“Heated Rivalry” has cast its newest love story.
With production underway on the latest season of Crave’s hit gay hockey romance, and the mad dash for Canadian Tire shopping bags dying down, creators say they have found their Fabian Salah and Ryan Price — a key couple from Rachel Reid’s “Game Changers” book series.
British actor Shaheen Jafargholi will play Salah, an aspiring musician who was raised in Halifax, while British Columbia actor Daniel Diemer will portray Price, a towering professional hockey player who falls for him. The characters are central to “Tough Guy,” the third book of Reid’s best-selling books.
Both actors have a notable resume of past film and TV roles.
Jafargholi appeared in Apple TV’s “The Agency” and will star in the upcoming HBO series “War,” while Diemer starred in the 2020 Netflix film “The Half of It,” and plays Tyson on Disney Plus series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians.”
Series creator Jacob Tierney and executive producer Brendan Brady said the actors have the confidence and emotional honesty needed for the roles.
“Fabian and Ryan each bring a distinctive energy to the world Rachel Reid has created,” they said in a statement.
“They are bold, complicated, and deeply compelling characters, and finding actors who could really take on all of those different sides was so important to us.”
The pair join returning stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, who play hockey rivals-turned-lovers Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, and an expanding universe of other characters.
Crave has been trickling out “Heated Rivalry” casting details over the past several weeks, adding Justice Smith and Charlie Gillespie in two major roles.
Other additions to the cast have included “Schitt’s Creek” star Emily Hampshire, Swedish actor Edvin Ryding, Robert Naylor, Sabrina Jalees and drag queen Priyanka.
The show’s newest stars have also been popping up around town.
Over the weekend, Smith and Gillespie surprised partiers at the Harbourfront Centre when they joined RuPaul onstage during a DJ set.
Meanwhile, Storrie was spotted filming in and around Dundas on Monday, sporting a fresh buzz cut on-set.
“Heated Rivalry” is expected to return next spring.
