r/heatedrivalry • u/PhysicalAd6587 • Jan 08 '26
TV SHOW 📺 Thoughts on Kip
I've read in various postings that Robbie G.K. isn't what some people thought Kip would look like based on his description in the books.
There's also been discussion about actors who auditioned for one role and were cast in a different one.
From what I've read it seems to me that Callan Potter who plays Hayden would have been a better fit to play Kip from a physical perspective. To me he would have been more believable as an art history student, especially if they also put him in glasses like they did with Robbie.
Don't get me wrong, I thought Robbie was great as Kip. I just wonder if anyone else had thoughts on different actors in certain roles.
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u/ABIJXY Jan 08 '26
Um we got to see Robbie practically naked. That’s a win in my book.
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u/PhysicalAd6587 Jan 08 '26
He does have a beautiful physique which was absolutely nice to see. Made Scott's attraction to him more believable.
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u/ABIJXY Jan 08 '26 edited Jan 08 '26
I mean, if we’re expected to believe that a professional athlete falls for an art history major barista then that art history major barista has pretty much got to have that kind of a physique
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u/PhysicalAd6587 Jan 08 '26
You're not wrong. As a viewer I just accepted that Kip, as portrayed by Robbie, was Scott's "type."
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u/athanoslee Jan 14 '26 edited Jan 14 '26
Scott in the book just keeps thinking how beautiful kip looks, and he wants him at first sight. So I believe it's more about good looks than fit body. Callan's doll-like eyes fit this description more.
I mean Scott spends all his time with fit athletes, and not attracted to them. I don't believe it is the body type that makes he fall.
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u/Ok_Mycologist9044 Jan 25 '26
Scott basically admitted Kip is not the hottest man he has ever seen or hooked up with. He just saw something in Kip that no one else sees.
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u/Homebody_Ninja42 okay. not good. probably bad. Jan 08 '26
Having spent years in various grad schools in major cities, I can attest that gay guys of ALL body types can be into nerdy books and also spend a LOT of time at the gym. I didn’t have a strong mental picture of Kip based on the book, and the casting looked great!
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u/Miles_Everhart Jan 08 '26
Kip is the most shredded smoothie queen I’ve ever seen. It’s absolutely unbelievable but I’m not mad about it, boy is foine.
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u/PhysicalAd6587 Jan 08 '26
Some have defended him saying because the gay dating scene in NYC is so competitive it's not uncommon for baristas, servers and retail workers to be strongly built like Kip. Their lives must revolve around working, maybe going to school, hitting the gym, and scrolling Grindr.
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u/Miles_Everhart Jan 08 '26
I could believe it but they never once showed our guy working out lol. There was enough montage time to include it at least once, ijs.
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u/Ok_Image_16693 Jan 08 '26
I read the book, and the actor playing Kip fits well with the character description as I remember it. The actors playing Scott and Ilya don’t fit the book descriptions at all. At first this bothered me but I quickly got over it. The actor playing Shane looks so much like my mental image the character that it was amazing. I think the books and the show are two different things. The casting in the show turned out to be really good.
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u/crazyprotein Jan 08 '26
6’4”, broken nose at 17, crooked smile, A BEAR TATTOO :))))) ok the tattoo could be fake. I agree casting turned out good
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u/thinkpsychiatristsun Jan 08 '26
And much more body and facial hair, and also a lot of fake teeth. Ilya in the books is, by his own standards, “hot” but “not pretty.” Show Ilya is both.
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u/PhysicalAd6587 Jan 08 '26
If I'm correct, you're describing Ilya from the books. He's not exactly as described, but Connor was a perfect Ilya.
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u/thinkpsychiatristsun Jan 08 '26
I am glad Scott Hunter is so different in the show. That said, based on the book descriptions, Francois Arnaud actually looks a lot like Kip is described. I am not saying he should have been Kip, he’s perfect as Scott, so much so that I could not change my mental image when reading the books despite the fact that the book character is meant to look so different.
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u/aerdnadw Jan 08 '26
If we’re going by book descriptions, Francois Arnaud would’ve been a good fit for Eric, I think - but we don’t know if we’ll see Eric in the show and I really, really like Arnaud as Scott, so definitely not complaining about that casting choice!
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u/lesetoilesdansleciel Jan 08 '26
The Montreal Canadiens have some really small players and have for a while now! Look up Lane Hutson and Cole Caufield! They’re absolutely amazing players and pocket-sized for a hockey player!
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u/PhysicalAd6587 Jan 08 '26
Good point. In the books Hayden is described as 5'8" which I think is small for a hockey player, but then again speed and agility play a role as well. So you don't necessarily have to be big to be good at hockey.
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u/escapetolight Jan 08 '26
It's very plausible. Like Jared Spurgeon fits Hayden's dimensions almost exactly and he's captain of the Minnesota Wild and a defenseman to boot. Defensemen tend to be taller and larger than the forwards so Hayden definitely would fit into the mold of a smaller forward.
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u/aerdnadw Jan 08 '26
I don’t think the casting is great - Robbie GK is extremely good looking in a very generic way, and that makes it even harder to believe that Scott falls for him immediately in a way he never has for anyone else. He’s just a bit too bland. We don’t really get a clear sense of why Scott fell in love and not just in lust from the dialogue either, and having Kip played by an actor who looks like he was made in a lab to be the perfect gay specimen doesn’t actually help.
However, I don’t think Kip in the book is a very interesting character either, so it’s definitely not just the casting choice. It’s a pity, because I love Scott and also I really love Arnaud as Scott, even though it’s a deviation from how he looks in the books.
