Stephen Amell and Alexander Ludwig are gearing up for the second season premiere of their wrestling series Heels on Starz. In the show, the two play rivaling brothers Jack and Ace Spade, respectively, who fight over their late father’s legacy, and they get into it quite a lot on the series. However, while they play aggro wrestlers on TV, they actually sound like total sweethearts IRL.
The duo talked with Entertainment Tonight ahead of the Heels season premiere to preview what to expect from the new season, but they also got to talking about what the show is like behind-the-scenes. Alexander Ludwig admitted that even though they don’t seem close on screen, they are close off-screen, and Amell has been teaching him quite a lot. That’s also not the only thing that they do off-screen, as Ludwig shared:
I do lean on Stephen a lot. This person, especially with wrestling, he really understands a lot. I've been fortunate enough to work with a lot of Hall of Fame wrestlers throughout my career that I can lean on, but Stephen is the one who is there. He comes to me all the time. Like, we have cuddle sessions, and we'll just talk about how we're doing in life, and I'm kind of his therapist.
I would love nothing more than to have photo proof of Amell and Ludwig’s cuddle sessions on set because it sounds both sweet and like a dream. They may look all big and tough with incredible pants, but they're apparently two softies, and knowing how close they are in real life makes it better to watch the show since they don’t actually hate each other. Now, all we need is for Jack and Ace to act that way. Even if the brothers' relationship may never come to that, at least Amell and Ludwig’s is clearly the opposite.
Heels premiered on Starz in August 2021, with the network renewing the wrestling series for a second season that November. Filming for Season 2 of Heels began in March 2022, so it has been quite a long time coming for these episodes to finally come out, and nearly two years after the series premiered.
Amell has been keeping fans occupied with posts on social media during filming of the Starz series, not to mention his return as Oliver Queen on The Flash’s final season. Alexander Ludwig, meanwhile, starred in The Covenant, which came out earlier this year. Even though the wait for Heels Season 2 has been long, at least the Spade brothers have been able to keep fans busy.
With Heels returning on July 28, fans will be able to finally reunite with the Spade brothers and Co. after all this time. Their relationship may not be sweet like Alexander Ludwig and Stephen Amell’s, but it should be as engaging as ever as long as the show didn't lose its touch over hiatus. It should be interesting to see how the second season picks up, especially after Ace left Jack for bigger and better opportunities.
The Season 2 premiere of Heels is officially streaming on the Starz app and will air on STARZ on July 28 at 10 p.m. ET. Be sure to check out the 2023 TV schedule to see what other premieres will be coming later this year to a TV near you.
