Kaden Connors has quickly shown himself as an actor who can slip into all kinds of singular characters, sometimes slippery, sometimes mysterious, always compelling and sexy. When he’s on screen, he can’t be ignored.

In Heated Rivalry, he stole all the scenes he was in as Sasha, Ilya’s childhood friend and ex-lover. In the new Canadian indie film Lunar Sway, which started making the festival circuit this spring, he plays an artist who haunts his ex-boyfriend as he tries to figure out his place in the world. Shot in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, the comedic queer-coming-of-age film provides an astonishing sense of place for a feature debut from director Nick Butler.

Connors is currently finishing up his directorial debut, We the Cathedral, a subversive short film about a gay man experiencing religion for the first time, informed by Connors’ own experiences with the church and including scenes from a nudist colony.

His social media feed is full of Connors, often shirtless, in glamorous locations around the world, particularly on beaches. Wander+Lust tracked him down to find out what excites him about travel.

I just saw you in Lunar Sway, Nick Butler’s black comedy about a young man, Cliff, played by Noah Parker, trying to figure himself out in the desert landscape of British Columbia’s Okanagan region. You played his artist lover, who paints portraits but also has a disorder where he doesn’t recognize faces. It was such a fun, kooky ride. What attracted you to the project?

It’s exactly what you said. It was a kooky ride. From the start, it was just good writing, and that’s always such a joy for an actor, to come on to a project where you’re like, “Oh, these characters are really well thought out and thorough, the storyline is interesting and the writing is good.” I loved the wild west of it, the great outdoors. I always love being in big environments where you feel really small—that fits into Cliff’s loneliness journey. It was the whole package, really, that reeled me in. Also, indie films just have so much heart.

I could have used more of your character, Jovi. What was your take on his facial blindness and the part he played in Cliff’s journey?

That was such an interesting mechanism. I had no idea what face blindness was when I first encountered it, but then I spoke to Nick, our director, and he explained it. Nick is often inspired by real things he encounters as he goes through life. It makes it super heartbreaking and solemn, dealing with the love and yearning between Cliff and Jovi. Jovi doesn’t recognize him, and that’s probably top of the list of the most heartbreaking things: when you love someone and they don’t or can’t recognize you.

What was it like making a film in the B.C. interior?

It was awesome. I shot over three days and had a weekend between, so I was out there for about a week and just had so much fun. I love B.C. I was based in Vancouver for a while, before I moved to Toronto, and I’m a huge outdoors person. It was shot in the Okanagan Valley, which is the only desert in Canada, and it is so stunning. They used a small town called Cache Creek, which basically became Moonrest, the fictional town of the film. Because it wasn’t a very big town, we basically shot everywhere: the inn, off the roads and literally right out in the landscape. I love being on sets where you’re not stuck inside a windowless, closed set. Those can be fun too—green screens or whatever—but when you’re actually out in the world, that’s my favourite thing. Since I was there for the weekend, we all got to bond as artists. Being able to actually be there together in that little town was really cool.

You were part of the biggest TV sensation of the last year, Heated Rivalry. Your character, Sasha, childhood friend and former lover of Ilya (Connor Storrie), stole all the scenes he was in and left us wanting more. The character is not even named in the book, but you made him the perfect troublemaker and counterpoint to the main romance. Do you think you’ll ever put the Russian you learned to use?

It’s so funny, right? I have actually kept it up periodically. Things are quite busy for me right now, but I’ve continued lessons because I developed a curiosity for Slavic languages. It’s funny how this industry works. Because it’s in my demo reel, I’ve immediately had a lot of auditions for Slavic, Russian and Eastern European roles. Not necessarily a Russian film with Russian characters, but rather Slavic characters speaking English with an accent. I’ve always been interested in accents and languages. I want to become fluent in Spanish—that’s a big desire of mine—and French.

Even back in theatre school, if there was a challenge like, “Oh, this character has an accent,” I was there. I’ll put on the accent and just have fun playing with it. I find them really interesting. In a way, accents are like the way we dress ourselves with clothing; it’s a way you dress your language, your speech and your behaviour.

You were on some pretty glamorous sets in Heated Rivalry. I’m guessing your scenes were shot in Toronto?

For Heated Rivalry, we shot entirely in Toronto. The rest is just filmmaking magic.

Might we see Sasha again in Season 2?

It is definitely a possibility. A lot of fans are asking for it, so I’m just letting the fans speak and do the work. It’s very hush-hush right now, as you can imagine, while they’re getting their ducks in a row for Season 2. But the storyline felt incomplete, right? That moment between Sasha and Ilya...

Sasha seems like a character that should always keep coming back, haunting Ilya from the past, creating chaos. I hope it happens. But your career is definitely taking off in all directions. I see on Instagram that you’ve been spending time in Los Angeles. 

I’ve been going to both L.A. and New York, which is definitely career-motivated. It just makes sense. But I’ve really come to enjoy those places because a lot of people in my industry bubble—other actors, creatives and artists—inhabit them. With them being there, it makes sense to visit, and I’ve made friends from my travels in a lot of different places. Don’t get me wrong, I love warm weather, so I feel like there’s something about L.A., California, and the West Coast that I just can’t get away from. But I also really enjoy the culture in New York; it’s just so brilliant.

You have an affinity for beaches, I think.

I have always loved them, ever since I was a kid. I love hot weather, the sun, the tropics and the water. There is something grounding for me about being near water and being able to touch it. I think it’s also the vastness of it. You can just run on a beach, and the ocean goes out forever. I apparently have a thing for wide-open spaces. I love summer. I don’t know if I’m cold-blooded or what, but hot environments are great for me. I struggle in the winter.

