“Every Year After”'s Joseph Chiu 'Bombed' His Audition for a 'Smaller' Part, Then Was Cast as Jordie within 48 Hours (Exclusive)
“Every Year After”'s Joseph Chiu 'Bombed' His Audition for a 'Smaller' Part, Then Was Cast as Jordie within 48 Hours (Exclusive)
Julia MooreSat, June 13, 2026 at 10:30 AM UTC
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Joseph Chiu as Jordie, Matt Cornett as Sam Florek in 'Every Year After'Credit: Cate Cameron/Prime
Warning: this post contains spoilers for Every Year After (now streaming on Prime Video).
Every Year After star Joseph Chiu tells PEOPLE about his initial audition for a smaller role in the Prime Video series and the surprising way he ended up landing a major role instead
Chiu plays Jordie, the longtime best friend of Sam (Matt Cornett), in the new adaptation of Carley Fortune's debut novel, Every Summer After
He also reveals how costar Aurora Perrineau helped him tap into Jordie and breaks down that major cliffhanger
Joseph Chiu wasn't all that confident in his chances of being cast in Every Year After.
Chiu, 23, plays Jordie, the longtime best friend of Sam (Matt Cornett), who runs the motel in Barry's Bay after his NBA dreams came crashing down, in the new Prime Video series, an adaptation of Carley Fortune's debut novel, Every Summer After.
Jordie wasn't initially on Chiu's radar, though. "I originally read for a smaller character," he tells PEOPLE ahead of the show's premiere. "I was the only one called back, and I laughed during the callback, which is something that's never happened before. I broke."
"I thought I bombed it," Chiu admits. "I definitely spiraled about it afterwards."
The casting team had a very unexpected response. "The next day, I received the sides for Jordie — and I had to audition that night for Jordie," he reveals.
Joseph Chiu as Jordie in 'Every Year After'Credit: Cate Cameron/Prime
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The audition came during a busy time for Chiu. The day after filming a tape for Jordie, "I graduated [from] the University of Toronto and found out I got the role," he says. "The next day, I flew out."
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Within two days of the casting announcement last July, he and Cornett, 27, were "recognized on the street" by excited fans. "They were super excited. They had just graduated college, as well, and they were just raving about how [Every Summer After] has been the book of the summer," he shares.
Chiu would be remiss to talk about playing Jordie without giving credit to Aurora Perrineau, who plays Chantal, the strong-willed best friend of Percy (Sadie Soverall), who accompanies her when she returns to Barry's Bay for the first time in a decade and has to face her first love, Sam, and his brother Charlie (Michael Bradway).
In a joint interview with Perrineau, Chiu says, "Once I met you, and then we did our first table read — once I saw how you're playing Chantal, it unlocked Jordie within me."
"I knew we had to be somewhat opposite, and it just made my job so much easier," he says.
Joseph Chiu as Jordie and Aurora Perrineau as Chantal in 'Every Year After'Credit: Apple TV
As for what he makes of that cliffhanger ending — Chantal and Jordie have made things official, but Delilah (Abigail Cowen) seems to have some unresolved feelings for her longtime friend — Chiu says, "I think he is so into Chantal in the present moment, that he's not really thinking about Delilah."
"I think it ended on a very good note. There's obviously the close-up on Delilah, and how she's reacting," he says. "But [from] Jordie's side, Jordie is quite happy meeting Chantal, and it's taken him a lot to actually ask her to be his girlfriend, because she's not somebody that expresses what she wants openly."
Every Year After is now streaming on Prime Video.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
