Every Year After: Matt Cornett and Sadie Soverall on the art of longing

When a best-friend romance spans years, it asks viewers to hold breaths, rewind memories, and feel the ache of what might have been. Prime Video’s adaptation of Carley Fortune’s hit novel, Every Year After, leans into that slow, simmering longing with a focus on two characters whose lives keep colliding across time and circumstance.

At the center are Sam and Percy, portrayed by Matt Cornett and Sadie Soverall, whose chemistry anchors a story about mistakes, growth, and the persistent tug of first love. Whether you’re coming from BookTok, the novel, or a casual scroll through streaming recommendations, the show invites you into a nostalgic, complicated second-chance romance that’s designed to linger.

Why Every Year After Feels Like Summer TV Gold

The series arrives amid a flood of young-adult romance on streaming platforms, yet it carves out its own lane by stretching the timeline. Instead of a single summer or semester, this adaptation tracks characters from early teens into their mid-20s. That scope allows the show to dramatize how people change — and how some feelings don’t.

• Long-form character growth: Audiences watch Sam and Percy evolve across distinct life stages rather than in one compact arc.
• Emotional textures: The series favors yearning and quiet tension over high-concept spectacle, which will appeal to viewers who crave intimacy in romance stories.
• Relatable imperfection: Characters make messy choices; the drama comes less from moralizing and more from living with consequences.

Performances That Give the Story Its Heart

Cornett and Soverall carry the show with a blend of restraint and emotional reach. Cornett — known for work on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series — moves into more mature territory here, portraying a character who is earnest and often searching. Soverall brings a layered vulnerability to Percy, making her mistakes feel human rather than villainous.

What they bring to Sam and Percy

• Natural chemistry that sells both friendship and attraction.
• Consistency across flashbacks and present-day scenes, which keeps the emotional logic intact.
• Subtle choices that let the audience project their own nostalgia onto the characters.

The result is a slow-burn romance that’s easy to sink into — part coming-of-age, part heartbreak, and part reunion fantasy.

Adapting a Fan-Favorite: Balancing Fidelity and Freshness

Translating a beloved book to the screen always carries expectations. Fans of the novel had specific images, voices, and beats in mind, and the creative team had to honor those attachments while shaping a show that stands on its own.

According to the actors, the script provided a strong blueprint rooted in Fortune’s writing, which made it easier to reproduce the novel’s emotional tone. At the same time, Cornett and Soverall were given room to inhabit the roles and make choices that felt truthful for performance, not just faithful to text.

Challenges of adaptation

• Meeting fan expectations without becoming a scene-by-scene recreation.
• Keeping emotional through-lines coherent when jumping between timelines.
• Rendering internal longing visually and aurally for an audience that may expect more explicit plot beats.

The Cultural Moment: Why Yearning Is Back in Style

There’s been a noticeable appetite for stories that prioritize anticipation and unresolved emotions. From social media book communities to streaming hits, audiences are leaning into narratives that allow for projection, regret, and wishful thinking.

Every Year After taps that cultural pulse by framing a romance around missed chances and sustained desire — a formula that fuels conversation and debate, especially online, where viewers parse character choices and moral gray areas.

On-Screen Choices and Off-Screen Conversations: Percy’s Controversial Moment

One of the series’ most talked-about plot points is Percy’s decision that tests the boundaries of loyalty and love. Rather than positioning her as a simple antagonist, the show explores context: age, emotional immaturity, and the search for validation.

• The production treats mistakes as part of character development rather than irreversible moral failures.
• Viewers are encouraged to discuss motives and consequences, which fuels the kind of debate that BookTok thrives on.
• Actors emphasize empathy for flawed choices, arguing that people can be both good and fallible.

This approach invites audiences to examine why a character acted a certain way instead of immediately assigning blame.

Accent Work and Cultural Details: Getting Canada and America Right

The book is set in Canada, and the production kept that setting intact. That introduced an interesting wrinkle: Matt Cornett, an American actor, plays a Canadian character, while Sadie Soverall, who is British, adopts an American accent for Percy. Both actors describe a mix of technical preparation and organic assimilation, influenced by the cast and crew.

Cornett says the creative choice favored subtlety over caricature: a few Canadian idioms might sneak in, but the emphasis was on authenticity rather than an exaggerated accent. Soverall found that her familiarity with American media made the transition feel natural, aided by consistent voice work on set.

Production choices that shaped the world

• Keeping the Canadian setting as a visual and cultural backdrop.
• Using a multicultural cast and crew to shape natural-sounding speech patterns.
• Prioritizing character truth over accent perfection when it served emotional clarity.

Behind the Scenes: What the Actors Say About the Process

Both leads describe a collaborative set where dialogue, direction, and rehearsal helped sustain the show’s tonal consistency. They credit the writing for scaffolding the yearning moments and allowing them to layer in subtle looks and gestures that deepen the romantic tension.

Actors also noted the daily rituals — like vocal warm-ups for accents — that kept performances grounded and consistent across years of storytelling.

Who This Series Will Appeal To and Viewing Notes

If you enjoyed the novel or are already drawn to character-driven romances, this adaptation offers the combination of nostalgia and emotional specificity that fans often look for. The show emphasizes internal conflict, slow-building intimacy, and the real-world messiness of growing up with someone you love.

• Expect a focus on character dynamics more than on plot spectacle.
• Prepare for morally complex decisions that invite discussion rather than tidy answers.
• Look for layered performances from the two leads who carry the emotional center.

Every Year After streams on Prime Video, and conversations about the show have already started gathering momentum online, especially among readers and fans who bring strong opinions about Sam and Percy to the debate.

Editorial Notes and Viewer Engagement

The interview material with Cornett and Soverall was edited for clarity, and both actors encourage viewers to watch with an open mind. They’ve spoken publicly about the joys and pressures of adapting well-loved characters, and about hoping audiences connect with the messy, human choices at the show’s core.

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• Bridgerton gender swap: Masali Baduza and Hannah Dodd respond

David Miller

David Miller is an entertainment expert with a passion for film, music, and series. With eight years in cultural criticism, he takes you behind the scenes of productions and studios. His energetic style guides you to the next big releases and trending sensations.