Hudson Williams

Williams is in a relationship with Vancouver tattoo artist Katelyn Larson. The couple made their first red-carpet appearance together at the Vanity Fair Oscars party in March 2026. He has also shared publicly that he has ADHD.

Williams grew up in a multicultural household. His mother is an interior designer of Korean heritage, and his father is a mechanical engineer of British and Dutch descent. His mother initially worried that roles for Asian Canadian performers would be scarce in the industry. That heritage ultimately proved essential to his casting in Heated Rivalry.

Williams moved to Vancouver in 2020 to attend the Film Arts program at Langara College. After graduating, he supported himself as a server at The Old Spaghetti Factory in New Westminster. He used his time between shifts to write, direct, and act in independent shorts with local collaborators. His first self-directed project was the short film Snow Angel.

Those independent projects provided early recognition. Williams received an ensemble award at the Vancouver Badass Film Festival for Devil Makes Three and won Best First-Time Director at the Hollywood ShortsFest for Rancid. Small television roles followed, including guest spots on Allegiance and the CBS drama Tracker.

In 2025, director Jacob Tierney cast Williams as Shane Hollander in Heated Rivalry, an adaptation of Rachel Reid's hockey romance novels. Landing the role required patience. Williams submitted a self-tape, attended a callback, and took part in three chemistry reads alongside co-star Connor Storrie. To prepare, he studied the physical mannerisms of professional athletes such as Sidney Crosby and Kobe Bryant.

The series premiered in November 2025 on Crave and HBO Max. It became an international hit. Critics praised Williams for his microexpression work and his portrayal of an autistic athlete. In May 2026, he won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Leading Performance in a Drama Series. At 25, he was the youngest performer to win the category.

The success of Heated Rivalry drew the attention of major fashion houses. In January 2026, Williams made his runway debut opening the Dsquared2 show at Milan Fashion Week. Later that month, he carried the Olympic torch through Feltre, Italy, with Storrie. Luxury brands Balenciaga and Bulgari signed him as an ambassador, and he became the first non-athlete to star in a campaign for Peloton Interactive.

Williams soon booked several screen projects. He joined Carrie-Anne Moss in the Crave thriller series Yaga and secured a recurring role in the Netflix limited series The Altruists. Feature film roles followed, including Sofia Banzhaf's Apparatus alongside Dylan O'Brien and David Weil's culinary thriller Tyrant.