Daniel Diemer, left, will play Ryan Price, a defenceman and enforcer for the fictional Toronto Guardians, while Shaheen Jafargholi will play Fabian Salah, an indie musician based in Toronto.Getty Images
Heated Rivalry, the smash-hit TV show based on Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series, has found its Ryan Price and Fabian Salah.
Canadian Daniel Diemer, best known for his work as Tyson in the Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, will play Ryan, a defenceman and enforcer for the fictional Toronto Guardians.
Welsh actor Shaheen Jafargholi, recognizable from British soap opera EastEnders, will play Fabian, a high-school classmate of Ryan’s and an indie musician based in Toronto.
Ryan and Fabian form the central couple in Reid’s novel Tough Guy, the third book in the Game Changers series.
“Fabian and Ryan each bring a distinctive energy to the world Rachel Reid has created,” said Heated Rivalry showrunner Jacob Tierney in a joint statement with executive producer Brendan Brady. “They are bold, complicated, and deeply compelling characters, and finding actors who could really take on all of those different sides was so important to us. Daniel and Shaheen bring such confidence and emotional honesty to the roles. We can’t wait for audiences to see what they do with Fabian and Ryan and how they make these characters their own.”
Heated Rivalry adds Canadian actors Emily Hampshire, Priyanka to Season 2 cast
Buzzy casting news keeps coming from the Heated Rivalry universe: Earlier this month, Crave Canada announced it had cast Justice Smith, Charlie Gillespie, Emily Hampshire, Edvin Ryding, Robert Naylor, Sabrina Jalees and Priyanka in key roles of the show’s second season. Hampshire and Priyanka will play Fabian’s best friends.
On Aug. 17, Crave Canada announced that filming on Heated Rivalry’s second season was under way. An official release date has not yet been confirmed.