Nov 03, 2026 9:00pm IST
‘Yaga’ Creator Kat Sandler on Casting Hudson Williams in Two Roles: ‘It’s a Yummier Challenge’ (EXCLUSIVE)
The breakout success of “Heated Rivalry” has meant that anyone bagging its leads, Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, for their film or series has struck gold. For Canadian playwright and theater director Kat Sandler, creator of the supernatural erotic thriller series, “Yaga,” getting Williams on board fell perfectly in sync with their plan to expand on the existing characters of her play, on which the series is based.
Originally a theatrical production with three actors playing the different parts on stage, Sandler had fun adding a slew of new characters, including a lookalike roommate for Williams’ character, the young fisheries scion Henry Park, who goes missing. Speaking exclusively to Variety India, Sandler reveals how Williams was cast as both Henry Park and Logan Casey.
“In the play, there's only Henry,” explains Sandler. “Logan was created for the series, and they were always meant to be lookalikes. But when we considered offering Hudson one of these roles, I said, ‘Why not offer him both? It's a yummier challenge. It's going to be really fun for him to get to play two really distinct characters.”
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As fans waiting for "Heated Rivalry" Season 2 would say, more Hudson Williams is definitely not a bad idea. Knowing the actor’s reputation as an absolute film nerd, it makes one wonder whether he had any input on how to keep Henry and Logan distinct.
“From the very first discussion, Hudson wanted to make Henry and Logan feel completely separate,” reveals Sandler. “For Logan, he had prosthetics to work with. For Henry, he developed this very specific voice. And it was really cool watching him sink his teeth into both of these characters. They're not huge characters in the story. But the attention to detail for the smaller characters across the board is what makes the mystery so fun.”
Created by Sandler and directed by David Frazee and Rachel Talaly, “Yaga” takes place in a small, sleepy coastal town, which feels like the perfect setting for the real and supernatural to collide. Sandler weaves in the Slavic myth of the Baba Yaga, a witch, into a classic story of a rich kid disappearing and an outside investigator with a dodgy past being brought in to help local law enforcement figure out the whodunnit. At the center of this mystery is a college professor with a taste for younger men. With a cast that includes Carrie-Anne Moss, Noah Reid, Clark Blacko, Patrick Gilmore, Megan Follows, Sheila McCarthy and Emilija Baranac, “Yaga” puts forth a solid case for a cosy autumnal binge.
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When asked what story she would pick if she could have the same cast enact another mythological tale, the playwright cites another one of her stage works. “My instinct is just to say another one of my plays that I’ve been thinking about for a long time, called “Wild Woman”. But I don't think I can answer that one quickly because I get too wrapped up! We could do every fairy tale with a cast like this. You could cast them in anything, and they would be amazing,” she shares.
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