‘April X’ Director Michel K. Parandi Says Casting Connor Storrie Before ‘Heated Rivalry’ Felt Like Casting Harrison Ford in ‘Blade Runner’: I Was ‘Telling Everybody He’s Going to Be a Movie Star’

Jun 17, 2026 4:00am PT ‘April X’ Director Michel K. Parandi Says Casting Connor Storrie Before ‘Heated Rivalry’ Felt Like Casting Harrison Ford in ‘Blade Runner’: I Was ‘Telling Everybody He’s Going to Be a Movie Star’

Parandi's gritty sci-fi "April X," shot before Storrie blew up worldwide in Jacob Tierney's series, opens this year's Raindance Film Festival

By Rafa Sales Ross

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Rafa Sales Ross

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Raindance Film Festival

Producers urged Michel K. Parandi to take his time and audition as many actors as possible for the main role of Baxter in his long-gestating sci-fi “April X,” but the French-American director knew early on who his man was: Connor Storrie. What he did not know is that, a few months after wrapping production, Storrie would become one of the world’s hottest stars almost overnight following a worldwide furore over his role in Jacob Tierney’s “Heated Rivalry.” 

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