Who plays Scott Hunter on Heated Rivalry? Meet François Arnaud

Heated Rivalry, a new ice hockey romance series from Canadian streaming service Crave, has become a viral sensation since it premiered with two episodes on November 28. Adapted from author Rachel Reid’s novel series Game Changers, the show follows ice hockey stars Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) as they navigate a thrilling line between rivalry and attraction.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nView this post on Instagram\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA post shared by Heated Rivalry (@heatedrivalrycrave)\n\n\n\nWhile Shane and Ilya’s complicated romance has been the biggest draw of the series, its latest episode has fans shifting their attention towards Scott Hunter – who actually features in all of Reid’s books in her series, but has a supporting role in the show.\nHeated Rivalry’s third episode focuses on Scott, a fellow hockey player, and his unlikely love story with Kip, a smoothie barista. While they are instantly attracted to each other, Scott struggles to be open about his sexuality, leading Kip to break up with him.\nIn a recent interview with Variety, Scott’s actor François Arnaud, 40, described Heated Rivalry as “Normal People on Ice”, referencing Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal’s heart-wrenching hit Hulu series from 2020.\nHere’s everything to know about François Arnaud.\nHe fell in love with acting when he was nine\n\nArnaud is a Canadian actor who was born in July 1985, in Montreal. He began to love acting as a nine-year-old after he watched his first play, Cyrano, according to Interview Magazine. “I remember going home ... and trying to learn the monologues. My mum thought I was crazy, and I probably was,” he said. He went on to train professionally at the Conservatoire d’art dramatique de Montréal.\nSince then, he has starred in several plays and indie films – but he got his first big break in 2011 when he landed a leading role in The Borgias, a series set in Renaissance Italy about Rodrigo Borgia’s controversial rise to the papacy as Pope Alexander VI.\nHe is bisexual\n\nArnaud is bisexual and came out publicly through a since-deleted Instagram post he shared in September 2020 during Bi Visibility Week. “Last week, I was chatting with work friends, and as I brought up a trip I’d taken with an ex-girlfriend, I asked myself – for the ten thousandth time – how to tell such a story without making it seem like that was the whole story of me,” he wrote in the lengthy post.\n“I’m sure many bisexual guys feel the same and end up doing as I did: letting other people’s assumptions of straightness stand uncorrected. Without a doubt because stigmas of indecisiveness, infidelity, deception and trendiness are still clinging to bisexuality,” he continued. “But I’ve always considered myself bisexual. Not confused or trying to look edgy. Not disloyal. Not ashamed. Not invisible. Happy #bivisibilityday this Wednesday.”\n\nEarlier this month, Heated Rivalry director Jacob Tierney made headlines after shutting down questions about the sexuality of the show’s leading actors, Williams and Storrie, in an interview with Xtra Magazine. “I don’t think there’s any reason to get into that stuff. I’ll tell you something about the casting of both of these roles: you can’t ask questions like that when you’re casting, right? It’s actually against the law,” he said. “So what you have to gauge is somebody’s enthusiasm, and willingness to do the work.”\nIs he dating anyone?\n\nIn his interview with Variety, Arnaud revealed that he likes to keep his relationships private: “I’m not particularly interested in talking about my relationships, or all that. I don’t want to invite people into my home.”\nWhile the 40-year-old was previously romantically linked to actor Marc Bendavid, the pair are no longer a couple but remain good friends, according to Just Jared.\n