15 Behind-The-Scenes Secrets You Didn't Know About The Summer I Turned Pretty

Yahoo

22-07-2025

We're in the thick of a long, hot summer, and that can only mean one thing: The Summer I Turned Pretty is back.
The romantic drama stars Lola Tung, Christopher Briney and Gavin Casalegno in the TV adaptation of Jenny Han's much-loved young adult novel series, as protagonist Belly Conklin is torn between her head and her heart while trying to decide which of the Fisher brothers is her true love: Conrad or Jeremiah.
In case you hadn't heard, the third season is set to be the concluding chapter to the series, with the first two episodes premiering back in mid-July.
But if those waits between episodes are already getting to you, now is a perfect time to dive into the behind-the-scenes secrets of the show to make summer last that little bit longer…
The Summer I Turned Pretty is Lola Tung's first professional gig
Talk about a dream first day at work, hey?
Quite amazingly, The Summer I Turned Pretty is Lola Tung's first ever professional acting gig. She got the opportunity to audition during her first year of college, revealing to BuzzFeed that the process all started over video call.
'The audition process was entirely over Zoom, which was very interesting. But it's also all I've really known,' Lola shared. 'I was at school at the time, in my first year at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, and so I was Zooming in after classes for my chemistry reads.'
The Fisher family beach house is a real location in North Carolina
We don't always know with high production TV shows if the sets are real or constructed specifically for shooting, but it turns out the Fisher family beach house in Cousins is very real.
While we know Cousins is a fictional place created for the books, the summer estate itself is situated at the Porters Neck Plantation, a private golf course community in Wilmington, North Carolina.
However, it was only used for the exterior shots, with the indoor scenes being filmed at a studio. Location manager Lindsay Fort told People that they were looking for somewhere with 'the romantic Cape Cod vibe'.
But sad news for fans, it's a private residence and not open to visitors.
These cast members all went to the same high school
The natural rapport between Lola and Sean Kaufman (Belly's brother Steven) on screen might just have something to do with the fact that they went to the same high school.
The prestigious LaGuardia High School specialises in music and performing arts, with other famous alumni including Timothée Chalamet and Nicki Minaj.
In an interview with Seventeen Magazine, Lola recalled watching Sean's senior show as a sophomore, before she connected with him over Zoom during chemistry reads.
David Iacono (AKA Cam Cameron) also went to the same school.
The cast ensured they had already bonded before filming started
You can't fake the very real chemistry that Lola has with her co-stars.
To build their relationships before filming started, she was joined by Christopher and Gavin in Wilmington, North Carolina for two weeks, where they got to know each other.
'Then I got to show up on the first day already having this bond with them,' Lola recalled to BuzzFeed.
'It was really important to me that those moments felt really big and special, because they are so big and so special for Belly, and I hope we delivered on that.'
Taylor Swift is a fan of the show
Taylor Swift songs play a very important role all throughout the series, both in the episodes and the teasers for each season.
And Taylor herself has made no secret of the fact she's a fan of the show, thanking Jenny Han on social media for debuting her version of This Love in the season one trailer, and reacting just as emotionally as the rest of us when August and Back To December featured in the season two teaser.
Finally, Daylight and Red were featured in the season three official teaser.
Crying (Taylor's Version) pic.twitter.com/hVPrQuRAkH
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 30, 2023
Lola and Jenny even attended the Eras tour together, with Lola revealing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon that she shared a sweet moment with the star.
'We were right by the stage, and she looked at us, and she kind of waved and was like, 'I love you guys,'' Lola said, demonstrating a heart gesture Taylor made. 'I nearly passed out. It was great.'
Jenny Han makes cameos throughout the series
Fans of the books might have spotted that Jenny Han makes subtle cameos in the first two seasons. If you watch carefully, you can see her in season one's deb ball, and again in season two buying wine at a gas station.
She's told BuzzFeed in the past that she doesn't 'actually enjoy being on camera at all', so these moments feel like a nice nod to the fans.
Keep your eyes peeled for Jenny in season three!
The author made a few specific changes when she adapted the books for screen
Not only did Jenny Han write the novels, but she's also a co-showrunner on the TV adaptation.
Despite receiving interest about potentially adapting the books over the years, she always declined because it 'never felt like the right fit because deep down I realised I wanted to do it myself', as she told Variety.
