“My Therapist Was Like, ‘Oh, You Know [Scott Hunter] Is Not You – It Was Just Simmering”: François Arnaud Is Riding the Heatwave

After setting pulses racing as an ice-hockey star in the indomitable Heated Rivalry, the 40-year-old stands on the cusp of becoming one of Hollywood’s most sought-after names. In conversation with new friend and Industry icon Myha’la, he reflects on emerging from the rink.

Every year, by the mandate of fans or fate itself, Hollywood welcomes a new wave of fresh blood. Their mode of arrival ranges – a viral show, hit movie, an especially fortuitous reality television run – as they each claim victory among thousands of hopefuls vying for “One To Watch” status. And so we tune in.

This year, all eyes have been on François Arnaud – as well as his Heated Rivalry co-stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie – who became 2026’s first, and sure-to-be most memorable breakout story, when the sports romance found its way into every algorithmic corner of the internet in midwinter. However, Arnaud is not new in absolute terms. Unless you’re extraordinarily lucky or born into an extraordinary family, it is known to take at least 10 years to become an overnight success. Arnaud has put in that and then some.

The native Québecois attended the prestigious Quebec Conservatory of Music and Dramatic Art in Montreal before his IMDb page began filling up. Then would come roles in appointment-viewing television like The Borgias, Yellowjackets and Schitt’s Creek, and no less than 25 films. However, it would be at age 40 that his portrayal of closeted hockey player Scott Hunter in Heated Rivalry would see Arnaud truly edge towards household-name status. And here we are, finding paparazzi shots of him out to dinner on DeuxMoi. C’est la vie, as they say. 

Myha’la, the now mononymous star of HBO’s Industry, knows this newfound scrutiny better than anyone. The two former theatre kids found kinship side by side as they took on fashion week and industry events this season, as their respective profiles reached lofty new heights. They’re both equally “exhausted” and enthralled by the demands that come alongside leading an adored show. 

But there’s no rest for the wicked. Anyone staving off Heated Rivalry withdrawals needn’t wait until Season 2’s arrival – rumoured to be a full year or so away – to catch another glimpse of Arnaud’s acting chops in action. Fucktoys, the gonzo indie black-comedy from debut director Annapurna Sriram, is currently causing a ruckus on the international festival circuit. Arnaud plays a character simply known as The Mechanic, an identified potential client of part-time sex worker AP (Sriram), trying to scrape together $1,000 to rid herself of a curse diagnosed by a tarot reader. 

It’s a lot to dive into early in the morning, but Arnaud and Myha’la are practised in unsociable hours. With sunrise in LA barely out of their rearview, they unpack career highs, creative fantasies, and the through-lines between Arnaud and his characters. Taxing start time or not, let the record be set – Myha’la is a consummate journalist.

François Arnaud: I must be a masochist for agreeing to do this so early in the morning.

Myha’la: Thank you so much for inviting me to do this. We are relatively new friends, and there’s still so much that I want to learn about you. We haven’t even talked that much about your career. So I’m really excited to ask you about some things.

FA: Likewise. I feel like if you let me, I’d like to return some questions to you as well.

M: Totally. Let’s make it a true and honest convo. So you’re in LA. You just moved into your new place, but you’ve been in LA for some time, right?

FA: I’ve been in LA for some time. Yeah. I have a love-hate relationship with both coasts – LA mostly, but I’m in a really lovey-dovey phase with Los Angeles right now. I’m really happy to be here.

M: Well, let’s just jump straight in because I literally just finished watching Fucktoys. We have to talk about that for many reasons. But first, I want to say to you, you said this is one of your proudest pieces of work. I agree, but also please tell me why.

FA: Well, I think for so many reasons. First of all, for just being a part of it and supporting Annapurna Sriram’s vision and creative energy. I love that this type of film can still be made and exist in the world, and I want to be part of it. And yeah, I think as a movie, it’s deceptively punk and crazy, but I actually think there’s a really important and interesting commentary on life, on America, on the search for oneself.

