Ilya Rozanov might be Storrie’s first time as a leading man, but Heated Rivalry isn’t the first time he has appeared on our screen. In 2022, he auditioned for a small part in a Todd Philips project, which turned out to be the sequel to Joker, released in 2024. Storrie appeared at the end of Joker: Folie à Deux as a young inmate at Arkham State Hospital. But that role wasn’t the career launch he had hoped for, so he went back to waiting tables. At one point, he even fell into Los Angeles’ alternative “clown scene” (which he paid tribute to when he hosted Saturday Night Live).

Storrie took Russian lessons for Heated Rivalry

If you were going into Heated Rivalry blind (which most of us did), you would be surprised to learn that Storrie is from Texas, because his Russian and accent on the show was spot on. Even his co-star Williams was impressed: “I thought I was talking to a Slavic Russian boy. I thought his parents must be Russian because everything he was doing was so perfectly Ilya,” he said to Teen Vogue. In reality, Storrie put in the hours to learn Russian for the role: four-hour lessons every day for three weeks to be exact. To deliver a pages-long monologue in a language you don’t speak with such emotional depth is a testament to Storrie’s talent and commitment to acting (if you’ve seen episode 5, you’ll know what I’m talking about).

Storrie and Williams have a matching tattoo

Over the course of filming and promoting Heated Rivalry, as well as navigating overnight fame, Storrie and Williams have become best friends. To commemorate this experience, the duo revealed in a video interview with HBO Max that they’ve gotten a matching tattoo that says “sex sells”. Storrie’s is in a heart on his shin, and Williams’ is on his upper thigh. “It was just kind of like a tongue-in-cheek, kind of winky view of being a part of something like this,” Storrie said. What’s even wilder is that they already had matching tattoos before they even met. Fans noticed that both Storrie and Williams have a snake tattoo: Storrie has one on his foot, and Williams has his on his arm. Destined to be soulmates, on and off screen.

Storrie’s next project might be a movie

While the second season of Heated Rivalry is set to be released in early 2027, fans speculate that Storrie might have his next project lined up already. At his hosting debut on Saturday Night Live at the end of February, a curious group was seen backstage: Simone Ashley (Bridgerton), Emma Mackey (Sex Education), Molly Gordon (The Bear) and Allie Levitan, a writer for SNL. These women are cast in A24’s Peaked, which Gordon and Levitan (who are best friends in real life) are set to co-write, co-direct and co-star. While Storrie has not been officially cast, it was announced that he was in talks to join the movie in mid-February. Given that these ladies were backstage at Storrie’s SNL hosting stint, we’ll keep our eyes peeled for any news about the highly anticipated movie.