The hockey player who brought Shane Hollander’s hockey skills to life on the hit show Heated Rivalry said he was impressed with how much the show’s leads cared about getting the on-ice scenes right.
Jonah De Simone ended up becoming a body double for actor Hudson Williams in hockey scenes on the popular TV hockey drama. The University of Guelph accounting student told CTV’s Your Morning Friday that he helped advise the main cast on how to look like hockey players – everything from taping the socks and sticks to general mannerisms.
“If I was shooting, we had to recreate the upper body (movements) for Hudson,” De Simone said. “A lot of it was just like, ‘How would this look? How would I stand here? How would I stand on the boards’?”
De Simone was playing for his university hockey team at the time when the Heated Rivalry crew reached out to his coach. They asked for extras while filming in the area, and De Simone agreed to be part of the project.
“I guess I just fit the mold for Hudson’s shape and height and stuff like that, and they said, ‘We think you’d be a good fit for Shane Hollander,’” De Simone said.
“It was really exciting when I found that out.”
The sports romance directed by Jacob Tierney quickly became a hit, with everyone from Prime Minister Mark Carney to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman speaking publicly about it.
The show became Crave’s most-watched series over the holidays, was described as a “word-of-mouth” hit in the U.S., and even took off in Russia, despite not getting an official release in that country.
De Simone stood in during hockey scenes involving Williams, one of the show’s two leads, who is a rival on the ice and secret romantic partner off the ice to Russian player Ilya Rozanov (played by Connor Storrie).
De Simone said Friday that Williams asked “a lot, a lot of questions” and was “great with direction,” picking things up quickly.
He said the experience was “a lot of fun,” and that he enjoyed working with Storrie and Williams.
“I was so happy with how much they cared about making it look right.”
Following the success of Heated Rivalry, De Simone said friends jokingly called him a movie star, to which he responds, “Guys, I’m still an accounting student.”
He admitted he took a hat from the set featuring the logo of the fictional Montreal Metros team, laughing as he said “They might get mad at me.”
De Simone said he appreciated the opportunity to represent the hockey community by being part of the show. The conversations it has prompted among those he knows have been around acceptance of differences, he said.
“I think I could tell that everyone on set wanted to make a difference and put their best foot forward for this show and for the story that they were telling,” De Simon said.
“I’m just so happy for Connor and Hudson and the success they’re seeing. They’re just super awesome, genuine guys,” he said, adding he still sends the odd message to Williams.
De Simone says he hasn’t heard if he’ll resume his body double role for Season 2, but is hopeful to be included again.
CTV News, Crave and CP24 are owned by Bell Media, which is a division of BCE.