M: And capitalism. Misogyny. I thought it was really cool. You and I share this truth. We have both smoked a crack pipe on screen. I don’t know how you felt about doing that. Obviously, we’re actors, but I swear to God, they put that crack pipe in my hand, and I felt so uncomfortable. I was like, “I’m doing crack. Why does it feel like I’m really doing crack?” It was a lot for me. That one was tough.

FA: I think the idea was scary to me, but then, as soon as it was in my hand, I was like, “I feel weirdly at home doing this. This is not good.”

M: You were really serving your role. You were like, “I’m in, bitch.”

FA: And also, I love that I met Annapurna. We were doing a short film together seven years ago, and she gave me the script over the three days that we were shooting the film. I read it, and she gave me this handmade papier-mâché lookbook that she had for it. And I was like, “You need to make this. We have to make this, and let me know how I can help.” And I love that Annapurna just saw me as that character too. She saw my potential as an artist. Not that I have that many similarities with the role, but that she saw me as this unhinged wildcard and had put her trust in me to surprise her and myself. This is the kind of work that I want to keep doing. 

M: What she saw was so right. It was the first bit where you reach in, what do you say? You’re like, “I’m cursed by you…You being so beautiful in front of me.” I was like, “This man is eating this up.” I thought you were so convincing as someone who would become unhinged. I’m like, “I’m in with this man a hundred percent.”

FA: Well, there’s something about him being an expert manipulator. But I think a lot of them truly buy their own shtick. He believes it fully. He thinks he’s in love. He’s not seeing the end game like, “Oh, I’m going to turn on this woman and torture her.” And there’s something about that character, which I find beautifully pathetic. I think it says a lot about the fragility of masculinity, too, where it’s like the rapist who can’t get it up.

M: God, how horrible is it that I know exactly who you’re talking about? I know that person’s first, middle, and last name. 

FA: Oh, I’m so sorry. 

M: No, no, it’s okay. I love that one of your proudest moments is exploring the fragility of man. I don’t think it’s examined enough.

FA: Word.

M: Okay. So if we’re going to call that your proudest moment, what’s your second proudest moment? It doesn’t necessarily have to be work.

FA: Oh, that’s interesting. I think I’m a good friend. I think I’ve learned over the years the beauty of showing up. There’s something about curiosity to meet in the middle and show up and take people in for what they are rather than what they can be for you or what you want them to be, and being generous. And I think obviously it’s something that I’m still working on, but yeah, I think I’ve gotten pretty good at it, so I’m pretty proud of that. I feel like that extends to work, too. 

M: That’s amazing, because it really is a practice. I’ve just now come around to giving myself permission to not get it right the first time, which I have had trouble with because I’ve always been like, I need to get it right to have the most integrity in my work and to support the script and the characters the most, I have to get it right. I have to get every moment right. And that sort of defeats all of it. 

FA: That’s what I was going to say. I feel like to come at it with integrity is actually the opposite of that – it is accepting that you may not get it right.

M: I feel like the person who really inspired me to take people at face value, take work at face value, was Ken Leung, who plays Eric on Industry.

FA: He’s so good.

M: So I’m curious, did you work with someone or on something that inspired a change in the way that you view, approach, or engage with work?

FA: Yes. I mean, so many people actually. I’ve met a lot of actors whose performances I admire and respect, and whose process I was sort of disappointed in later on. And that was quite surprising to me. I was like, “Oh, it’s very effective, but it’s very controlled in a way that I’m not interested in. I’d rather surrender control.”

And I think it can be deceptive because I think good actors are not inherently good people necessarily, but I do find that the best people are the best actors. I did a screen test once with Anthony Hopkins, and I didn’t expect him to be such a good listener. He was just so there for me and rooting for me in a way that was just such a blessing, and that allowed me to be the better version of myself. Whereas I’ve worked with actors of that generation who still have a chip on their shoulder. It’s like a pissing contest. I’d rather have a nourishing, fruitful work environment. And that’s the thing about Heated Rivalry, for so long I was enamoured with this idea that art has to be difficult and painful for it to be great. And this show was just made under the most agreeable conditions. It was just such a sweet experience from the get-go, and you realise, “It’s still good.”

