Christina Chang as Yuna Hollander in 'Heated Rivalry.' Sabrina Lantos/HBO Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text Christina Chang loves playing Yuna Hollander. It's evident seconds into hearing the Taiwanese-American actress speak about the character. In HBO Max's breakout hit series Heated Rivalry, Chang's Yuna serves as the show's matriarchal figure. A slightly more-nuanced version of the mom-ager role, Yuna spends much of the Jacob Tierney-created series fiercely devoted to her son, Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams), one half of the show's rivals-turned-lovers pairing. "[Tierney] strikes the balance well [of] a loving mom who is concerned about her son's wellbeing, but is also like, 'How do we capitalize on your growing success?'" Chang explains on a Zoom from her home in Canada to The Hollywood Reporter. "She wants to make sure, as a fierce advocate of her son, that he's not missing out on any of these wonderful opportunities." Related Stories TV 'Heated Rivalry' Stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie Head to 2026 Olympics as Torchbearers Movies 'Red, White & Royal Wedding': Uma Thurman, Sarah Shahi Among Returning Cast as Sequel Starts Filming Yuna's biggest moment of the series came in the show's finale when, after seven years of hiding their more-than-complicated, not-quite-relationship, her husband David (Dylan Walsh) finds Shane kissing rival professional hockey player Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie), leading Shane to come out to his parents. It's an emotional moment for the show - and frankly, for anyone who has been in the shoes of coming out to a parent. "That scene was a large part of why I took [the role]," Chang says. Below, the actress shares behind-the-scenes moments of filming the emotional coming out scene, why she loves playing Yuna and which character she's hoping to have "mama bear" time with in season two. *** How are you feeling with the success of the show? I have to imagine it's a little strange. It is strange. Honestly, I've not been a part of something that's been a phenomenon like this. I've done a lot of projects I've felt really good about that have gotten some recognition, but not on this level, so it's different. I'm sort of in awe and just kind of sitting back. I'm in Canada, so I just live in Zoom boxes. Essentially, I'm along for the ride with everybody else. We're all watching Connor [Storrie] and Hudson [Williams] and all the fun things they're doing. What was it about Yuna as a character that you related to that made you want this role? When I read the script and came to the last episode, that scene was a large part of why I took it. It's a good representation of other people's experiences, too. It reflects other experiences and also provides a template for parents and their adult children or younger children moving forward. I was hoping it would be something that could help normalize that kind of experience and conversation. This isn't to say the other experiences we've seen played out more in television and film - the more violent, traumatic, grief-stricken experiences - aren't real. Those are very much a part of the LGBTQ+'s community. I don't want to take away from that. But I think it's really nice too to see something joyful and sexy with people riding off into the sunset. I'd love to hear more about that finale scene where Shane and Yuna talk. It was originally written differently, and then Jacob rewrote that. I don't know if you've heard, but on the day, he changed the scene - [not] intention-wise, he just distilled it with less words; the way he felt that Yuna and Shane could handle that moment better. He fine-tuned it, and I think it was brilliant. It was fantastic to begin with, and filming it was as easy as it could be because the structure, the words, the script were so good. It wasn't challenging in terms of trying to get there or make it as good as we possibly could. Hudson was a great scene partner. Something that really stuck with me was Yuna saying she's sorry to Shane and instead of him saying "it's fine," he says he forgives her. That feels like a pretty big distinction and something we don't see often. When you're in the scene doing that, you're not thinking about how gratifying it might be or how the public or the viewers will receive it. So rarely as children and adult children do we get to hear "I'm sorry" from our parents. It was really important for me to be able to play a character who can do that, and be as vulnerable as Yuna can in that moment. Instead of being defensive or angry, she gets right to the point, which is her grief about it. Because underlying all of those things is usually sadness, and I'm so glad she was that person in that moment for her child. Heated Rivalry - (L to R) Christina Chang as Yuna Hollander and Hudson Williams as Sh