'The Summer I Turned Pretty' cast Lola Tung, Sean Kaufman, Rain Spencer tease Season 3 relationships
While it may be obvious that the series will end just like the book, which we won't spoil here for those trying to avoid the potential finale moment, the hit show has been known to throw in some surprises. It's a testament to how the series works to service original fans of the story and newcomers alike.
"I think of the work that we did this season, I think it really comes together beautifully," Han told Yahoo Canada. "I think the intention is always to honour the original fans of the story and also bring some new things to the table as well, just to keep things exciting."
"For me, I always have to be excited about whatever I'm doing, and feel energized ... to tell the story and play in the world."
When asked what Taylor Swift song Han and Tung would say best represents Belly in Season 3, they agree on "Bejeweled" from the Midnights album.
A significant element of The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 is that we're starting four years after the end of Season 2. Belly is in her junior year of college and as we see in the trailer for the season, Belly and Jeremiah make plans to get married. But things seem to get complicated when Belly reconnects with Conrad, who moved to California where he's continuing his journey to become a doctor.
"We had a year off because of the strike, so I kind of got two years off between filming Season 2 and Season 3. ... I ended up playing my own age, which was kind of cool. I feel like that doesn't happen that often," Tung said. "And I felt like over those two years I had grown so much, and I know that Belly had also grown so much over the four years that we didn't see her."
"So it was cool going into Season 3 with a sort of new perspective, and all the lessons that I'd learned in my life, and all the lessons that I knew Belly had learned and was going to learn this season."
"That's the coolest part about it, is that you get to bring all that into the character," Han added. "And I think it just really deepens and enriches the story when you can bring your own lived experience to it."
Watch — 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' Season 3 cast tease show's finale: 'It feels so bittersweet'
'She is stubborn and she definitely gets that from Laurel'
With the jump in the timeline comes a new exploration of the mother-daughter relationship between Belly and Laurel (Jackie Chung). Many will recognize that the bond between a teenage daughter and her mother is quite different once that daughter is in her 20s, and we've already been teased that Laurel isn't particularly supportive when Belly and Jeremiah tell her they're going to get married.
"When I think back to being in high school, ... I feel like I was always just so impatient with my mom and so mean, ... where you're often locked in battle a lot with your mom," Han said. "I think because you're coming into your own. You want independence. You want to make up your own mind about things, but you're still living under her roof and you actually don't have much control. ... If one day your parent was like, we're moving because I got a job change, ... you don't really get a say whether or not you're staying or going."
"I think that can feel ... really confining. But then, when you have that space to go out to college and forge your own path a little bit, I think you can have more grace for your parent when you come back home, and you can see them more as people. And I think that, for Belly and Laurel, as Belly gets older, they really are seeing each other more as people and in a more equal footing."
"They're really similar though, too," Tung added. "And that's the thing that also happens where teenagers are often pretty stubborn when it comes to their parents, ... and don't always want to listen, even if what their parents are saying is probably for the best."
"But then Belly, I think, continues to be pretty stubborn, just as a person, that's how she is, which is amazing, because it makes her headstrong and driven and determined. But she is stubborn and she definitely gets that from Laurel ... they're both stubborn."
Jackie Chung explained that in Season 3, Laurel is trying to maintain connections with not just her own kids, but Conrad and Jeremiah as well, after their mother's death.
"When you're in high school, you're still a kid, and then when you jump to college all of a sudden you've already turned 18, you are now an adult," Chung said. "And so I think some of the decisions that you make have bigger repercussions, perhaps."
"Laurel is always there for her daughter and always supportive of her, but they don't always agree on the decisions. I think, like any parent, you're trying to guide your kid, but you don't always agree with what they're doing. And so sometimes they're on the same page, and sometimes they are not."
In terms of parental influences, Conrad and Jeremiah have had a contentious relationship with their father Adam (Tom Everett Scott), and we do see a slight reconciliation by the end of Season 2 when Conrad and Jeremiah wanted to keep the Cousins' house.
