Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah? Tom Everett Scott says he's Team Adam.

For most of his career, Tom Everett Scott has portrayed characters you side with. Then The Summer I Turned Pretty came along.

“I usually do nice guy and fun, funny, goofy dad,” he tells Yahoo Entertainment. “And this was: ‘Oh, this guy’s not likable.’”

The actor, 55, is talking about his scene-stealing role on Prime Video’s young adult series, where he plays Adam Fisher — a character so emotionally reckless, and sometimes just downright cruel, he’s someone you may actually find yourself rooting against.

Adam may not be in every scene, but when he shows up, he leaves damage in his wake. He pits his sons, Conrad and Jeremiah, against each other. He brings champagne from a canceled wedding to a family gathering — before cutting his son off financially. He had an affair while his wife was dying of cancer. In a show full of emotional land mines, Adam might be the biggest one.

Taking on the show’s most hated dad

When the role of Adam Fisher was offered to Scott, from That Thing You Do! and La La Land, he didn’t exactly agonize over it. It came as a straight offer, meaning no audition, and he recognized it for what it was: a rare and meaningful vote of confidence.

“That is always just a feeling of like, ‘Wow, how cool. I made it,’” he says.

Still, it didn’t take long for his wife to flag what he was signing up for.

“She was like, ‘Oh, these books are great,’” Scott recalls, before adding with a laugh, “And then she basically deadpanned, ‘Your character is not a good guy.’”

She wasn’t kidding. In a show already packed with complex family dynamics, Adam somehow manages to stand out as the parent with the worst track record. Not just because he’ll order surf and turf on someone else’s dime, but because he’s the king of passive-aggressive games. Some of his worst decisions aren’t subtle: He had an affair with his secretary, Kayleigh, as his wife, Susannah, was dying of cancer. (“We cannot defend that one,” Scott says. “It’s impossible.”) But as an actor, Scott says the messiness is part of the allure — especially when it’s met with such a strong reaction from the show’s fans.

“There’s a serious obsession,” he says of the TSITP fandom, explaining he had no idea how big it would become when he signed on. “I get it. I have obsessions. This is absolutely on a different level.”

Bonds beyond the screen

Working alongside a cast mostly in their 20s — many of them experiencing this level of fame for the first time — came with its own surprises. Scott expected to feel like “the old guy” in the bunch but was quickly embraced.

“One of the coolest things to come out of this job was these relationships with these people. We really became this family,” he says of his costars. “I know a lot of shows and movies say that, but I’m telling you. We went to the beach. We had poker nights at my house.”

As a Gen X-er on a set full of Gen Z stars, Scott didn’t expect to be folded so naturally into the group. What could have felt like a generational divide quickly turned into genuine friendships built on mutual respect and enjoyment.

“[My costars] Chris [Briney] and Sean [Kaufman] were like, ‘Come play golf with us.’ I was like, ‘Really? You want me to come?’” Scott recalls.

Still, when it comes to the overwhelming online attention this season has received, Scott has stayed above the fray. He’s happy to let the younger cast take the spotlight, telling me more than once, “They’re the coolest kids in the world.”

From their very first table read over Zoom for Season 1, Scott was impressed with them.

“I loved the way they read, the way they handled themselves. It was just really good acting,” he says.

Many of them come from strong creative backgrounds — performing arts schools or lifelong passion for the craft — and he says it shows. When I ask how his young costars are dealing with their newfound fame, he says, “They’re all OK.

“I mean, it’s pretty intense. I didn’t have it like this at all,” he says.

Scott knows what it’s like to be the new face in a breakout hit. Nearly 30 years ago, he starred in That Thing You Do! as earnest drummer Guy Patterson. He was handpicked for the role by Tom Hanks, who wrote, directed and costarred in the film.

“It was surreal,” Scott says. “I wanted to be him. I memorized every move he made.”

Scott credits Hanks as his mentor in Hollywood. “He imparted so much wisdom, invaluable wisdom, that I use to this day,” he says.

Now, Scott is the steady hand on a young set. He’s not giving lectures.

“I have nothing to impart to them other than ‘I know it’s hard.’ I think they all are good and can handle it, but I’m sure it’s a lot,” he says.

Team Conrad or Jeremiah?

There’s no such thing as a neutral party in The Summer I Turned Pretty fandom. Viewers have an opinion about everything, whether it’s arguing about which Fisher brother protagonist Belly should choose, if enough happened in an episode or which character is the real villain of Cousins Beach. The discourse has gotten so intense that Prime Video issued a reminder to keep things civil online.

Even Scott’s own family isn’t immune to the Team Conrad vs. Team Jeremiah debate. The question has even infiltrated dinner conversations at his home — especially with his 25-year-old daughter, a big TSITP fan who visited her dad on set and got to hang out with the cast.

“It was like, game over,” Scott says, laughing. “I don’t think I’ve ever had more credibility in my life.”

As for which Fisher brother she’s rooting for? “She’s Team Conrad,” he says. “I think everybody in my life right now is.”

But Scott isn’t watching the show through the lens of ship wars and Reddit threads. When asked how he’d respond if his own kids pulled the kinds of stunts his onscreen sons do, his reaction is marked by the kind of quiet, clear-eyed logic you’d hope for from a parent like Scott... not Adam Fisher.

I press Scott: Which Fisher boy does he think Belly should end up with?

“I’m not Team Jeremiah or Team Conrad,” he says. “I love them both. I love those guys so much.” Then, he jokes: “I’m Team Adam!”

Everyone on The Summer I Turned Pretty is chasing love or closure — or both. But while Adam Fisher stirs the drama, Scott is the guy keeping it cool and cheering on the kids.