In all the years that I’ve produced Variety‘s Actors on Actors conversations, I’ve resisted the temptation to divulge how exactly the sausage gets made. When fans gripe on social media, for instance, about how our magazine didn’t pair two obviously compatible actors together, I haven’t taken to X to explain that we really tried, but one (or both!) of the actors turned down what seemed like an undeniable idea. Sometimes, the reasons a pairing didn’t work out are scandalous. In other cases, they’re more mundane. But spilling the tea — however satisfying for a moment — would only take attention away from the talented actors who actually do participate in our series.
Of course, the magic of Actors on Actors, which returns to CNN’s streaming platform on June 3 (with an all-time great season premiere), comes from getting the right two actors to talk to each other. It might sound easy in theory, as evidenced by all those fan suggestions. But in practice, this is an incredibly tricky series to produce. Booking Actors on Actors is like playing matchmaker with the most famous people on the planet — and their coffee date needs to be approved by an army of publicists and awards strategists.
So now, I’m going to break my cardinal rule of Actors on Actors: I’m going to talk about a few of the stars who got away. When the lineup for our installment of episodes is announced on Monday — featuring some of the most-talked-about performers of this year on television — one incredibly important show will not be on the list. Sorry to disappoint, but we didn’t include any of the actors from “Heated Rivalry.” And it was not for a lack of trying. I invited all three of the breakout actors from the groundbreaking series about gay hockey players to participate: the extraordinary Connor Storrie, the charming Hudson Williams and the magnetic François Arnaud. These actors, as millions of “Heated Rivalry” superfans know, simply need to show up at an event to create mass hysteria on social media, and they have the talent to back up their overnight stardom. They deserve to be in our portfolio alongside some of the biggest names in the business.