Tom Everett Scott highlighted that it was "emotional" to see Adam "break down" about the loss of Susannah, Conrad and Jeremiah's mother, in Season 2, and teased things do evolve in his relationship with his kids in Season 3.
"I think you see a little bit of that coming back together with the boys, and at the beginning of Season 3 he's certainly a little bit better off with Jeremiah, but there is still quite a gap with him and Conrad," Scott said. "So Adam is ... working as best as he can at making amends with his sons."
'On and off again' with Taylor and Steven
But aside from the infamous love triangle, fans are also waiting to see how the relationship between Steven (Sean Kaufman) and Taylor (Rain Spencer) unfolds in Season 3, with the stars teasing that it hasn't been a "fairytale."
"There's a lot of change that goes on," Sean Kaufman said. "Four years means that we're not at the same place where we left off at Season 2. ... There's been some ups and downs, and it's been a little on and off again between these two. ... That leaves us at a very interesting place to start Season 3."
"Our characters have probably broken up and gotten back together a million times," Rain Spencer added.
We'll also get to meet Taylor's mom for the first time, diving into what that mother-daughter dynamic looks like.
"There's a sort of push and pull of like, how much do I help my mom versus how much do I pursue what I want to do, and leave the nest," Spencer said.
Throughout The Summer I Turned Pretty, Taylor has been a character that is bold, brash and has an energetic personality. Moving into Season 3, Spencer thought a lot about how that evolves as we meet the character four years later.
"I was a very different person when I was 16 versus when I was 21, or whatever, and so that was really fun," Spencer said. "When we last saw her in Season 2, there were themes of guarding her heart versus being vulnerable with Steven, and I think when we see her in Season 3, some of that is still there. She's still working on how to be vulnerable with another person."
"Healing isn't linear. .... So sometimes you can make a breakthrough and get somewhere, ... and then maybe later you were more closed off again, and that's cool. That's OK. So she's sort of navigating that now."
Meanwhile for Kaufman, a highlight for many has been seeing how supportive Steven and Conrad are of each other, including being open around conversations about mental health, specifically Conrad's anxiety. And fans can expect more Steven and Conrad scenes in Season 3.
"Chris is a very dear friend of mine. I love him. We hang out like every day, and to get those scenes together were not only amazing to be able to work together, but the magnitude of the scenes, obviously talking about mental health, and then ... just friends being there for friends, ... and having scenes where we get talk and be vulnerable with each other, ... was very interesting," Kaufman said.
"I will say, no spoilers, but we have some scenes together in Season 3 that I'm very excited for the fans to see, and I'm very proud of. I know he works extremely hard, and I'm very excited for you guys to see it."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
8 minutes ago
- Forbes
Chuck Liddell On UFC's Emergence As A Mainstream Sport: ‘I Always Thought It Would Get Big'
Chuck Liddell is one of the big reasons UFC went from an underground sport into the mainstream phenomenon that it is today. The former Light Heavyweight Champion was one of the faces of the company back in 2005 when the company seemingly went from a sport that was considered underground into one of the most popular sports companies in the United States. The presence of guys like Liddell, Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz and the debut of the "Ultimate Fighter" TV show on Spike TV (now Paramount Network) showcasing the Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar fight launched UFC into the mainstream stratosphere in a matter of weeks during the early portion of 2005. It all happened at the same time that Liddell won the Light Heavyweight Championship for the first time over Couture in April of 2005 at UFC 52. "I always thought it would get big because it was a great sport," says Liddell in a one-on-one interview. "I love the sport, and I was trying to get it there, I just thought it would take a lot longer to get there. The Ultimate Fighter show, that was really the big thing that launched us there. It was the fast track in getting us big." The Season 1 finale of the Griffin vs. Bonnar fight is considered the most important fight in MMA history. It was the first live and free MMA ever and it's what led to UFC becoming the dominant entity that it is today. UFC now broadcasts events