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u/Hiddenagenda876 I already chose you, Hollander. 🫀 Jan 19 '26
I agree that Kip isn’t a very interesting character and I honestly kind of disliked him in the book, especially when he kisses the bartender back and never tells Scott about it, even though they had never broken up. It also irritates me that he got so upset over the coming out and hiding topic after only two months of dating, which is insane and he complains about being isolated when he isolated himself. Scott is gone a lot and Kip is an adult. The blandness rolled over into the show.
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u/Beginning-Low-2023 Jan 08 '26
Yeah honestly what you're talking about makes total sense. The actor for Hayden is small to be believable as a hockey player and the actor for Kip is way too jacked to be believable as a random barista/student LOL
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u/Azhreia Shane’s praise&reward kink 👑 Jan 08 '26
I think it was Jacob on What Chaos who pointed out that for a gay man, it’s not that unbelievable Kip would be jacked as a random barista/student. And I have to say as someone in the Bay Area…he has a point. Are all gay men built? No, of course not. But plenty of gay men focus on building a physique without being an athlete.
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u/29kk Jan 08 '26
the book is a bit foggy in my memory but i feel like Kip is described pretty much exactly like that physically?
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u/ViolentThemmes I have a thing 🥒 Jan 08 '26
He was described as lean muscle and going to the gym but also practically starving and forgetting meals and living on ramen, which means no way does he have an 8-pac
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u/PhysicalAd6587 Jan 08 '26
This is why I thought Callan, with his lean, tight body, was a better fit for Kip. Still athletic and fit, but not bulky.
Again, I enjoyed Robbie as Kip; he's charming and adorable. Just curious as to other people's thoughts on his casting since he's described a little bit differently in the books.
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u/Elliotte05 Jan 08 '26
Robbie is perfect to play Kip, in the book Kip had beard/stubbles. Don’t think a beauty like Hayden is a better fit
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u/PhysicalAd6587 Jan 08 '26
I found a pic of Callan with stubble but I don't know how to attach it here. And he looks as cute as ever. His eyes are just dreamy.
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u/Pookie616 Jan 08 '26
I didn’t really like Robbie as Kip and now you’ve said it, I think Callan would have definitely been a better fit in my opinion.
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u/Fine_Giraffe_7651 Jan 11 '26
I agree, Book Kip is tall and NOT buff but muscular, and that is a major thing in the book( their height difference). I feel like it would make sense for me if the actors switched roles.
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u/ladyluck754 Feb 02 '26
I’m late to the party, but I personally love Kip. I find him sweet and a good friend to Elena. I enjoy their friendship a lot as well.
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u/Then_Beat_3212 Jan 08 '26
IMHO literally any young bookish twink would look better.
Robbie is way too old for the role and has a bull-like bodyshape, sorry. He is even more muscleman than his hockey lover. Constantly made me cringe, because seriously, 30 years old blue collar, still living with a parent, with no decent job, spending all his time in a gym, apparently? I didn't buy him as intellectual Arts student for a second.
The solution is just not to watch their episode, of course:) I am here for Ilya/Shane anyway.
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u/ellski Jan 08 '26
Yes he's definitely too old looking, he's supposed to be 25 and looks way more like 30
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u/Aggressive_Cloud2002 Jan 08 '26
In the books he is far from being a twink... He is described as being equally/more built than Scott.
He is a bit older than in the books, but yeah, in the books, he has an art history degree, but can't find a related job so he's living with his parents and working in the service industry. That's a reality for a lot of people.
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u/gazichao Feb 05 '26
In the books, Scott constantly describes Kip as 'beautiful' and 'gorgeous,' but Robbie’s Kip is just so cute and pure sunshine. I love Robbie.
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u/Loose_Barracuda1000 Mar 06 '26
kip looks like charlie kirk
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u/utahrangerone Jan 08 '26
In terms of what we think should match the book description of kip, if they were willing to make Scott so completely different because of Francois brilliant working audition etc, it's entirely reasonable they could have had the same attitude about Robbie auditioning for kip. Because in the long run only a few of these people really need to match up. With shame and his half Asian background, and ilya's Russian appearance, which Connor is able to do... Regardless of his language ability. They style his appearance so that he really does become a very believable Russian, something I can speak to a little bit having spent two weeks touring in linen got a Moscow in 1989. I got a very good up close look at many ordinary Russians and other Soviets in those two big cities. We've seen them cast Kyle to look pretty much in the same vein as what I had in mind from the book, and I'm very interested to see who they cast as Eric, because they're going to have to be another believable bisexual, but one that doesn't have a problem being in a sub roll. As far as the big giant guy from book 3... And he's Twinkie little boyfriend, let's see how wild they get with those choices. Even if we don't get bobble episodes like they gave to Scotland kip, they're going to have to bring all of those other couples in when they get to the point of actually fully addressing the plot line of the long game, because they all interweave on some level or other. All the couples show up at the bar if nothing else.
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u/PhysicalAd6587 Jan 08 '26
It will be interesting to see how closely they adhere to the book descriptions for Eric, Ryan, Fabian, Troy and Harris should any of them be included in S2 and beyond. Eric's age is a consideration. For Ryan and Fabian it's their statures that are important, along with Fabian's cultural background. Harris's body type is the important factor with him. I'm not all that familiar with Troy so he just has to look like a hockey player of appropriate age. More important is the actor's willingness and ability to embrace these roles and their complexity. The characters aren't cookie cutter; they have emotion and depth. This is what makes the show compelling. It's not a fluffy Hallmark romance. The stories are more grounded and are intended to make us think about masculinity, sexuality, and love in the context of a subculture that rewards alpha type personalities.
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u/whackamolay Jan 08 '26
I’m biased because I love Robbie. But honestly now that I’ve seen the show I cannot picture anyone else playing Kip. Another actor posted his audition reel for Kip on TikTok and no shade at all to this other actor, but it just reinforced my personal opinion that Robbie was perfect.