When you arrive in a new place, what do you do to get yourself oriented?

I do my research and get a general lay of the land with maps. Then I’ll research the places people like to go—what the tourist zones are versus the areas where the locals hang out, and where the nightlife is good, depending on what the vacation is for, whether it’s a beach trip or a big city. Depending on where it is, I will also look into whether a destination is safe and queer-friendly. That is very important to me, because I want to be supporting places that are supportive of all people, and where I or the people I travel with feel safe. I think that’s super important.

Are there places you just wouldn’t go? Would you go to Russia to practise your Russian?

Yes, but that’s because I also love adventure and risk. It is still an interesting place. I’ve asked people who have been there or studied in Moscow, and it’s intriguing. In the right circumstances, I would check it out. But unfortunately, it’s definitely not a safe place for certain groups of people right now, and Russia isn’t the only one. I probably wouldn’t go alone, that’s for sure.

What are some of your favourite things to do to soak up the local culture when you travel?

I love to go where there are really yummy restaurants. I love eating food, especially when I’m travelling, when I’m in places with different cultures, trying food I can’t necessarily get where I live. I also like to go where there is a lively arts scene. That involves doing research to see where the cool, hip places are. You can really get a sense of a place when it’s full of life and people are bringing different things to it, whether that’s art happening out on the street or something else. I really like being immersed in those kinds of spaces.

You mentioned wanting to learn more Spanish. Is Mexico a place you want to spend more time?

Oh, absolutely. I’ve already spent a lot of time there, and in many different places, too. I love travelling around Mexico. Puerto Vallarta is fun for those party-beach vibes, which is always a good time. On the Caribbean side, it’s just beautiful, beautiful water. Mexico City is incredible—literally, that’s where I’ve had the best food. There’s a restaurant, Expendio de Maíz Sin Nombre (Av. Yucatán 84, Roma Norte. Cuauhtémoc, Ciudad de México), which has limited seating. You come in, sit down and you end up paying for however much you eat. The menu changes every single day. They keep serving these homemade small dishes. You don’t even know what you’re getting until you’re sitting there and the chef comes out to explain it. You eat it, or you can pass on the dish if it isn’t resonating with you. I got to try this one dish where the chef said, “My mom used to make this growing up.” It was a special thing that he shared with us, and it’s a really great memory I have.

You’ve travelled quite a bit, so maybe this is a mean question. But what is your favourite destination ever—or at least at this moment?

Australia. I’ve been twice. I just feel so much like myself when I’m there. I can’t fully explain it, I just feel so alive there. It has a great beach culture, and I’ve made lifelong friends when I’ve visited. It feels like a bit of a treasure because it’s quite far away and less visited than other places. All my friends know this because I talk about it constantly; I say that in another life, I was born in Australia. I did a whole trip along the coast, which changes as you make your way down. Melbourne is really cool if you want art and creatives. But Sydney is the spot if you like the outdoors and that beach lifestyle. There are so many beaches in Sydney, up and down the coast. Coogee was special, and Bondi Beach is a classic. But there is a special little beach called Tamarama Beach that I used to go to a lot. Clovelly is beautiful because it has a flat concrete pad where the water comes into this inlet. Everyone goes to sunbathe, and you can jump in and out of the water without dealing with intense waves because it’s a protected inlet.

The first time I went to Australia, I was doing a road trip with one of my good friends. It was just about the adventure and meeting people along the way. Australians are very friendly people. We had our phones, but we really had to rely on the people we were meeting to get to where we were going. There were all these mini-moments. For example, one night, due to a whole mess of circumstances, we were in this little van doing a trip up the coast, and these random people we met literally told us, “Come stay the night at our place, it’s too late for you guys to be driving.” It was a beautiful example of people sharing out of love. They have no strangers; they had no idea who we were, and it was a really special thing.

Those interactions are what started it all for me. The second time I went there, in 2023, I stayed for a long time, made lifelong friends, and lived a lifestyle that made me feel very happy and in alignment with myself.

What is something essential you always pack when you travel?

I bring cowboy boots almost everywhere. All my friends know I love cowboy culture, but I also just really love cowboy boots. I think they can be both casual and dressy—they’re pretty versatile.

They’re bulky to pack, though.

Sometimes I just wear them on the plane.

I know you have a lot of doors opening for you right now. Anything on the horizon that you can talk about?

I’m currently breaking into the world of filmmaking. I’m just finishing up post-production on my first short film, which is my directorial debut, called We the Cathedral. It’s a beautiful little film that I’m really excited about. We’re going to festivals with it now to find a place for it.

It’s a story about a man who leaves behind the free life he once had. In his attempt to find purpose and identity, he finds God and religion. Then, while out camping, he stumbles upon a nudist colony and is suddenly immersed in a world where his beliefs are challenged, forcing him to face his past. It’s a beautiful, human journey. We filmed that in B.C., too, all outdoors.

Oh, managing naked people on set!

We had an intimacy coordinator on set, which is absolutely key. But with subject matter like that, you just have to communicate the purpose behind it. It’s not just because we’re trying to throw naked people into a story. You’d be surprised at the people getting naked—for art, people really have a capacity for vulnerability.

You’re living in Toronto now. What’s your favourite thing about the city?

Definitely not the traffic. No, I would say my favourite area is around Ossington and Dundas—I love all the quirky little hidden, hole-in-the-wall bars—and Kensington Market. I love all the parks, like Trinity Bellwoods, and basically setting up picnic-style in the summer with friends. Just being outside and experiencing the sense of community—all these different people with different lives hanging out in one space—is so cool.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.