Elisha Cuthbert wanted her character's joy to permeate 'Every Year After'

Actress Elisha Cuthbert arrives at the ABC 2011 Winter Press Tour party in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 10, 2011. (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg)

When Elisha Cuthbert signed on to portray single mom Sue Florek in "Every Year After," the highly anticipated TV adaptation of Carley Fortune's debut novel, she had her work cut out for her.

The character is the emotional heart of the show, but her screen time is fleeting: she dies at the beginning of the series and is seen only in flashbacks.

"Even when Sue's not there, she's so present throughout all the show," Cuthbert said on a video call.

"I just wanted her to feel joyful. I wanted people to understand when they watch the show why all these young adults feel so connected to her. And with that, I approached it with as much love and joy as I could and hope that came across."

The series, which streams on Prime Video, follows Sam and Percy (short for Persephone), estranged best friends-turned-lovers who are drawn back together by the death of Sam's beloved mom Sue, who owns the tavern in the cottage town where Percy spends her summers.

Told in two timelines, present and past, it explores the relationship between the pair from the ages of 12 to 18, and their fraught reunion at 28.

As the pair grow up, they lean on Sue — a young mother who they both idolize — for emotional support.

"She's definitely a boy mom," Cuthbert said of Sue. "When Percy comes along, that energy feels different and she sort of gets into this girl side of herself that she's never had to really do before. I love those scenes with Percy and I as at a younger stage in her development."

The Calgary-born actress began her career in Montreal as a teen, co-hosting "Popular Mechanics for Kids," but her mainstream breakout came in 2001 as the daughter of action star Jack Bauer on "24."

She went on to star in the short-lived ABC sitcom "Happy Endings," which has since achieved cult status.

Cuthbert is arguably the biggest name in "Every Year After," which is otherwise populated with up-and-comers: Sadie Soverall as Percy, Matt Cornett as Sam, and Michael Bradway as his older brother Charlie.

The series is based on "Every Summer After," a mega-bestselling romance novel that launched Fortune's career as an author.

It's the latest in a string of TV adaptations of Canadian romance novels that began with "Heated Rivalry," the smash hit based on the book by Halifax author Rachel Reid.

More recently, Prime Video also launched "Off Campus," another hockey romance — this one straight and set at a university — based on a series by Elle Kennedy, who is from Toronto.

Both "Off Campus" and "Every Year After" were already in the works when "Heated Rivalry" debuted on Crave last winter, while Netflix bought the rights to adapt two of Fortune's other books: "This Summer Will be Different" and "Meet Me by the Lake."

Cuthbert said she understands the appeal. She read "Every Summer After" when she was cast in the show, and immediately bought Fortune's other books.

"Two people falling in love is always such a beautiful thing to witness and experience. So that gets you," she said. "And then as it continues, Carley has a way of throwing in these sort of twists and turns that you don't see coming."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2026.

Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press