The international fever for Heated Rivalry<\/em> has no cure, and fans of the show wouldn\u2019t want it any other way. In case your newly acquired Brick has you locked out from the online consciousness, the smutty, tender gay hockey show that was originally only on small Canadian streamer Crave before being picked up by HBO for wider distribution, <\/b>turning leads Connor Storrie<\/a> and Hudson Williams into global superstars. (I remember following Storrie last fall when he had less than 30,000 Instagram followers. Both Storrie and Williams now have more than 2 million apiece.) But, as the classic saying goes, behind every man is a beautiful woman, and Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova was the brilliant beauty behind Ilya Rozanov\u2019s longtime friend and occasional lover Svetlana.<\/p>\n The show sees Ilya (Storrie) grapple with his feelings for Shane Hollander (Williams) and the pressure from the conservative, bro-forward hockey league and his strict, police-heavy Russian family. Throughout the highs and lows of Ilya\u2019s career and personal life, Svetlana always accepts him for who he is. Kharlamova believes that not only is gay representation important, but as she tells NYLON, \u201cI hope people see that if this show has gotten so much love, that these people can as well \u2014 if they\u2019re closeted, or living in more conservative countries.\u201d She knew she came second to \u201cJane\u201d (Shane\u2019s pet name in Ilya\u2019s phone), but she rode for him nonetheless. <\/p>\n This role came at a pivotal time in Kharlamova\u2019s career, and is her first role speaking Russian, her first language. She grew up between Toronto, Saint Petersburg, and Seattle, and fell into acting at 16. She also has a small part in FX\u2019s Adults<\/a><\/em>, making her a name to watch in the television space. Her striking looks and emotive face were a draw for this role, and while her callback made her feel like she didn\u2019t get the part (more on that soon), we couldn\u2019t imagine anyone else as Svetlana. <\/p>\n On the heels of an explosive release of the first season, Kharlamova spoke with NYLON about Storrie\u2019s impressive command of languages, her favorite on-set memories, and what movie franchise she\u2019d love to join.<\/p>\n What did the audition process look like for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n In February of last year, I got an audition through my agent. I thought the character, Svetlana, was super cool. I didn\u2019t see much of the story; I just saw who the character was, and I thought, \u201cThis is such a cool, confident character.\u201d I really wanted the part because I\u2019ve always wanted to play a Russian-speaking character. I thought that was going to take longer in my career for people to catch on that I am fluent and it\u2019s my first language.<\/p>\n In April, I got a callback and it was like, \u201cThey would like you to do a Zoom audition for HR<\/em>.\u201d And I was like, \u201cWhat\u2019s HR<\/em>?\u201d I was like, \u201cOh, my God, it\u2019s this project from all that time ago.\u201d Before I did the callback, I did some research on the books, the fanbase, and the character. The character wasn\u2019t in the books too much, so I had a lot of creative freedom to do whatever I wanted. I did that long scene from Episode 2 in the gala. I remember because I had to do it in English and in Russian, we took a small break and they would give me notes and then I\u2019d move on to the next language. After I did the Russian one, there was complete silence on one end, and I\u2019m like, \u201cWhoa, did I do something bad? Did I do it really wrong?\u201d But their Wi-Fi actually cut out, so I was left there in the room by myself and one of the other casting directors was like, \u201cOh, my God, we\u2019re so sorry. You\u2019re doing so great. Don\u2019t worry.\u201d I was like, \u201cOh, my God, thank you,\u201d because I did this entire monologue scene with multiple pages and then I heard silence. I was like, \u201cOh, wow, I bombed. Was that that<\/em> bad?\u201d<\/p>\n While one of them was fixing their Wi-Fi, the other casting director was like, \u201cOh, my gosh, we cast the hottest guys. We\u2019re so excited for this project.\u201d I had a feeling that if they\u2019re telling me this, I probably have a good shot. I didn\u2019t have any chemistry reads. I met Connor, Hudson, Nadine [Bhabha], the director, the [director of photography], and more of the cast and crew at a dinner before we started shooting. Everyone was so nice and sweet, and so excited for this project. I remember thinking, \u201cIt feels like we\u2019re like a coven of vampires scheming.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s so impressive that you jumped right into it, and it feels like there was a lot of trust on set. Do you have any special memories from filming?