Heated Rivalry star books lead in Netflix's new romance series from Every Year After author

While fans attempt to wait patiently for Heated Rivalry season 2 to begin production and later grace our screens sometime in 2027, we're keeping a close but very excited watch on all the projects the breakout stars of the series have coming down the pipeline. Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie already have plenty of great movies and series in progress, as do the rest of the ensemble.

The Emmy Award-nominated Storrie has been seen in a recurring role in Criminal Minds: Revolution as he's kept busy filming a number of movies since Heated Rivalry dropped, and Canadian Screen Award winner Williams wrapped on Crave and AMC's upcoming thriller Yaga as well as two upcoming movies. But it's Sophie Nélisse's turn to get fans aniticipating her next role.

Sophie Nélisse cast as lead in Netflix's This Summer Will Be Different series

Following the successful release of Prime Video's Every Year After, which is based on author Carley Fortune's novel Every Summer After, Fortune's next series adaptation is quickly coming together. Netflix picked up a 10-episode series adaptation of her novel This Summer Will Be Different, and Canadian Screen Award winner and Yellowjackets favorite Nélisse landed the leading role.

From creators and showrunners Dane Clark and Linsey Stewart, This Summer Will Be Different takes place in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island and will be filmed in the location as well as in Toronto. Nélisse stars as the book's main character Lucy Ashby, who experiences a number of summers vacationing on Prince Edward Island and accidentally falls in love with someone she shouldn't.

Netflix shared the show's official synopsis in its press release:

"This Summer Will Be Different, based on the beloved novel by Carley Fortune, is a simmering, sun-soaked romance set across multiple summers on Prince Edward Island about Lucy, a young woman navigating her '20s and her first real love with her best friend’s brother, the one person she was never supposed to fall for."

According to Deadline, filming for This Summer Will Be Different will take place throughout the rest of the summer. Nélisse is also expected to reprise her role in Heated Rivalry season 2 in what might be an even smaller role than season 1. But the actress will likely juggle the two production schedules, though they luckily both have filming locations partly set in Toronto.

Additional casting announcements haven't been made at the time of Nélisse joining in the leading role, meaning we still have the casting announcements for Felix and Bridget to look forward to. Given that Nélisse is a popular and recognizable star, we could be getting some familiar faces to round out the cast, or Netflix could opt for some fresh faces as recent young adult romances have tended to do.

Most recently, Nélisse starred in Heated Rivalry as Rose Landry, a famous actress and the short-term girlfriend of Williams' hockey star Shane Hollander. For her minor but pivotal role in the globally beloved romance drama, Nélisse won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Drama Program or Series to match her screen partner Hudson Williams' win for Best Leading Performance.

This Summer Will Be Different hasn't received a release window from Netflix just yet, though there's a possibility that we could be binge-watching the series one year from now, sometime in summer 2027. Our prediction would be June at the very earliest, though July and August are the safest and most reasonable bet. Nélisse will next be seen in the fourth and final season of Yellowjackets later this year.

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