basically every week on ESPN after landing a $1.5 billion deal with ESPN over five years. "I thought it was a great sport where we were trying to get it out in front of people for free to check this out," says Liddell of the Griffin-Bonnar fight that ended with Griffin winning by unanimous decision. "We had just chosen to have a free fight on TV. We had to tell them what we had and to have that fight, the Forrest-Bonnar fight, you couldn't ask for a better fight than that." The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 finale aired on April 9, 2005 with Liddell winning the title a week later at UFC 52. At the time, UFC 52 was the highest-grossing event at the live gate with over $2.5 million in sales. Liddell held the title for two years, successfully defending the championship four times, including in a rematch with Couture and a highly hyped rematch against Ortiz -- which Lidell won -- at the end of 2006 in what was the most financially successful UFC event to that point. "I can tell you, I went away from being able to walk into a store and thinking that guy knows who I am, that guy wearing the Tapout shirt probably knows who I am, to walking down the mall and seeing 60-year-old ladies going, 'Hey, good fight last night," says Liddell while laughing. "It's pretty crazy. From the show airing and that fight, and then a week later, I won the title, it just exploded. That was pretty, pretty crazy." Without hesitation, Liddell says the fight against Couture in 2005 where he won the title is the best fight of his career. "The toughest opponent is hard to say," says Liddell when asked who his toughest opponent was. "Most of the guys that were the best guys were at my weight at the time. I gotta take that Randy fight (for best fight ever) the one where I finally won the title, I avenged a loss. It was after the sport was blowing up. It was a pretty amazing time, so I'd have to pick that one. To knock out Randy, he had never been knocked out before. It was a good time." Liddell was well-known for his aggressive striking style, which often led to knockouts. Of his 21 career wins in MMA, 13 came via knockout. "Not really," says Liddell when asked if he mimicked anyone's fighting style. "it was just me picking different stuff I learned from different people. I work on stuff on the ground and getting up so often, I was really good at getting off my back and getting back up. I got that from (mixed martial arts fighters) John Lewis and Scott Adams. Rolling through, I could roll through a knee bar halfway through and then stand up. I was trying to make my style a way that I can finish fights the fastest and the best. "For me, I worked, concentrated on my ground game, I concentrated on getting back to my feet," Liddell continues to say of his fighting style. "I had wrestling, I concentrated on defending takedowns and then try to knock you out." The California native debuted in UFC in 1998 at UFC 17 when it was an underground sport and became the face of UFC (and the champ) at the exact time the sport became a national phenomenon in 2005, He continued to fight until retiring in 2010 following a loss against Rich Franklin. "I had a lot of great times," says Liddell of time with UFC. "It was a lot of fun, growing the sport, traveling around, doing all the stuff. I wouldn't trade it for anything. In the sport now, where you have more opportunities to fight, back then, there were five or six fights a year. Fighting three times every two years was my average throughout my career. But I'm one of those guys, I would have fought as much as you let me. " Liddell is enjoying life in his post-fighting career, but his name remains a household one for UFC fans. The 55-year-old recently had a one-of-a-kind Blue Diamond statue made of his trademark victory celebration sold via auction for $30,000 through UFC Collectives by Memento Exclusives. It's the second-most expensive item sold through UFC collectives, which often auctions off memorabilia through a partnership with the mixed martial arts company. The most expensive UFC item sold through Memento Exclusives — which has a partnership with UFC — is a $40,000 fight night jersey worn by Ilia Topuria. Artist Dan Medina — who has known Liddell for years — sculpted the one-of-one item with gold center strip and approximately 14 carats of diamonds set into a UFC Championship belt design. Liddell is the first of many UFC legends that will be sculpted by Medina, with the other greats' sculptures being released through UFC Collectibles. "I was the first one (Medina) he did," says Liddell of the sculpture. "Now we're going to probably get more done in the future, doing some other guys. But I thought that was iconic -- that's my pose. It's pretty cool."
