Megan Follows joins Netflix’s This Summer Will Be Different, another P.E.I. story four decades after Anne of Green Gables
Sophie Nélisse, Roby Attal and Francesca Reale star in Netflix’s adaptation of Carley Fortune’s This Summer Will Be Different, which is filming in Prince Edward Island and Toronto.
Photo credit: Amanda Matlovich / Netflix
Four decades after Megan Follows starred as Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables, Netflix has cast her in another screen story tied to Prince Edward Island. This time, the source is a contemporary Canadian bestseller by an author who has said L.M. Montgomery’s novel introduced her to the Island in the first place.
Follows will play Cheryl in Netflix’s 10-episode adaptation of Carley Fortune’s This Summer Will Be Different, joining Sophie Nélisse as Lucy, Roby Attal as Felix and Francesca Reale as Bridget. Netflix announced Follows as part of a new group of cast members on Sept. 14 and pointed directly to the P.E.I. connection, noting her history as Anne in the 1980s television adaptations.
Fortune’s connection to Anne of Green Gables predates her own P.E.I. novel. When production on This Summer Will Be Different was announced this summer, she told Netflix that she first fell in love with Prince Edward Island through Montgomery’s book, then travelled there with her best friend in her early 20s. Fortune said that vacation, the Island and the friendship behind it became the foundation for the novel.
The connection became even more specific after Follows joined the cast. In a Sept. 16 Instagram post quoted by People, Fortune identified Cheryl Ashby as Lucy’s mother and described casting Follows as a “BIG dream.” Fortune wrote that she grew up watching Follows as Anne and said the 1980s adaptation had a “more profound impact on my writing than any other piece of culture.”
Follows was 16 when she was chosen to play Anne Shirley in Sullivan Entertainment’s 1985 adaptation of Montgomery’s novel. She returned for the 1987 sequel and received Gemini Awards for both performances. Although the story placed Follows firmly within the screen version of P.E.I., Sullivan Entertainment’s production history notes that Ontario locations were used extensively to recreate the Island.
Fortune brought P.E.I. into her own contemporary romance with This Summer Will Be Different, published by Berkley on May 7, 2024. The novel follows Lucy, who travels to the Island and becomes involved with local Felix before discovering he is the younger brother of her best friend, Bridget. Lucy continues returning to P.E.I. over the following years, while Toronto also figures in the story. Penguin Random House lists the book as a No. 1 New York Times bestseller, and Fortune’s own site also identifies it as a No. 1 Globe and Mail bestseller.
Canadian actor Sophie Nélisse will play Lucy. Nélisse first gained international attention in Philippe Falardeau’s Monsieur Lazhar, earning Jutra and Genie awards for her performance before moving into projects including The Book Thief and Yellowjackets. The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television named her a 2026 Radius Award recipient.
The adaptation is filming in both Prince Edward Island and Toronto. In June, the P.E.I. government announced a $5-million investment through the P.E.I. Film Production Fund, describing it as the province’s largest investment to date in the local film industry.
Netflix Canada production-management director Robin Neinstein said the company knew the series had to film on P.E.I. and that there was “simply no substitute” for the Island. Sphere Media executive producer Elise Cousineau said the production would work with Island creative talent, businesses and institutions while filming Fortune’s story in the places that inspired it.
Toronto is also part of the production. The City of Toronto currently lists This Summer Will Be Different under Sphere Summer Productions Inc., with a camera period running from July 24 to Oct. 16.
Canadian filmmakers Dane Clark and Linsey Stewart created the series and serve as executive producers. The pair met through the Canadian Film Centre and later wrote and directed Suze, which filmed in Hamilton. Between them, their television credits include Workin’ Moms, Run the Burbs and North of North.
Netflix also lists Fortune, Karen Maine, Jennifer Kawaja and Elise Cousineau as executive producers. Kawaja and Cousineau work in the English scripted division of Sphere Media, a Canadian production company with operations in Toronto and Montreal. Karen Maine, Jasmin Mozaffari and Fab Filippo are directing the series.
Netflix Canada content directors Danielle Woodrow and Tara Woodbury have described This Summer Will Be Different as a “love letter to both Toronto and Prince Edward Island,” and Netflix includes the series among its growing slate of Canadian originals.
For Fortune, Follows’s casting connects the adaptation directly to one of the works she has credited with bringing P.E.I. into her imagination. The actor she watched as Anne Shirley growing up is now playing Lucy’s mother in Fortune’s own P.E.I.-set story.
Netflix has not announced a release date.
