Ice, Ice, Baby: Johnny Orlando Glides Back Onto Our Screens in Finding Her Edge Season Two
Darlings, gather round, because the ice is about to get decidedly hotter. Johnny Orlando — the Canadian crooner who soundtracked a fair few of your teenage bedroom dance breaks — is officially returning to acting, and not in some half-hearted cameo, either. The twenty-three-year-old has been snapped up as a series regular for season two of Netflix’s frosty, fabulously soapy figure-skating drama, Finding Her Edge. Yes, you read that correctly: the boy with the golden vocals is lacing up for the big leagues.
According to Teen Vogue, Orlando will play Jesse, described — tantalisingly — as a “charismatic local”. Now, we don’t know about you, but “charismatic local” is precisely the sort of vague, delicious descriptor that sets our speculative little hearts racing. Is he a love interest? A rival? The boy-next-door who threatens to unsettle the entire Russo sisters’ careful choreography of feelings? Netflix is keeping schtum, and frankly, we wouldn’t have it any other way. Anticipation is half the pleasure, after all.
A Quick Refresher, For Those At The Back
If season one of Finding Her Edge somehow passed you by — perhaps you were buried under revision, or simply living under a rock in a stylish way — allow us to bring you up to speed. The series charts the fortunes of the three Russo sisters, heirs to a figure-skating dynasty that is, to put it delicately, running on fumes. The rink is struggling, the family name carries weight but dwindling funds, and the pressure to perform has never been more acute.
At the heart of it all sits middle sister Adriana, seventeen and ferociously talented, training for the World Championships with a new partner, Brayden. The complication — because there is always a complication, and thank goodness for that — is that Adriana’s heart still belongs to her first love and former skating partner, Freddie. To make matters suitably tangled, she and Brayden agree to pretend to be a couple off the ice, all in the name of landing a sponsorship that might just keep the family’s beloved Russo Rink afloat. Fake dating, real feelings, figure skating: it is, quite honestly, the trifecta we didn’t know we needed.
Orlando joins the previously announced returning cast — Madelyn Keys, Olly Atkins and Cale Ambrozic — in the adaptation of Jennifer Iacopelli’s novel of the same name, so the source material’s devoted readership will already have opinions about where young Jesse might fit into the narrative. We suspect the comment sections are already alight.
So, Where Has Johnny Been?
An excellent question, and one we’re pleased to answer. Acting devotees may recall that Orlando was last seen on our screens in Brat TV’s digital series Total Eclipse, which ran from 2018 to 2020 — an era that feels simultaneously like yesterday and a lifetime ago. Since then, he’s largely been focused on the music, building a devoted following and maturing from teen heartthrob into a proper artist in his own right.
Here’s the twist that makes this casting all the more intriguing: despite his earlier small-screen stint, Finding Her Edge will technically mark Orlando’s television acting debut. There is something rather poetic about that, isn’t there? A fresh chapter on a global platform, in a series tailor-made for the very audience who grew up watching him sing.
Meanwhile, In Southern Ontario…
Cameras are officially rolling. Production on season two is currently underway in Southern Ontario — fitting, really, given Canada’s native affinity for all things ice-based — though a release date remains firmly under wraps. Netflix, ever the tease.
Showrunner and executive producer Jeff Norton offered a tantalising glimpse of what’s to come, telling Tudum: “The world fell in love with our figure skaters in Season 1, and it’s a privilege to be able to continue their character arcs as they swap Russo Rink for Voltage Skating Academy with new loves, new rivalries, and new competitions.” He added, in a sentence we’ve read approximately eleven times and plan to read eleven more: “Get ready for a seriously swoonworthy, soapy romantic rollercoaster as Adriano Russo (Keys) navigates life after winning Worlds.”
New academy. New loves. New rivalries. A reigning champion learning to exist in the aftermath of triumph — which, as any sports fan or romantically inclined person will tell you, is often harder than the climb itself. If that doesn’t scream appointment viewing, we simply don’t know what does.
Why This Casting Just Works
Strip away the gloss, and there’s a shrewd bit of programme-making happening here. Finding Her Edge occupies that sweet spot between prestige sports drama and unapologetic teen romance — the sort of show that understands a triple axel and a stolen glance can carry equal dramatic weight. Adding a musician-turned-actor with an existing, devoted fanbase is the kind of move that expands a show’s reach without diluting its DNA, provided the lad can act, of course. All indications suggest he can, and we’ll be watching with a critical eye and a warm heart.
And there’s something quietly triumphant about the whole affair: a Canadian performer joining a Canadian-set, ice-centric production filmed in Canada. The circle is pleasingly complete.
The Verdict
Mark our words: when season two lands, the discourse will be inescapable. Group chats will erupt, fancams will flourish, and someone, somewhere, will inevitably ice-skate in their kitchen in tribute. Until Netflix deigns to grace us with a release date, we shall be over here, dramatising every scrap of news, pondering the mystery of Jesse the charismatic local, and perfecting our triple salchow (in spirit; our kitchen floor is laminate).
Bring on the swoon. Bring on the soap. Bring on Johnny Orlando, gliding into our lives once more.
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