'Heated Rivalry' star Hudson Williams teams up with Crave again but this time for a folklore thriller
One minute, Hudson Williams is skating across screens in a hockey drama that had half the internet blushing, and the next, he’s stepping into a world of witches, missing heirs, and folklore. The actor, best known for playing Shane Hollander in ‘Heated Rivalry,’ has signed on to star in ‘Yaga,’ and yes, he is sticking with Crave. It’s the streaming platform’s first half-hour drama, and it’s built around the legend of Baba Yaga, the witch from Slavic folklore who doesn’t exactly hand out cookies.
Deadline reports Williams will portray Henry Park, the young successor to a powerful fishery empire who vanishes under murky circumstances. Enter Rapp, a private investigator played by Noah Reid, who begins pulling at threads that maybe should’ve stayed knotted. But the deeper he digs, the stranger it gets. Rapp’s search causes direct friction with Carson, a wary local detective brought to life by Clark Backo, and Katherine, a university professor with questionable tastes, played by Carrie-Anne Moss. Yes, that Carrie-Anne Moss of ‘The Matrix’ fame.
The show comes from Kat Sandler, who adapted it from her own stage play. She shared her excitement on Instagram as she wrote, "Can’t wait to get witchy in the woods with this INCREDIBLE team." The story is drawn from the myth of Baba Yaga, a figure often described as a witch who lives in a hut perched on chicken legs. She has a reputation for being both terrifying and oddly unpredictable. Sometimes she helps. Sometimes she harms. You never quite know which version you’re going to get. Williams’ casting feels like a strategic move.
After ‘Heated Rivalry’ exploded in popularity, especially among fans of queer dramas, there’s been a spotlight on what he’d do next. The series, in which he starred opposite Conner Storrie as Ilya Razanov, built a passionate global following. Now he’s steering into darker territory. Henry Park isn’t a shy athlete. He’s the heir to a business empire, which suggests wealth, pressure, and probably a few skeletons rattling around somewhere. His disappearance sits at the center of 'Yaga's mystery, but the show isn’t simply about a missing person. It’s about secrets, old grudges, and maybe something ancient creeping into modern life.
Front Street Pictures and Blink49 are producing, with Sandler serving as showrunner. David Frazee and Rachel Talalay are co-directing, while executive producers include Mackenzie Donaldson, Andrew Miller, and Moss herself. Internationally, Sphere Abacus will handle distribution, and the series will also be packaged into four one-hour episodes for global sales. Meanwhile, Williams isn’t slowing down. He’s also set to appear in ‘The Altruists,’ Netflix’s drama centered around the FTX scandal. From queer hockey star to missing fishery heir and crypto-era drama? Now that's what you call range.
