Nine months ago, Hudson Williams worked his final shift at the Old Spaghetti Factory in New Westminster.
The young Kamloops-born actor, who’d been waiting tables at the restaurant for two years, had just accepted the role of Shane Hollander in the Crave original series Heated Rivalry.
“He pretty much stayed until he had to leave for filming for Heated Rivalry,” said Chloe Ng, the Old Spaghetti Factory personnel manager who trained Williams.
“When he left, he would tell us little hints about the script and everything that was going to go on, and what it was about. We definitely didn’t expect it to get this big, and I don’t think he did either.”
Heated Rivalry was picked up by HBO Max, and instantly became a worldwide phenomenon, catapulting the 24-year-old to superstardom. When he appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and shouted out his former workplace, Ng was thrilled.
“We were like, ‘Oh my God, he’s actually talked about us,’” said Ng. “We get people making reviews on Google. People come in and they’re like, ‘Oh, did you watch Heated Rivalry?’ It’s super weird because it’s all ages, all groups of people coming in and talking about it.”
When Williams presented at the Golden Globes, Ng knew her friend and former colleague had officially arrived in Hollywood.
“It really felt real. Like, it felt kind of unbelievable. Because we always believed in him and believed in the show as well. But to actually see him next to people that we’ve watched in large-scale movies and stuff like that, it was absolutely insane,” Ng said. “He originally had planned to come back after the shooting. And then all of a sudden, you know, he’s walking the Golden Globes.”
Jennifer Copping, who was Williams’ instructor at the Langara College arts program in 2020, is awed by her former student’s rapid rise to fame.
“I messaged him when I saw that he was doing those things and I just said, ‘Whoa, you know, this must feel insane.’ And I just gave him some advice, and he took it, and he’s lovely,” said Copping, who added she always knew Williams had something special.
“He was just brave and willing to try anything. Any characters, any genres. He just jumped right in, and it was exciting,” Copping said.
She hopes Williams’ success convinces more budding actors to try Langara.
“I think our faculty really strives for excellence, and he is a good representation of that,” Copping said.
Heated Rivalry has been renewed for season two, and Williams is now working as a model in Europe. But Ng said he hasn’t forgotten where he came from.
“He came in a couple of weeks ago, just to say hi, to drop off a couple gifts,” she said, adding he will always be a part of the Old Spaghetti Factory team.
“We call them Spaggers,” she said. “I would hope that he would still be able to remember us here.”
CTV News, Crave and CP24 are owned by Bell Media, which is a division of BCE.
