How ‘Every Year After’ Turned Chantal From a Background Character Into One of the Show’s Best Surprises

When Prime Video announced it was adapting Carley Fortune’s beloved romance novel ‘Every Summer After’, book fans had very clear expectations about who would be at the center of the story. The drama belongs to Percy and Sam, a pair of childhood friends whose love story unravels across nearly two decades, set against the sun-soaked backdrop of a fictional lakeside town in Canada. That much remains true in the adaptation, now titled ‘Every Year After’ and streaming in full on Prime Video.

What readers of the source material did not necessarily expect was how much the supporting world would expand. The show arrives with a full ensemble of six series leads, each given their own storylines, arcs, and emotional stakes. And of all the characters whose screen presence has grown far beyond what existed on the page, it is Percy’s best friend Chantal who may have earned the most attention.

In the original novel, Chantal is very much an off-page presence. In the book, Chantal is Percy’s best friend in adulthood with a mostly off-page presence, offering support from afar rather than making the trip to Barry’s Bay with Percy. The adaptation makes an immediate and significant change to that dynamic. The show has the high-powered attorney tag along on Percy’s nostalgia-inducing return to Barry’s Bay, bringing a piece of Percy’s Seattle present with her on that journey, which not only gives the heroine extra emotional support but also allows Chantal to have her own storylines, including her growing connection to Jordie.

Playing Chantal is Aurora Perrineau, an actress with a strong television resume that includes ‘Prodigal Son’, ‘Westworld’, and ‘KAOS’. At 31 years old, Perrineau previously starred as Shana Elmsford in ‘Jem and the Holograms’, Riddy in ‘KAOS’, and Dani Powell in ‘Prodigal Son’. Her casting was announced alongside the rest of the series regulars in July 2025, and she responded to the news on social media with a note of clear personal connection to the role.

The choice to expand Chantal was not accidental. Showrunner Amy B. Harris explained to Elle that building out the lives of the book’s side characters was an intentional creative priority, saying she wanted to know who was in the characters’ lives and why, noting that a series needs more than just two people to sustain itself. That philosophy gave Chantal a life entirely her own, separate from simply being Percy’s sounding board.

The version of Chantal viewers meet in ‘Every Year After’ is a no-nonsense lawyer juggling a demanding career, wedding planning, and a complicated relationship with her fiancé Drew. Her Barry’s Bay storyline is filled with attorney quips, expired passport drama, and an incompetent fiancé, all of which color a portrait of a woman whose polished exterior is quietly cracking under pressure.

What gives the arc its genuine emotional weight is her unexpected connection with Jordie, Sam’s laidback best friend who stayed behind to run his family’s motel. After a near-kiss that leaves Chantal shocked and shaken, she develops feelings for Jordie, and by the season finale she has come to appreciate the casual, label-free nature of their budding situationship. The tension between the three characters, including Delilah’s history with Jordie, has already become one of the most discussed elements of the series among viewers.

Showrunner Harris spoke candidly about what drives Chantal as a character and what her arc represents. Writing in Deadline, Harris reflected that Chantal has spent her life doing all the right things to prove she is well-rounded, and that what makes her connection with Jordie so meaningful is his willingness to embrace exactly who she is without asking her to change. It is a more nuanced portrait than the novel ever had space to sketch.

Carley Fortune herself has been vocal about how the expanded ensemble enhances rather than compromises the spirit of her original story. Speaking to Bustle, Fortune said that bringing Chantal to the lake with Percy is a smart and necessary move, explaining that without access to Percy’s inner monologue as a television show provides, Chantal becomes the crucial lens through which viewers understand what Percy is feeling. Fortune also praised the chemistry between Aurora Perrineau and Joseph Chiu as genuinely electric.

Harris confirmed to Deadline that the love triangle between Jordie, Chantal, and Delilah has much more story to explore, calling it one of the strongest reasons to continue the series beyond its first season. With the showrunner reportedly envisioning a five-season run, Chantal’s journey from a minor book character to one of television’s most compelling supporting figures appears to be just getting started.

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