Breakout gay hockey drama Heated Rivalry is continuing to add to its season two cast, with Daniel Diemer set to play Ryan Price, a tough guy enforcer battling anxiety off the ice.
Diemer is best known as Paul in Netflix’s The Half of It and Tyson in the Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Shaheen Jafargholi will perform the role of aspiring musician Fabian Salah after star-turns in War, The Agency and Lost Boys and Fairies.
Ryan and Fabian’s love story drives Rachel Reid’s novel Tough Guy, the third installment in her Game Changers series, which Heated Rivalry is based on. Ryan was briefly mentioned during the first season during a conversation between the show’s leading men Shane Hollander, played by Hudson Williams, and Ilya Rozanov, played by Connor Storrie, as the latter spent a season together playing in Boston.
The news comes after several additions to the season two cast over the past month including Justice Smith, Charlie Gillespie, Emily Hampshire, Edvin Ryding, Robert Naylor, Sabrina Jalees and Priyanka. Hampshire and Priyanka were cast as the characters of Vanessa and Tarek, who also hail from Tough Guy — the pair are Fabian’s best friends.
Ryan and Fabian’s novel takes place while Ryan is on the Toronto team, alongside fellow season two additions Troy Barrett, portrayed by Gillespie, and Wyatt Hayes, portrayed by Naylor. However, both Troy and Wyatt eventually play alongside Ilya in Ottawa.