M: I agree. A lot of people ask me, “Industry’s so intense, how do you shake that off?” And I’m like, you have no idea the tomfoolery that we are getting up to on that set. We have a good time. Of course, there are some things that are difficult, but I never accepted that work needs suffering because I was like, “I suffer in my own life.” Also, I went to drama school where they were like, “If you don’t suffer, you’re not a great actor.”

FA: Where did you go? 

M: I went to Carnegie Mellon. Did you go to drama school?

FA: Yeah, I went to the National Conservatory in Canada.

M: Well, we have to talk about that. I’m literally writing a show about how fucked up drama school was. Most of my teachers I love, but it’s generally-speaking a heightened version. Did you have that experience?

FA: Yes and no. Some people came out afterwards with bullying allegations about certain teachers. But then at the time, I didn’t really see it because I kind of enjoyed the torturous process of it. Those were the teachers who I responded the most to, who would scream at me after one word if they didn’t believe me. I was like, “Okay, sure. Not good enough.”

M: You’re like, “That’s hot.”

FA: So, how was Carnegie Mellon?

M: Well, let me shout them out. I loved Carnegie Mellon. I loved all my classmates. It was amazing. It was also some of the most difficult times. But I also think that’s such a vulnerable age. People don’t really talk about how tumultuous that age is because you’re really genuinely on your own for the first time, but you’re still a kid. So it’s a huge transition period. You’re doing a bunch of things that you’ve never been able to do because your parents are always around. You’re getting into trouble all the time.

FA: And it’s a really intense social experiment, too. I mean, I don’t know how many students [were in your class], but we were together for hours a week for three years. 

M: Yeah. We all knew what everyone smelled like.

FA: Yeah, unfortunately.

M: Everybody knew everything. It’s a really bizarre, insular thing. And then when you graduated, did you go straight to LA or did you stay around?

FA: Well, I did a bit of theatre for a year or two and then a few movies. And I was really lucky in a way. One of the first films I did went to Cannes and found some success. And so that got me an LA agent, and that’s when I started auditioning there. And I would share my time between LA and Hungary, where I was shooting a TV show called The Borgias. It was mostly English actors, and I feel like it was just such a great fit compared to the kind of young actors that I would meet in LA, for instance. I just felt more of a kinship to these people. That’s why I think we get along, even though you’re not British. You’re an honorary Brit.

M: Honorary.

FA: And Marisa and all the people from your show, I’m like, “Oh yeah, there’s a kinship there.”

M: I think I have a dry-ass sense of humour and I love to roast people, and the English are very good at that. But also, all of them went to drama school, and there’s a serious connective tissue with people who go to drama school and people who do not. Many actors I meet out of LA, they have a different kind of education, but it’s not drama school. And also, they didn’t train for theatre. There’s a different essence in a person who’s like, “I’m trained for theatre. I’ve done theatre. I will do theatre.” So do you think you’ll ever return to the stage?

FA: I would love to. I almost did theatre in New York five years ago, but it was March 2020. And then it was a fucking worldwide pandemic. So I stayed home instead for six months. 

M: Well, New York theatre will be excited to have you whenever you come, whenever and however. I wanted to ask you, because I feel like I’m just now building my relationship with TV versus movie-making. Do you have a preference? 

FA: TV versus film? I mean, film is my first love. And I was a video store clerk. I would bring home three DVDs or VHS, even for older movies, and just watch them all night and then go back to work. And it was always my dream to be in movies. My most effortless way to tell a story for the screen is in movie form. And you get the beginning, the middle, and the end. As a viewer, I like to know what’s on TV. I’ll watch an episode or two of something, and then I’m kind of satisfied. Even if I think it’s good, I’m like, “I don’t know that I have hours to commit to this.”

I remember years ago, I’d watched the pilot of Industry when it came out, and I was like, “Oh, this is good.” And then I forgot about it and never watched it again. I just finished the first season. Well, first of all, you’re so fucking good in it. You really go for it. I actually started the second last night. 

M: I feel like I am a TV girl in the sense that I love to watch TV. I’m always wondering what’s on TV. I love making TV, but I think part of why I love it so much is that I feel like I get to live and grow with a character, with a world and a story. I get to feel like I’m a part of it for a long time. But I’m also the kind of girl who’s like, “I’ll rewatch and relisten to anything for weeks on end or eat the same food.” If I’m like, “Oh, I love this meal,” I’ll eat it for three months. And then I’m over it. Do you know what I mean? But I really love that I get to develop and stay with something and watch it evolve.