<\/strong><\/p>\n I remember having such a fun time during the gala scenes. I remember even though Hudson [Williams] wasn\u2019t in those scenes, he was still there on set the whole day, taking [behind the scenes] of us and messing around. I was glad he was there because otherwise, I don\u2019t ever get to see him. We\u2019d see each other passing by when we would have scenes on the same day. I really liked that he would come and watch the process. I might do that next season when there\u2019s a fun scene I\u2019m not involved in.<\/p>\n Jacob Tierney, our director, is such a nice person to be around, and because he comes from a comedy background, he doesn\u2019t take himself too seriously. He\u2019s serious about his work, but he\u2019s not a curmudgeon. He\u2019s a very nice, chill, funny guy. I was happy he was directing this because the show requires so much intimacy and trust between the actors. He was there to be the light of the whole project.<\/p>\n Russian is your first language. When you heard Connor speaking Russian for the first time, how surprised were you at his accent?<\/strong><\/p>\n I knew he wasn\u2019t Russian when I met him, but I remember it was the night before we shot the funeral stuff \u2014 that was my first day on set, maybe his first or second day \u2014 and we were in the lobby of the hotel going over our lines and I thought, \u201cWow. You speak the language so well.\u201d Russian is a very hard language in general, but he has a mastery over languages. He also speaks French with a beautiful accent and cadence. I told him, \u201cIf I didn\u2019t know you, I would think you were a second-generation Russian person who had Russian speaking parents because it\u2019s so good.\u201d It can be hard when you\u2019re learning a language phonetically. You may not know the meaning of every word, but he gave meaning to every word.<\/p>\n I was watching this interview with the director of <\/strong>Hamnet<\/strong><\/em>, Chlo\u00e9 Zhao, and she said, \u201cI don\u2019t really understand Shakespeare, but if it\u2019s performed correctly, you don\u2019t need to understand it. You get the feeling.\u201d I felt the same way about his Russian. I don\u2019t understand it, but the way he delivered the language and especially his monologue on the phone, you don\u2019t need to speak Russian to understand the feeling it.<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah. It\u2019s a big shock when he says he\u2019s from Texas. I actually saw the same interview, and I thought the same thing. It was so beautiful to see that it\u2019s a human thing more than a language thing.<\/p>\n What do you hope people take away from your role as being an ally for him in a country that doesn\u2019t accept him?<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s important for people to see how having someone in their corner is so important for growth as a person. It\u2019s important to have amazing friendships and community, because at the end of the day, it doesn\u2019t matter what a government thinks. There are LGBTQ people everywhere. It\u2019s just nature. I hope people see that if this show has gotten so much love, that these people can as well \u2014 if they\u2019re closeted or living in more conservative countries or working in industries like sports where they think they might not be accepted. I hope people take away that it is important to have these amazing friends who don\u2019t pressure you but are there for you, and you know that they know, but you don\u2019t have to say anything to them. We\u2019re all human and want human connections we can rely on.<\/p>\n Svetlana really held him down. She was ready to meet him where he was at. I personally hope in the next season this continues, and that you have a bigger part. What are you hoping for in the next season?<\/strong><\/p>\n Jacob [Tierney] could really do whatever he wants with the next season, but me personally, what I would want to see Svetlana meet Shane. They could do so much with them meeting: two sides of Ilya\u2019s world and the two people he trusts the most. I want to see Shane and Ilya\u2019s more tender, sweet, couply moments that we didn\u2019t get to see much of in Season 1. We got to see it a little bit in the cottage, but not as much in the rest of the series. I\u2019d also love to see some of the female characters meet, if that would make sense in that universe. I want to see Svetlana involved in some hockey.<\/p>\n Everyone is actively obsessing over the show, with no signs of stopping. What\u2019s your latest cultural obsession of the moment?<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m obsessed with Avatar<\/em>. I\u2019m utterly obsessed with that world. I love being on a different planet. I\u2019m into a lot of the X-Men<\/a> comics right now. I\u2019m looking at them on my dresser. I\u2019m trying to watch all the movies, and I\u2019m also really into Absolute Batman<\/a><\/em>. That\u2019s another comic I\u2019m currently reading.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/image\/2026\/1\/14\/63e0627c\/ksenia-daniela-kharlamova-kaden.jpg?w=414&h=276&fit=crop&crop=faces&dpr=2\")
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