what was previously thought of as permissible with what can be shown onscreen when it comes to gay sex, “Rivalry” has changed the cultural conversation in relation to portrayals of masculinity, consent and the potential for the romance genre in the streaming age.
Before “Heated Rivalry,” which (of course) has been renewed for a second season, Storrie was probably best known f