FA: But maybe you were also incredibly lucky in finding Industry and a character that you want to grow with for such a long time. I just feel like the way I read TV scripts, I keep it at arm’s length because I know that it’s such a big commitment to embrace and live with that character for so long. Whereas on a movie, I feel like I can stretch my acting muscles a bit more. I’m like, “Oh, I can just go full-throttle for two months and then move on and do something else.”

M: Do you feel like while you’re employed on something, you go home and you still have maybe one foot in that character’s shoe?

FA: In the best way possible. I remember, actually, when I was doing Heated Rivalry last year in Toronto, there was that speech that Scott gives Kip in the kitchen… 

M: I loved every second of it. 

FA: Well, it took a while for us to get to shooting that. And I remember I lived with it for so long. I was so ready to deliver it, and I was talking to my therapist about it. She was like, “Oh, you know that that’s not you.” It was just simmering for a long time that I was so ready to then just let it out. But in a beautiful way that allows me to connect to the parts that I play.

M: That happens to me when they call cut, and they’re like, “Okay, we’re wrapped. Everyone, go home.” And I’m like, “Ooh, wait, can we all turn around? Can I get one more take?” 

FA: You actually ask?

M: No. In the UK, anyway, they do not go overtime, honey. When it’s PM on the dot, everyone drops their cameras, and they fuck off to the pub. 

FA: Kudos. Kudos to the Brits.

M: Seriously. I’ve always been quite good at shaking things off. I don’t know if it’s a coping mechanism, compartmentalising superpower, but I could be screaming, crying, whatever. And they’ll call cut, and I’m like, “Okay, I’m ready for notes.” It’s like a switch has flipped, and I’m really grateful for that. 

FA: I would bring up that book, The Body Keeps the Score, if I hadn’t read it in a million actor interviews. Did you read that? 

M: I never read any book ever. They were like, “Read this.” I was like, “Nope.” I was the baddest kid ever. It was so annoying.

FA: You rely on your instincts.

M: Yeah, but there’s that rigidity. I’ve learned now to let go of some of that and to just absorb. Hold on tightly. Let go lightly.

FA: I love that. 

M: Isn’t that good? Is there a favourite phrase or a technique you took from school, or maybe even from someone you worked with?

FA: It was actually a book that I read. Uta Hagen [textbook Respect for Acting]. I was sort of mad at my drama school, actually, when I read her book. I was like, “How did no one even approach this level of understanding of what acting is?” It was truly a revelation.

M: Ooh, this is a good segue into another thing I’m curious about. We’re doing this piece for Man About Town, and you have certainly been a man about town, or about towns. About state, city, globe. You’ve been trotting around. We’ve connected in Paris. You have been all over the place, and we know that you’ve been working for a long time, but has your frequency of travelling changed or even the way in which you’re travelling? And what does it feel like? Because let me tell you, I’m exhausted.

FA: I’m exhausted. It’s weird. Growing up, I was a teenage backpacker. I went to South America for three months – hitchhiking, the whole thing. I’m a less curious traveller also because I’m less interested in cities now than I used to be, because I feel like all cities sort of become the same now. It’s all the same luxury stores. Also, I find tourists difficult to watch because everyone enters a room in a museum and they’re already filming on their phones for… I don’t know who the fuck they’re going to show this to. They’re looking at the art through their phones and recording it for a video that probably will just remain on the cloud forever unwatched. But then my take on it was to stop looking at the art, look at the people. 

M: When I stopped drinking, I realised that when I went out, once everyone gets drunk, that’s when things start to get fun. But that’s also when the phones go away. They start paying attention to the music. They start paying attention to each other. But I couldn’t engage anymore because I wasn’t drinking. But I feel like we, as a people, and particularly young people, are starved for events and spaces in which we can just be, because everyone’s phones are everywhere. We did an event for Industry, a Boiler Room event, and they were like, “Go behind the DJ. It’s a classic thing.” And I looked out, and every single person was filming, and I felt so uncomfortable. I couldn’t just do whatever. And now I realise nobody wants to just be. Nobody wants to be because they’re so afraid of being captured forever. I feel like phones and being captured forever have taken away our great privilege to be cringe, to explore things, and to express ourselves naturally.

