Matt Cornett

We hop on a Zoom call, and as I confess that I am jealous of Matt’s sunny LA weather, I point out the grey skies in my own background. He tells me he’s been dying to visit London, as his London-born castmate Sadie Soverall has told him all about it. As we catch up ahead of the show’s release, Matt raves about his relationship with his castmates and admits to feeling equal parts nerves and excitement for how fans will react. The book’s existing fanbase adds another layer of pressure and responsibility, as he says, “So many people have their visions of who Sam and Percy are, so it was important for us to be as true to the books as we possibly could.” He’s all smiles, recollecting the gorgeous scenery of Bowen Island, where they filmed, and sharing his love of golfing on his off days. Borrowing a page from their respective character’s book, Matt and his co-star Sadie bonded over nights of horror movies and pizza, consolidating a friendship that is palpable through the screen.

Playing a character at different ages over the span of thirteen years posed a new challenge for Matt, but it proved to be an opportunity to hone his craft. Matt, who moved to California to act as a teen, has a lengthy career for someone in his late twenties, and he’s excited to continue to dive headfirst into new genres and to bring different stories to life.

Every Year After releases on Amazon Prime Video on June 10, 2026.

Hi Matt, I’m Julia. How are you?
It’s great to meet you. I’m so good. How are you doing?

I’m good! Every Year After is coming out next month. How are you feeling about that?
I am so excited, and I'm so nervous. Anytime I have a project coming out, it's always such a nerve-wracking thing. Before the project comes out, it is your baby, and then when the show releases, it's like having to let them live their life by themselves, and you just have to hope you raised them right. Even the trailer being out is so scary. I really hope [the fans] like what we did, and that it works for the book, and that we captured everything that everyone loves.

I feel like there’s a lot of pressure when you’re doing adaptations, especially when there is such a strong existing fanbase. Were you familiar with Carly [Fortune’s] work beforehand, or was your introduction to her writing?
I was not familiar at all. When I auditioned for the show originally, I didn't even know that it was based on a book; it was under a secret title with secret character names. It was only in the last audition session that I found out it was based on a book. When I booked the show, I immediately drove to the local Barnes & Noble, forty-five minutes away. There was a ‘Summer Reads’ table right when you walk in, and it was all of Carley Fortune’s books. I was like “Oh, this is a big deal.” I picked up the book, read it in a couple of days, and loved it.

Are you generally a big reader?
I like to think I am, but no. [laughs] I probably have ADD; it's so hard for me to sit down and focus on a book. I like to constantly be moving and doing things, so sometimes it's hard for me to sit down and focus. When I started reading Every Summer After, I got myself back into reading a little bit. Now I try to read every night before bed.

What attracted you to the role before you knew what it was? Or what drew you to this character?
When I read the breakdown for the audition, I saw that it was a guy who loves deeply and is a little bit goofy. He is the romantic lead, but he can have funny moments. I was immediately like, “Let me channel my inner Ryan Gosling.” I think he kills every single rom-com he does. So, I was like, this is my moment. This is the first romantic lead guy I've played, so that was fun!

For Sam, how did you understand his motivations and step into his character?
I am playing Sam aged fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, and twenty-eight, so that was a challenge. My process had to change a lot. I don’t like to over-prepare. It’s very easy to do it, and then you’re stuck in a stagnant place during filming. I like to be able to be malleable and manoeuvre through the scene. Typically, I like to know where the character is emotionally, I know my lines, and then I can play within the world. For this role, I would film a scene in the morning where I am sixteen and then twenty-eight in the afternoon. So much has happened for the character emotionally in between that, so I had a binder that included all the episodes with little colour-coordinated sticky notes throughout it with the ages and relationships. It was difficult, and a very new way of navigating scenes, but it was so fun.

In the show, we follow Percy and Sam’s relationship over several years. They’ve been childhood friends, and there’s a lot of history there. You guys have a chemistry that is really palpable on screen. What was it like working with Sadie [Soverall] to play these characters who have known each other for so long? How much time did you guys have to get to know each other before shooting?
Before our chemistry read, they gave us ten minutes to sit and chat. It was over Zoom, and I instantly felt a connection with her. She was so easy to talk to and so fun. The night we got to Vancouver, I texted and said, “Let’s get dinner.” We loved hanging out and getting to know each other.

