EXCLUSIVE: Francesca Reale (Stranger Things, Do Revenge) and Roby Attal(The Haunting of Bly Manor, Sex Lives of College Girls) have joined the cast of Netflix‘s This Summer Will Be Different, a TV adaptation of the Carley Fortune novel of the same name. They join Sophie Nélisse, rounding out the main trio at the center of the story.

From creators and showrunner Dane Clark and Linsey Stewart, This Summer Will Be Different, the series, is a simmering, sun-soaked romance set across multiple summers on Prince Edward Island about Lucy (Nélisse), 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.

Reale will play Bridget, Lucy’s best friend. No official description of the character was released, but in the book, Bridget and Lucy’s love story begins when they work together post-grad and then move in together. It’s Bridget, the ever-organized, tiny but mighty PR coordinator, who first introduces Lucy to Prince Edward Island when they visit one summer. Bridget’s wedding crisis is ultimately what brings Lucy back to PEI against her will because it means she will have to face Felix and the temptation to be with him all over again after a poor track record of previous summers trying to avoid him. But Lucy’s friend needs her. 

Attal will play Felix “Wolf” Clark. In the novel, he’s quite the flirt, and Lucy feels the spark of chemistry with him immediately after they strike up a conversation at the bar where he shucks oysters. Things get complicated, though, when Lucy realizes Felix, nicknamed “Wolf,” is the brother Bridget warned her not to fall in love with.

It is uncertain how closely the TV adaptation will follow the novel, but the book opens on Lucy’s flashback to first meeting Felix, who catches her eye while shucking Malpeque oysters at a restaurant she visits. Bridget was supposed to be with Lucy for this visit to PEI, but the former missed her flight. Therefore, Lucy didn’t make the DNA connection until later. After a one-night stand with Felix, he and Lucy put together that Bridget is both Lucy’s best friend and Felix’s sister. One of Bridget’s three rules for Lucy during her first trip to the island was that she not fall in love with her brother, whose nickname is Wolf.

For Fortune, This Summer Will Be Different became a NY Times bestselling novel after its 2024 release. It has sold more than four million copies and has been translated into thirty languages. Up next for the author is the upcoming second season of the TV adaptation of her debut novel, Every Summer After, Prime Video’s Every Year After. Season 2 will be based on the title’s sequel, One Golden Summer.

This Summer Will Be Different joins Netflix’s growing Canadian slate including North of North, Wayward, Who Killed the Montreal Expos?, BELOW and The Granville Girls.

RELATED: ‘Every Summer After’ Author Carley Fortune Details Involvement In Prime Video Adaptation: From Casting Sue To Future Of Her Literary Barry’s Bay

The series is executive produced by Dane Clark, Linsey Stewart, Fortune, Jennifer Kawaja (Sort Of, Wayward), Elise Cousineau (Cardinal, Small Achievable Goals), and Samantha Levine for Sphere Media.

Reale was most recently seen in Musica, alongside Camila Mendes, as well as Laid starring Stephanie Hsu. Reale is also well known for appearing in the third season of Netflix’s Stranger Things. Reale is repped by Gersh and Atlas Artists.

Attal can most recently be seen in recurring roles in the series Dexter: Original Sin opposite Patrick Gibson and Christian Slater, as well as Mindy Kaling’s Sex Lives of College Girls. Attal is repped by Gersh, 3 Arts, and Collier Talent.

RELATED: ‘Every Year After’ Soundtrack: All The Songs In Prime Video’s Carley Fortune Adaptation

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