Heated Rivalry’ Season 2 Casts Justice Smith and Charlie Gillespie

Justice Smith and Charlie Gillespie are joining the second season of "Heated Rivalry," a popular romantic drama from Canada's Crave Media, which is available on HBO Max in the U.S.

Smith will portray Harris Drover, and Gillespie will play Troy Barrett.

Although official details about their characters haven't been released yet, based on Rachel Reid's "Game Changers" books, Troy is a hockey player who gets traded to the Ottawa team after ending a friendship with a former teammate from the Toronto team, who is accused of sexual assault.Harris is the social media manager for the Ottawa team and becomes determined to help Troy come out of his shell.

Smith and Gillespie will be the main stars of Season 2, joining back-forth actors Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, who played Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander in Season 1.

Season 1 started with a secret romance between two young rookies and evolved into a long journey of love, denial, and self-discovery.

Smith has been in shows like "I Saw the TV Glow" and "Now You See Me: Now You Don't." He is represented by WME and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.

Gillespie has appeared in "One Night Only," "Splitsville," and "Suze." He is represented by Vanderwerff Talent, David Dean Management, and Meyer & Downs, LLP.

"Heated Rivalry" was commissioned by Crave, which is owned by Bell Media, with support from the Canada Media Fund.

Jacob Tierney created the series and directed it, while also executive producing it with Brendan Brady and Jayme Alter Wilson.Lori Fischburg and Liane Cunje are the producers, with Reid as a consulting producer.Mike Goldbach is a co-writer for Season 2.Bell's Sphere Abacus handles the international distribution of the show.

Tierney and Brady said in a statement, "Rachel Reid has given us two beautifully layered characters in Harris and Troy who you can't help but root for.

From the start of the casting process, we knew we were looking for actors who could create something truly special together and bring that same depth and heart to the screen.Justice and Charlie do exactly that.They immediately connected with the vulnerability and resilience at the core of these characters, bringing an instinctive understanding of who Harris and Troy are."