“24” star Elisha Cuthbert explains why she took years-long break from acting and is returning for “Every Year After”
“24” star Elisha Cuthbert explains why she took years-long break from acting and is returning for “Every Year After”
Shania RussellWed, June 17, 2026 at 9:42 PM UTC
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Elisha Cuthbert on 'Today' on June 17Credit: TODAY with Jenna & Sheinelle/YouTubeKey Points -
Elisha Cuthbert stars in Every Year After, following her years-long break from acting.
Cuthbert, who made her TV debut at 13, recently divulged the reason for her four-year absence.
The '90s star also explained why the YA series marked the perfect role for her return.
After a few years out of the spotlight, Elisha Cuthbert is delving back into Hollywood for the latest sun-soaked YA series, Every Year After.
The actress, 43, plays a significant role in the coming-of-age series, which marks her first major role in four years. Reflecting on her time away, Cuthbert recently provided some insight into her years-long break and opened up about what made Every Year After the right project to return for.
"I realized I worked all four years through our first child," the actress, who shares two kids with her retired NHL player husbandDion Phaneuf,confessed during her Wednesday visit to the Today show. "And it was hard to separate that mom from the working person I was. So, when we had our second [kid], I just felt like I didn't want to waste any second of it and I didn't want to be on set."
Elisha Cuthbert as Sue Florek on 'Every Year After'Credit: Justine Yeung/Prime Video
Cuthbert, who made her TV acting debut at 13 after getting her start as a child model, had been working for a quarter of a century at that point. But the break marked a comforting change of pace.
"I just felt like I needed to be at home with the kids, and I enjoyed every minute," she told hosts Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones. "They're in school now full time. I feel like I have the space and the energy and the heart to kind of leave them and do it."
As for how Every Year After fell into her lap, Cuthbert shared that she hadn't yet read the novels when the project came her way.
"It's crazy because I hadn't read any of Carley [Fortune]'s books and then when I got on the show, obviously had this script but I wanted to read the novel," she shared. "And then I'm like, 'Oh, I'm a superfan now.'"
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Elisha Cuthbert attends the 'Every Year After' premiere June 8 in New YorkCredit: Slaven Vlasic/Getty
Based on Fortune's bestselling 2022 novel, Every Summer After, the new Prime Video series stars Cuthbert as matriarch Sue Florek, whose death brings main character Percy (Sadie Soverall) back to Barry's Bay, the lakeside Canadian town where she spent her teenage summers with Sue's two sons: Charlie (Michael Bradway) and Sam (Matt Cornett), her first love.
"At its core, it's about finding that first love," Cuthbert gushed. "And it's set in this beautiful lakeside town in Canada… It's just the beginnings of this beautiful relationship; they kinda get separated at one point and rekindled and meet each other again 10 years later."
Cuthbert previously spoke to PEOPLE about why the role of Sue felt particularly fitting for her first major role since The Ranch.
"The show is so beautiful, and I get to play a mother, which felt correct on so many levels," she shared. "To come out and be back on a show like this that feels right for me — and Sue is just so joyful and loving and maternal — it all felt really organic and great."
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She added, "It was a nice, smooth transition back to work. It was refreshing."
Watch Cuthbert discuss her acting return above.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
