While Heated Rivalry has evolved into a global television sensation, star Connor Storrie (Joker: Folie a Deux, Riley) was initially wary of how fans of the source material would judge his performance. Speaking on the Shut Up Evan podcast, he revealed his nerves stemmed from seeing how harshly the internet can treat book-to-screen adaptations, according to Variety.

“I’m very optimistic, but I’m also a firm believer in optimistic nihilism: accept the worst, but expect the best,” Storrie continued, via Variety. “I went through this entire process, even if it sounds pessimistic, accepting the worst case, which is that they’re going to hate my performance, I’m so wrong for the part [and] it’s going to be torn apart by people who love the book, and be like, well, if that were the case, all I can do is really try to give an honest performance and trust that Jacob [Tierney] knows the story well enough to to bring the right moments to it.”

Created by Jacob Tierney (Letterkenny, The Trotsky), the series brings Rachel Reid’s (The Long Game, Tough Guy) beloved Game Changers novels to life, chronicling the secret, ten-year romance between hockey rivals Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams, known for Tracker, Allegiance). Variety says that since its November premiere, the show has shattered records, becoming the most-watched original series in Crave’s history and the highest-rated non-animated acquisition on HBO Max.

“For moments like that,” Storrie explained, according to Variety, referring to his now-viral “I’m coming to the cottage” moment at the end of the fifth episode, “I had some ideas about trying to really play to the book. But Jacob just knows that book. He knows that story like the back of his hand. I read the book twice, read all the scripts a million times.”

Storrie also said he didn’t want to get too wrapped up in “trying to please the fans,” via Variety. “Honestly, I think with acting or art in general, trying to feed too much into what you think other people want is kind of the death of anything that’s actually humane and inspiring.”