I mean, you guys are playing life-long best friends…
I wanted to make sure we had good chemistry in real life to translate to the show. [In the books] Percy introduces Sam to horror. They have nights together eating pizza and watching a horror movie. So, Sadie and I were like, “You know what? We're going to eat pizza and watch horror.” She made every scene so easy and so fun, and we were able to be goofy with each other. There was never a moment when it didn’t feel like Sam and Percy.

And were you, like Sam, getting introduced to horror? Or were you already a fan?
It was the opposite, actually! I am such a big horror fan, and I don't think Sadie is, so I was introducing horror to Sadie. I could be wrong; she'll let me know if I'm wrong.

It’s a lot of responsibility introducing people to things you like! What did you lead with?
We started with Evil Dead, because that's the big one that Sam and Percy watch, and then we moved on to the Halloween series. I think we only got a couple of movies into the series, and then we got so busy with filming.

How was your relationship with the rest of the cast? All characters have known each other for a long time. Did you get to spend time together outside of filming? You guys play a very close-knit group, and that really comes across.
The second I met Michael [Bradway], he felt like a brother to me. He’s one of my best friends now. I spent a lot of time golfing with Michael and Joseph Chiu, who plays Jordie. I’m a big golfer, so I took them out to the golf course and got them into the golf world. There were nights when we’d all go to an arcade or get dinner, but it was so difficult because our filming schedules were scattered. It was hard to get everyone together at the same time, and when we could, it was usually in the evenings. Everyone was so lovely, and I had a great relationship with them. My parents joke that I could get along with a brick wall. I had such a great time with everyone; we developed inside jokes, and I could have fun hanging out with all of them individually.

You introduced the boys to golfing and Sadie to horror. Was there anything you took or learned from your castmates?
That’s a great question! Sadie tried to introduce me to Marmite. She would make these Marmite and cheese sandwiches. I tried them, but I wasn’t the biggest fan. Abby [Cowen] and I bonded over our goofiness; we have the same sense of humour, so that was great!

Back to shooting Every Year After; You guys were in the most beautiful scenery. It’s work, but you’re in this fun vacation spot. Did you get to enjoy that at all?
There was a boat with a grill that you could rent and just float through the water and grill food. I was like, “Guys, we have to do this,” but we never did. I’m hoping we’re able to go back for a second season, because if we do, I’m dragging everyone out for that. We never got out on the water. I went golfing a lot with the guys. There were times when a few of us would drive down for a concert, and we went to a football game too.

That sounds like a great time! In the show, Sam and Percy go back to Barry’s Bay every Summer. Did you have anything like that growing up, where you went back to the same place every summer?
I grew up in Arkansas, and I moved to California to start acting when I was thirteen, so now I’ve spent more than half my life in California. When I moved out here, I would try to go back to Arkansas twice a year, once in the summer and then around the holidays, to see my family and friends. I’m still very close with my childhood friends, so I think Arkansas is my version of Barry’s Bay.

What was your favourite part of getting to work on this project?
The beautiful locations. Barry’s Bay was filmed on an island near Vancouver called Bowen Island, which is just stunning. Every time I would pull up to the location, it never ceased to blow my mind.

I got to watch some of the episodes, and one thing that really stuck out to me was the iconic needle drops. People are going to love the soundtrack. If your life were a show or a movie, what artist or artists would be responsible for the soundtrack of your life?
Soundtrack of my life…that’s a hard one.

You can also think of a soundtrack for your time playing Sam.
I love soft, sad boy music. I love Noah Kahan and Joshua Slone. Right now, they are the sole artists I’m listening to. Even if I’m not in a sad mood, I love soft, chill music.

Listening to sad music can be very cathartic. People will be like, “Are you okay? Are you going through something?” And I’ll be like, “This is my favourite playlist!”
Yeah!

Moving beyond the show, you mentioned golfing, but is there anything else you do to switch off from work?
Golf is the big one; it’s like my therapy.

