Connor Storrie hosts Saturday Night Live this Saturday, February 28. The Heated Rivalry star will be making his SNL debut with Mumford & Sons as the musical guest. It’s the first new episode since the Winter Olympics wrapped in Italy. Watch promo skit below.
Storrie plays Ilya Rozanov in the HBO Max and Crave series. Rozanov is a Russian hockey captain with a secret decade-long affair with Canadian rival Shane Hollander, played by Hudson Williams. The show premiered on Canada’s Crave last November. HBO Max picked it up for U.S. distribution days before the premiere. HBO chief Casey Bloys said later he watched all six episodes in one weekend.
West Hollywood has a personal stake in all of this. GQ reported in December that Storrie still lives in his West Hollywood apartment with his sister. He was there before the show, working 40-hour weeks at a restaurant and getting off shifts at 1 a.m. He took improv classes at The Groundlings. He performed in LA’s underground clown scene — actual physical, absurdist clown theater. That’s where he learned to commit to a character without hesitation.
Fame came fast after that.
WeHo Was Already Paying Attention
In December, Storrie and Williams made a surprise appearance at Hi Tops on Santa Monica Boulevard during the bar’s weekly trivia night. The event was raising money for Rainbow Labs, a local nonprofit supporting LGBTQ+ youth. The room erupted when they walked in. Storrie grabbed the mic. “Thank you for tweeting about our butts,” he told the crowd. When someone asked what he’d say to queer kids, he said: “Take up space, be yourself really loud, and don’t take shit from anyone.”
They also hit Gym Bar and Rocco’s WeHo that night. The trivia fundraiser raised more than $1,500 for Rainbow Labs. When the season finale dropped, viewing parties filled those same bars along the Rainbow District. Crowds spilled onto the sidewalk at Hi Tops, Gym Bar, Rocco’s and Beaches. Gym Bar set up a tent in case it rained.
A Promo Already Making the Rounds
SNL dropped its promo Wednesday. Storrie is seated with cast members Ashley Padilla and Marcello Hernández when his Russian accent comes up. Cast member James Austin Johnson shows up in cowboy boots and spurs. Johnson is the show’s resident accent authority and its go-to Trump impersonator. He wanted a duel.
They went through German, French, Cajun, Shakespeare, bad Shakespeare, Shrek and the Na’vi language from Avatar. Both passed on Jamaican. Storrie won. He closed it out in character as Rozanov: “When you get to hell, tell them Rozanov sent you.”
Before All This
Storrie’s biggest pre-Heated Rivalry role was in Joker: Folie à Deux. He played a young inmate at Arkham Asylum. Director Todd Phillips pulled him aside during production. “By the way, at the end of the movie, you’re going to stab Joaquin to death,” Phillips told him. “And it’s going to be revealed that you’re the Joker.” Storrie has less than four minutes of screen time. The film ends with him carving up his own face while Phoenix’s character dies.
He signed with CAA in January. He’s in talks to join the A24 comedy Peaked with Laura Dern and Emma Mackey. When the SNL announcement went up on Instagram, Williams posted immediately: “MY BABY BOY ON SNL WHOOOOOO!!!!”
Saturday Night Live airs Saturday, February 28 at 11:30 p.m. ET / 8:30 p.m. PT on NBC and Peacock. New episodes stream on demand the following day.
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