Author Jenny Han talks directorial debut and whether she is Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah
The credits to one episode of Prime Video's hottest summer shows read like a creative mic drop: "Directed by: Jenny Han. Teleplay by: Jenny Han. Created by: Jenny Han. Based on the novel by: Jenny Han. Executive Producer: Jenny Han."
"It was really funny," Han says, reflecting on Episode 5 of Season 3, titled "Last Dance." "I think it was during post and we were all laughing. But you know what? You've got to take up space for the work that you do."
'The Summer I Turned Pretty' warns fandom to keep itself in check this summer
For those who don't watch "The Summer I Turned Pretty" and have avoided the corners of TikTok besotted with Conrad or Jeremiah, the show is a coming-of-age romance that follows Isabel "Belly" Conklin to a summer beach home where she finds first love, heartbreak and self-discovery while caught in a love triangle with two brothers.
Han wrote the trilogy published in 2009, 2010 and 2011 while listening to Taylor Swift's album "Fearless." And the megastar's marketing team, Taylor Nation, posts about the show annually on social media. The show has featured "False God," "The Way I Loved You," "This Love," "Last Kiss," "Hey Stephen," "Invisible String," "Sweet Nothing," "Delicate," "Snow on the Beach," "Bigger Than the Whole Sky," "Exile" and "You're Losing Me."
Director's cut
Clad in a pink and white tweed dress with silver-studded straps, the author says the Aug. 6 episode marked the first − and only − time she directed on the series. But when asked if she'll direct again, she replies, "I would love to."
Han also writes the screenplays, produces and pops up in the occasional cameo.
In Season 1, Han donned a red dress at the debutante ball. In Season 2, she bought wine at a gas station. As for this season, she teases: "I do have a cameo, except it's just my voice. I don't think anyone's going to figure this one out. I myself was like, 'Is that me?'"
So why did she pick Episode 5 to direct? Well, because of the peaches.
"The peaches scene was one that people had been waiting for the whole show to see," Han says of the sexually charged moment between Conrad and Belly at a roadside fruit stand.
"I wanted to treat it really carefully," she says. The other reason is because fans finally get a glimpse into Conrad's mind. Actor Christopher Briney narrates the older brother's inner monologue.
"We haven't really been able to fully understand what he's thinking until now," Han says.
She hired a professional artist to help her storyboard the entire episode.
"Even though I had written it and read it a million times, there was something new I was finding on the page every single time I looked at the script," she says. "New thoughts that I was having, like, 'Oh, maybe I'll do this or that.' And I think that made it feel very exciting and fresh for me, like its own sort of creative wellspring."
But even meticulous planning couldn't predict when wildflowers would bloom.
"With the peaches scene, we had to reschedule three times," she says. "They still hadn't bloomed yet, so we kept coming back and checking on them, and it was like a dirt patch. But finally at go time, they were blooming perfectly."
Conrad or Jeremiah? How 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' books end
Two blockbuster franchises
Han, 44, is no stranger to storytelling success. She also wrote the wildly popular series "To All the Boys I've Loved Before," which spawned its own blockbuster Netflix adaptations.
While none of Swift's songs appeared in the "To All the Boys" films, Han wrote a letter to the Eras Tour singer requesting to use a track for "The Summer I Turned Pretty." Swift has delivered year after year.
"Her team is awesome," Han says. "We've been so lucky to have her music on the show every season. And that's the biggest gift of all. It's a gift to me as a fan, but it's also a gift to the original book readers and all the people who are fans of the show."
Pretty timeless
Han's writing remains the beating heart of the series, drawing in fans young and old.
"People watch it with their grandpas, people watch it with their wives or their daughters," she says. "I've heard from guys who felt Conrad's anxiety really resonated with them. And also losing a parent I think is very universal."
There's something indelible about how the series connects with millennial women, those who first read the books as teens and now watch them as adults.
"The fact they're still here and they're still really resonating with the story is so special to me," Han says.
How did Han think of Belly?
One enduring mystery among fans is how the main character got her name.
"I was a nanny at the time and the girl that I was babysitting for had a friend named Isabel, I think," Han says. "And I believe people called her Belly. They were really young when she had that nickname, and I thought it was very cute."
Han says Belly's best friend, Taylor, is not named after Swift.
Is Jenny Han writing a new novel?
Amid the success, one lingering question remains: Is Han working on a new manuscript?
"I would love to be able to sit down and write a new book," she says, acknowledging she hasn't written an unreleased novel. At least, not yet.
"It's just a very different headspace to be in," she says, adding that her time and energy has been fully consumed by the drama at Cousins Beach.
And if you're wondering what team Han is on − Jeremiah or Conrad − she's diplomatic.
"I think all the characters are dear to me, so I really couldn't pick favorites," she says. "Team Belly, for sure."
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