How did you get into it?
I started when I was nine years old. My grandpa got me into golf when I lived in Arkansas; he’s a big golfer. I’ve always been a sports guy. I played football, basketball, and so many different sports growing up. Golf was the one where my grandpa was like, “It’s a great game. There’s so much integrity.”

And you get to drive a cart!
You get to drive a cart! That was a big plus for me when I was fourteen. I’ve been playing for eighteen years now. That’s crazy, I feel so old! So, golf is the big [thing I do in my free time], and I also spend a lot of time with my friends. My social life is so important to me, and my friends mean the world to me.

You’ve been in this industry for a long time. I think a lot of people, myself included, discovered your work through High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, and it was a chance for fans of the original films to revisit the universe and also introduce it to a new audience. High School Musical was a favourite for so many people, and Carley Fortune’s books have a similarly dedicated fanbase. Do you feel an added level of pressure when you’re working on a project that already has so many fans of the source material?
Yeah, for sure. If you have an original IP, there’s no expectation; people are just excited to see this new thing. With a book as big as Carley’s books, and these characters who are loved so deeply, there is a pressure of wanting to encapsulate what Carley created. So many people have their visions of who Sam and Percy are, so it was important for us to be as true to the books as possible. Obviously, there are going to be some things that have to change to expand the world for TV, but we tried to stay pretty true to the books. That was important to all of us. I think I know Sam pretty well now, but there are definitely fans who know him better than me…

I mean, this is a lot of people’s favourite book boyfriend!
Oh yeah!

How did you feel when they announced the cast?
It felt so nice to see that people were excited and happy. Everyone has an idea of what these characters are like in their minds, and Carley does such a great job at describing them in the books. You have a very specific image in mind. Hopefully, I live up to that image. I think the casting is phenomenal; everyone perfectly captures who their character is. It’s obviously nerve-wracking when the casting comes out. You want people to like you and to feel like you’re the right fit. So far, people seem very excited. I’m excited to see the reactions of fans who are new to this series, but also book fans, because we want to get their beloved characters right.

Just you wait, you’re going to be rolling in fan edits, especially when you have a lot of easter eggs and things that are verbatim from the book.
Yeah, with the trailer release, I’ve already seen a lot of edits for the “You came home” moment. I know that’s a big moment in the book. It’s made my heart smile!

What are you most excited for fans of the book to see on screen?
I’m really excited for fans to see the chemistry between Sam and Percy. Maybe this is me tooting my own horn here…

Toot away! You and Sadie did a phenomenal job.
I feel like we both did pretty well, but I also think the way these characters are written is so phenomenal. They are yearning for each other so hard, and there are so many palpable moments in the show when you want to hold your breath.

You’ve mentioned that this is your chance to have your Ryan Gosling moment, but who were your other references and inspirations growing up? Can you remember the moment when you realised you wanted to go into acting?
I tell this story all the time, but it’s just because it’s true. I was obsessed with Hannah Montana, like obsessed…

You and me both!
Of course, how could you not be?! I loved watching Jason Earles, who played Jackson Stewart. He got to be on that show and have so much fun. I was like, “I want to do that, I want to be that.” I’m also a huge fan of the Avatar movie.

James Cameron’s Avatar?
Yes, I’m a huge fan of those movies, and watching Sam Worthington in that movie was such an inspiration for me. I wanted to be like him. There is a hilarious difference between Jason Earles in Hannah Montana and Sam Worthington in Avatar. [laughs] And then of course, Ryan Gosling.

In anything.
Literally in anything, he is so ridiculously good.

What have been your biggest career challenges so far?
The biggest challenge for me is not comparing myself with other people. I think a lot of people struggle with that. For me, it’s about staying true to who you are and being authentically yourself.

What can we expect from you in the future? What would be your dream project?
I’d love to do Sci-fi or Fantasy. Character-wise, I want to do anything that requires a deep dive. I have a movie coming out this year called Bad Counsellors, and I get to be a frat guy who has to go be a camp counsellor at a Christian Camp. He’s like, “I’m not a Christian, I hate kids, why am I here?”

I feel like there’s a through line between running a frat house and running a cabin, though…
That is very true. So I’m really excited for that; it will be coming out later this summer. I’ve gotten to do so many fun things, and I just want to keep expanding that and playing in these different worlds.