FA: Well, that’s what I love about you and Industry, actually, is that you’re going balls out.

M: I feel like you also go for it. My dear friend, Sarah Pidgeon, who just played [Carolyn Bessette Kennedy] in Love Story, goes balls to the wall all the time. She’s nuts. But I do feel like our world outside of it – phones and whatever – influences performance.

FA: I think to circle back to what you were saying, there’s a conscience that we have where anything is or could be documented at all times. You’re being perceived.

M: Surveilled.

FA: Obviously, I’m sure you’re thrilled with the privilege and opportunity that comes from being somewhat successful, but has that made you more uber-conscious of how you behave?

M: I’ve been super judgmental of people with money, power, and privilege. And now that I find myself in spaces with those people, I’m like, “Oh, I need to put these glasses on my face inside because my makeup’s running down, because I haven’t been in glam for X amount of hours, and people are going to tell me I look like a drug addict.” You know what I mean? I’m constantly thinking about how I’m going to be perceived, because I don’t want someone to misunderstand me.

FA: You don’t wake up every day of your life wanting to be perceived by everyone.

M: Sometimes it’s nice to just let it all hang out sometimes.

FA: To metaphorically manspread.

M: So metaphorically manspread. I’m doing it right there. Do you have any hobbies?

FA: I love to cook. I love to eat everything. There are no limits to anything. But I haven’t cooked a meal in three months. I was living out of my suitcase for so long. I do miss it. One of my hobbies used to be photography – film photography. I used to do that when I was a teenager and develop it myself in the dark room. And I sort of forgot about it. I walked away from it, I think, with the advent of the internet. 

M: Wait, wow. That’s really interesting.

FA: No, but it’s true. And also digital photography, it’s hard to determine the intention behind photography because you can just click a thousand clicks and pick the best one. Whereas film is deliberate. And so I got back into it during the actor’s strike when I lost a big job. You have eight shots in your film. They’re all so precious. That click means something.

M: I also did photography and film photography in high school and was very passionate about it. I would have all my girlfriends come over, and we would make flower crumbs, and I’d shoot them in my backyard. It was very whimsical. And I love taking a picture. I still am pissed every time someone tries to take a picture for me, and I’m like, “I would’ve done so much better.”

FA: I feel like for our next conversation for Man About Town, we should pitch a photo shoot where we take pictures of each other.

M: Oh my God. Is there a “Woman About Town”? Is there an “Odd Couple About Town”? 

FA: Odd Couple About Town! 

M: Best Friends Around Town? Do you have any aspirations about creating your own work? 

FA: Listen, I think I’ve always had the fantasy of directing a film and creating something from start to finish. I think if I were to direct something, I wouldn’t want to be in it. I would want to just work from a different part of my brain. 

M: It’s so hard to do it. I have resources and connections, and there’s so much more possibility. There’s no reason that I can’t make something if I want to make it.

FA: Are you going to make it happen? 

M: I am. I think part of it came out of desperation, and the other part was like, “No, I actually do have stories that I want to see and that I’m interested in telling.”

FA: I want to contribute my angle to a story. I think that’s what acting is. It’s not just enacting someone else’s vision. It’s also like, “This is how I see this.” And I think that’s the best. For me, my favourite directors love to work like that with people. They trust their collaborators. They’re not just giving orders. 

M: I feel like you exude a kind of confidence that I’m always practising. 

FA: Likewise. Your confidence is inspiring. I would say for me, what is proven to be useful is to get out of myself, fight this kind of idea of constantly being perceived, but actually be the one looking. Also I started [this] sitting up, and now I’m literally in bed. That is testament to how good of an interviewer you are. 

M: We’re actually just on FaceTime. We’re just hanging out.

FA: Thank you, Myha’la. You’re a fucking gem. 

M: My pleasure. I’m so happy to be here.

Heated Rivalry is available to watch now on NOW (UK) and MAX (US)