Hudson Williams stars in the brand-new supernatural mystery-thriller series ‘YAGA’, adapted from the hit stage play of the same name.
The ‘Heated Rivalry’ star plays two characters in the show: Henry Park, who also appears in the stage play, and a new character named Logan.
Williams attended the Toronto International Film Festival for the series’ premiere, created by Kat Sandler and starring Carrie-Anne Moss, Noah Reid, and Clark Backo.
Born and raised in British Columbia, Williams spent his youth balancing the arts and sports, training in theatre, music, and dance while simultaneously playing competitive basketball and practising mixed martial arts.
After graduating from Vancouver’s Langara College Film Arts program in 2020, he continued to deepen his craft through professional theatre classes.
Williams began navigating the Canadian film and television industry while also becoming a disruptor by writing, directing, producing, and starring in independent short films with a close-knit circle of creative collaborators.
His massive breakthrough came when he was cast as Shane Hollander in Jacob Tierney’s award-winning series ‘Heated Rivalry’, adapted from the bestselling novels by Rachel Reid.
Since its debut in fall 2025, the series has become a global phenomenon, catapulting Williams to international stardom.
In Toronto, Williams discussed his roles in ‘YAGA’ and ‘Heated Rivalry’, his journey to stardom, and how his life has changed since finding fame.
In your new series ‘Yaga,’ you play Henry Park and another recently revealed character. Can you tell us about them?
Okay, Henry is sort of this well-travelled, pretentious piece of sh-t, manipulative, conceited, full of himself, but charming fella. And then Logan is our little perverted boy with maybe a good heart in there and impressionable.
What did you respond to in Kat Sandler’s writing?
Definitely, witchy, feminist, rage, and how the hell did they greenlight this? All exciting things. And the opportunity to play two people who both serve – I don’t want to reveal anything; this is so tricky – a big purpose in the script. And to work with the people on board. And the fact that it was based on a play that was celebrated already. I was constantly on the edge of my seat, and I remember me and my team reading it and we’re like, ‘We’re almost near the end, do you know what is happening? Nope. Neither do I.’ And a 30-minute episodic thriller is really interesting.
When did you first think about becoming an actor?
Yeah, I went to a performing arts elementary school. I kind of pitch it as like a LaGuardia [High School NY] for kids. So it was grades one to seven. We were doing dumbed-down Shakespeare. We were doing plays, poetry recitals, all these sort of things that it felt like, sometimes I feel like acting can feel like a rebellion or like this weird departure from a normal job or career, but because I had that base when my like brain was so like plastic, kind of returning to it in high school when I was like, ‘I don’t want to do post-secondary. I’m too dumb for it. I’m not very good at sports. Like, what should I do?’ And I was like, ‘Mom, I’m gonna be an actor.’ She was like, ‘Oh, yeah, you’ve always been good at that. Go for it.’
Hudson Williams at the Balenciaga fashion show as part of Paris Fashion Week Fall 2026 on March 07, 2026 in Paris, France. (Photo by Swan Gallet/WWD via Getty Images)
Were there actors you watched growing up who inspired you?
I think the first person who epitomised everything I sort of appreciated about it was Heath Ledger. I think a lot of actors have that, seeing him as the Joker for the first time. But I watched that so young, and seeing him and he was the pretty boy, what is the movie, ‘Ten Things I Hate About You’? ‘A Knight’s Tale’ and then everyone like hated him when he got cast as that character, but he completely made it his own. It was completely inspired and fresh. I think that was one of the first things.
What was it about Heath Ledger’s performance that connected with you?
Yeah, I think it was that disconnect of people saying, ‘That’s that guy.’ And then the more I looked for him, the less I could see him, which is something that I think I really value in performance over a lot of other things. Not to say it’s better than other types of acting or styles of acting, but I think transformation is just the coolest thing about acting that I just dig the most.
How did you audition for ‘Heated Rivalry’?
Well, it was weird. It was so deceivingly small in its sort of approach. The self-tape that came in, it just sort of sounded like, ‘Ermm, there’s the show.’ It had Jacob’s [Tierney, creator] sort of irreverence to even the breakdown, where I was like, ‘Oh, okay, it’s just some people making a little thing.’ And then the callback, it was just Jacob on the other end. And I was like, ‘Oh, they have no money.’ Not even a reader. Usually it’s like four boxes, and it’s just this dude, and I’m reading with him. So I was like, ‘This show is tiny. What the hell? The writing’s good.’
Was there something audiences picked up on in Shane that genuinely surprised you?
Yeah. I think the little nuances, just the care for him. Or I was like, this guy’s kind of like this little, like loser boy, not a loser. But you’re just like, come on, man. You know, tell him, stand up for yourself. Stop giving in, you know, say what you’re feeling. And he doesn’t do it. He’s just too smitten. But they just somehow picked up on all the things that I was using to justify why he’s not standing up for himself. And everyone just picked up on all those little things in the world that I was trying to build. And they read into it and hyper-analysed it. But it made me really happy, you know?
You’ve returned to Shane Hollander. How has that been?
It is surreal. You know, Connor and I were talking about it the closer the date got to, we’re shooting this thing, and we’re like, ‘This is very surreal. We’re gonna be kissing each other, brother. I’m gonna be doing my Russian accent to you.’ And I’m like, ‘I know it’s crazy.’ I’m going to be doing my little thing, you know?’ And he’s going to be doing his thing. And it was hard to wrap our heads around, but we were both very possibly overconfident that we’re like, ‘We know the characters like the back of our hands. We’re gonna show up, and it’s just gonna be Ilya and Shane right back.’
What can you tell us about ‘Apparatus’ with Dylan O’Brien?
Ooh, that was a fun one. And it was weird as hell. That Sofia Banzhaf is a little freak girl. And her little mind is very interesting. And me and Dylan, I think we both really – he was already attached, and he had sort of fallen in love with the script. I was a fan of Dylan. So getting to work with him was a really nice opportunity, and getting to lead it, playing this little Uber driver, incel-adjacent fella. It was a good time and I really sort of fell in love with him. And I think the hardest character for me to hang up when it was done.
What are you most excited for fans to discover in ‘Yaga’?
What I’m most excited about, I can’t say. I don’t think I can even answer – the twists and turns!
‘Heated Rivalry’ themed: city life or cottage life?
Cottage life.
Coke or ginger ale?
Diet Coke, sorry.
