The best-selling novel Every Summer After from Toronto writer Carley Fortune has made it to Prime Video as the new eight-part series, Every Year After.
Filmed in Vancouver and Bowen Island, the romantic drama follows Persephone “Percy” Fraser (Sadie Soverall) and Sam Florek (Matt Cornett). Told across a six-year timeline of summers spent together, the story explores their transition from inseparable childhood pals to lovers, and the dark secret that ended it all.
Vancouver-born actor Joseph Chiu, who now calls Toronto home, plays Jordie Sam’s best friend in the much anticipated series.
Postmedia caught up with Chiu and asked him all about the new series.
The full series is available June 10 on Prime Video.
Q: Have you read the original book?
A: Yes, I read the book on the flight while preparing for the role. Carley Fortune also signed it for me when she came to visit the set!
Q: Why do you think the book was such a huge bestseller?
A: I think people connect really deeply to stories about timing, memory, and the versions of ourselves tied to certain places or relationships. Every Summer After captures that feeling of looking back on a specific summer or person and realizing it shaped you permanently. I think there’s also something very hopeful about the story. It asks the question: What if all those years of yearning, regret, and missed timing were actually leading somewhere meaningful?
Q: Tell us a bit about Jordie. What kind of guy is he?
A: Jordie’s somebody who tries hard to keep things light and casual, even when he’s feeling things very deeply underneath. He was this hometown basketball prodigy whose life trajectory changed after an injury, and now he’s back in Barry’s Bay running his family’s motel business while trying to figure out what adulthood looks like when it doesn’t fully match the version you imagined for yourself.
I love that he’s not the stereotypical brooding romantic lead. He’s unintentionally funny, surprisingly shy, a terrible liar, loyal to a fault, and honestly a little emotionally chaotic in a way that felt very human to me.
I always imagined him as the type of person who knows every hidden running route in Barry’s Bay, randomly shows up with ice cream when you’re having a bad day, or calls you at 5 a.m. to go on a hike because he’s trying to process something difficult without fully talking about it yet. When it comes to romantic relationships, he’s the avoidant final boss.
Q: Jordie has a basketball story that is similar to your own. Did you bring that story to the producers?
A: Originally, Jordie was written as a hockey player with a serious knee injury, but once Amy Harris, our showrunner, learned I played basketball and had suffered a major pec injury myself when I was younger, parts of that naturally started shaping the character.
There were emotional aspects of Jordie’s story that felt very personal to me. I understood the identity shift that can happen when something you’ve built your life around suddenly changes. You start asking yourself bigger questions about confidence, purpose, and self-worth.
Q: Do the years of being a top-level athlete inform your life as an actor?
A: Absolutely. Sports taught me discipline, consistency, teamwork, and how to perform under pressure. Acting is obviously very different creatively, but there’s still a similar mindset involved — preparation, trust, repetition, staying present in the moment. I’m still very involved with basketball. I captain a rec league team in Toronto called The Callbacks that’s mostly made up of actors, which is either very healthy or very dangerous depending on the week. I’m actually answering these questions right now with my leg elevated after suffering a pretty bad ankle sprain during our final pre-season game, so I may officially have to retire from my rec league basketball career.
Q: When did you decide acting was going to become your focus?
A: I was originally studying Economics and Philosophy at the University of Toronto. Acting honestly entered my life a little accidentally. I switched from Philosophy to Drama in my third year just because I couldn’t stay awake in lectures.
Once I started doing campus theatre and working on student sets, I became obsessed with the process — character work, storytelling, collaboration, all of it. By the end of university, I’d done everything from 12 Angry Men to Grease, Legally Blonde, Spring Awakening, Carrie, Cabaret, and All in the Timing, and I realized acting was the thing that made me feel the most alive.
Q: Do you have a spot like Barry’s Bay in your life?
A: My Barry’s Bay was Stanley Market in Hong Kong Island during my teens.
Q: This is a classic love story, so do you have a favourite TV or movie love story?
A: As Good as It Gets starring Helen Hunt and Jack Nicholson. I think it beautifully captures the idea of unconditional love, but in a very messy and human way. My favourite scene is when Melvin shows up at his therapist’s office and just yells “HELP!” through the door.
Q: What did you do for fun when you were not shooting Every Year After?
A: I had multiple French onion soups at A La Mode. I played lots of pickup basketball at the YMCA and Kitsilano Beach. Aurora (Perrineau) and I went to a Chris Cornell tribute concert. I watched the Jeff Buckley documentary at VIFF. I made Matt (Cornett) try octopus balls. I have a great video clip of Michael (Bradway) swinging at an exploding golf ball. Sadie (Soverall) is really good at headstands in hot yoga. Abbey (Cowen) and I jammed on the guitar.
Q: Do you have some favourite Bowen Island or Vancouver hangouts you like to frequent?
A: There’s a magic/prank shop on Granville Island called Clownin Around that I always visit when I’m in town.
Q: What are you working on these days?
A: I’m working on decorating my apartment. I left my bike out on the balcony during the winter so I need to go fix that. I also have a Blumhouse project coming out later this year that I’m really excited about.
Q: According to your bio, you have lived all around the world. Where is your favourite place to live and why?
A: Wellington, New Zealand. It’s where my grandmother Virginia lived. It’s peaceful in a way that’s hard to describe. I want to live next to a massive tree and get better at surfing.
Looking for more titles to add to your 2026 viewing list? Check out our guide to B.C.-shot movies and shows to watch HERE.
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