When the TV adaptation was greenlit, Jenny did make a few adjustments to the story for a modern audience.
The three books were written in 2009, 2010 and 2011, so she incorporated details that would reflect the 2020s, including more texting and social media.
She also decided one character would be more sexuality fluid
While Jeremiah's sexuality isn't mentioned in the novels, he's portrayed as queer in the TV show.
'To me, the essence of the character is still the same,' Jenny told Variety. 'It's just, how would I write this person in 2022 versus how I wrote them 13 years ago?'
Gavin himself spoke about his character's sexuality during an interview with TheWrap, explaining: 'I think it was so important to update that just to really relate to people and to also bring more diversity into the show. I love who Jeremiah is. He's still figuring himself out and loving everybody, and that's something that I admire about him.'
Jenny also elaborated on her decision, explaining: 'To me it felt very natural. It was not like a hard decision to make because I think that Jeremiah, I really could see that for him even in the early 2000s.'
She added: 'But I think nowadays, young people are a lot more free with sexuality as a spectrum. There's less of this binary.'
Did you spot this subtle easter egg in season three?
There's one very special easter egg in season three, episode two, as Jenny Han's book P.S. I Still Love You – the sequel to To All The Boys I've Loved – is featured in the crossword that Conrad leaves behind for Belly to finish.
jenny han is INSANE and a GENIUS. having the crossword say a reference to not only another book of hers, but specifically P.S. I STILL LOVE YOU? OMG? AND THEN WE CAN SEE BELLY FILLING IT IN. BUT ALSO, CONRAD HAD WROTE IT AT FIRST TOO BUT THEN ERASED IT😭 #TheSummerITurnedPrettypic.twitter.com/X1bloAelww
— maddie 🐚🌊 (@MaddieCole_04) July 16, 2025
The meaning of this moment is loud and clear, but eagle-eyed fans spotted an even smaller detail – that Conrad faintly filled in the missing word 'still' before erasing it.
Our hearts…
And that's not the only one…
When Belly's family drop her off at college in season three, episode one, we get a glimpse of her expanding photo wall of memories.
One of those snapshots features another Jenny Han easter egg, with Belly and Jeremiah dressed up as Lara Jean and Peter Kavinsky from To All The Boys I've Loved Before.
STFU THEYRE PETER AND LARA JEAN #tsitp#TheSummerITurnedPrettypic.twitter.com/jOXtcgo5c4
— m❣️tsitp spoilers (@PERC4BETHRRY) July 16, 2025
One cast member had to dispel this odd rumour after all the show blew up
Belly's mother is played by Jackie Chung in the series, who unexpectedly found herself denying rumours about her age when the show started to gain attention.
Back in 2023, the actor had to deny speculation that she was 62 years old, after a Google error led fans to believe that she was born in the '60s.
At the time, she confirmed that she was actually 44.
Even to this day, Google's AI search result says Jackie was born in 1961 and is 64 years old.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Jackie (@anotherjackiechung)
People (understandably) have some VERY strong feelings about which side Belly is on
We get that it's very easy to take sides with on-screen romances, but season three was expected to be so divisive that the show even issued a warning against bullying.
'Cousins is our safe place. Everything good, everything magical. Let's keep the conversation kind this summer,' a post shared from the show's official social media account read.
A community guidelines post continued that they have a 'ZERO tolerance policy for bullying and hate speech,' with the page adding that fans indulging in 'hate speech or bullying', 'targeting our cast or crew' or 'harassing or doxxing members of the community', would be 'banned' from the community.
PSA for the Summer community 🚨 pic.twitter.com/qTm8IlIFsN
— The Summer I Turned Pretty (@thesummeritp) July 14, 2025
Lola Tung is very clear about which team she's on
Of course, Lola has been asked too many times to count whether she's on team Conrad or team Jeremiah. The answer? Team Belly, of course.
Speaking on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon ahead of the season three premiere, Lola reaffirmed that she's Team Belly 'always', and that she's 'all for her following her heart'.
But the rest of the cast don't exactly feel the same…
Not everyone on the show is quite as diplomatic as Belly. Elsie Fisher, who plays Skye in season two, and David Iacono (Cam Cameron) claimed to be Team Conrad, while Rain Spencer, who plays Taylor, and Kyra Sedgwick, who joined season two as Susannah's half sister Julia, are team Jeremiah, as they told The Hollywood Reporter.
But that might have changed for season three…
No matter how fans feel, Lola is happy about how things end up for Belly
'I'm very happy, for many reasons I think,' Lola told The Hollywood Reporter, 'and I'm very happy with I think the journey that [Belly] takes this year.'
'It was really fun to feel like it was a little bit more of a mature journey or she feels more grown up, and you can sort of tell in the decisions that she makes. But it was really fun to film and really fun to see sort of play out.'
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