Forbes
8 minutes ago
- Forbes
NYT 'Connections' Hints Today: Answers and Clues for August 2
Looking for Friday's NYT Connections hints, clues and answers instead? You can find them here: Are you ready for the hardest purple group category you've ever seen? When you don't even know the word that's the group name itself, you're bound to be in for trouble. How to Play Connections Connections is the second-most popular NYT Games puzzle game outside of the main crossword itself, and an extremely fun, free offering that will get your brain moving every day. Play it right here. The goal is to take a group of 16 words and find links between four pairs of four of them. They could be specific categories of terms, or they could be little world puzzles where words may come before or after them you need to figure out. And they get more complicated from there. There is only one set of right answers for this, and you only get a certain number of tries so you can't just spam around until you find something. There are difficulty tiers coded by color, which will usually go from yellow, blue/green to purple as difficulty increases, so know that going in and when you start linking them together. You pick the four words you think are linked and either you will get a solve and a lit up row that shows you how you were connected. If you're close, it will tell you that you're one away. Again, four mistakes you lose, but if you want to know the answers without failing, either come here, or delete your web cookies and try again. If you want to play more puzzles, you can get an NYT Games subscription to access the full archives of all past puzzles. So, onto the hints and answers: FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder What Are Today's Connections Hints? These are the hints that are laid out on the puzzle board itself, but after that, we will get into spoiler territory with some hints and eventually the answers. The hints for the Connections groups today are: What Are Today's Connections Groups? Alright, the full spoilers follow here as we get into what the groups are today: What Are Today's Connections Answers? The full-on answers are below for each group, finally inserting the four words in each category. Spoilers follow if you do not want to get this far. The Connections answers are: We will start off easy here. The sticky Yellow group was not too hard to follow, given that none of these are especially tricky. Cleave, however, could be similar to Adhere, I suppose. Green Group? Kind of difficult. I think you could connect (no pun intended) Intimacy and Relations together for this category pretty quickly to get a sense of what they were going for. Congress is a stretch but…Commerce? Sexual commerce? Is that like prostitution? I have genuinely never heard of sex referred to in that way. I'm going ot start calling it that. Blue Group - Not bad. I mean, Spare, Split, Strike, you'll get those right away. Then just search for the fourth, Foul, and this was an easy set of pins to knock down. Alright now this Purple Group was insane. I didn't even know the word 'contronyms' existed, much less would I have caught that these words mean their opposite. Cleave to separate or to adhere to makes sense. Garnish you can add to a meal, or you can take away from wages. Oversight is something you miss, or having additional oversight is so you don't miss something. Sanction? I don't get it. Did you seriously get this category on your own? Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Fox News
8 minutes ago
- Fox News
The RAGE Campaign Against Sydney Sweeney Continues
The ridiculous rage campaign against Sydney Sweeney for her jeans ad continues. I'm Tomi Lahren, more next. Y'all I thought the woke rage campaign against Sydney Sweeney and American Eagle over the harmless jeans ad would be reserved for keyboard warriors and online agitators, but no. Even ABC's Good Morning America dedicated a whole segment to discussing the concerning message of celebrating the 'genes' of a white woman with blue eyes and blonde hair. Mainstream media has totally bought into the RIDICULOUS narrative that featuring a white female actress who, by all accounts, is Hollywood's IT GIRL but also happens to be white, blonde and blue-eyed is somehow promoting white supremacy or Nazi-era eugenics. But the message they are REALLY sending is, if you're white and blonde and blue-eyed you don't get to be proud of that. You don't get to show it off. You must be ashamed of it or downplay it as much as possible so as to appease the woke MOB. Hollywood decided she was the IT girl of the moment and last time I checked, Hollywood certainly doesn't take its marching orders from MAGA or conservatives or Donald Trump. So, take it up with the movie execs or better yet, get an actual grip. I'm Tomi Lahren and you can watch my show 'Tomi Lahren is Fearless' at Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
