‘The Summer I Turned Pretty' stars, creator tease ‘emotional' series ending
The creator and stars of 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' gave fans a taste of what's to come as the series nears its long-awaited ending.
Author and co-showrunner Jenny Han, Lola Tung (Belly), Christopher Briney (Conrad) and Gavin Casalegno (Jeremiah) are getting ready to say goodbye, with the show's final season set to premiere on Wednesday, July 16.
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8 Briney, Tung and Casalegno are preparing to say goodbye to 'The Summer I Turned Pretty.'
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'Personally, it feels very satisfying,' Han, 44, told Entertainment Weekly in an interview published on Monday, July 14.
'The Summer I Turned Pretty,' based on Han's beloved trilogy of books, follows a love triangle between Belly and the Fisher brothers, Conrad and Jeremiah. Season 3, adapted from 2011's 'We'll Always Have Summer,' sees Belly finally choose between them.
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Picking up two years after the events of Season 2, Belly and Jeremiah decide to get married, against her mother's wishes — but the surprise arrival of Conrad, Belly's first love, leaves her questioning whether she's truly ready to let go of her past — or of Conrad.
8 In Season 3 of 'The Summer I Turned Pretty,' Belly and Jeremiah decide to get married, against her mother's wishes.
AP
Tung told the outlet she was 'very emotional' while filming the entire final season, but especially during her last scenes as Belly.
'I cried, naturally, many, many times,' she said. 'I was 18 when I was first cast, and I [had] just finished my first year of college, and I was 22 when we wrapped this year.'
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'I really, really do feel like I have grown up a lot on the show… it's just been such a big chapter of my life — in a very important part of my life,' she added. 'It felt very special, very emotional, and [I'm] very proud and just happy with how everything's gone and how the story's been received.'
8 Tung was 22 when 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' wrapped.
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While she didn't get emotional when wrapping the series finale, Han said she 'definitely cried' watching the actors bring her characters to life one last time.
'It was, in some ways, surreal,' Han said of the series coming to an end. 'I remember Lola was like, 'You're not crying that hard,' and I was like, 'I'm always going to know you, and it doesn't feel like goodbye to me.''
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She added, 'Lola is so special and dear to me. This is such a moment in time, but this girl, I'll see her soon.'
8 'Lola is so special and dear to me,' Han told Entertainment Weekly.
Getty Images for Prime Video
Casalegno, 25, shared that he especially loved where the story leaves Jeremiah.
'It was fun, especially on my side of things, seeing how much the character grew throughout the season and how you could really see the maturity in the decisions toward the end of the series,' he said. 'The final scenes were kind of a nice, happy button for Jeremiah — at least I hope that people watching feel that way.'
Han told the outlet that 'some of [her] favorite stuff was writing that arc' for Casalegno's character.
8 Tung and Casalegno as Belly and Jeremiah, respectively, in Season 3 of 'The Summer I Turned Pretty.'
©Amazon/Courtesy Everett Collection
'All the work he was doing in the back half of the season, it was a real pleasure to see,' she gushed.
Similarly, Briney, 27, described bringing Conrad's journey to a close as 'bittersweet.'
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'I just treated every season like, 'Hopefully, we get another one,'' he said. 'It's nice to finish our trilogy and to capstone that story that we signed up to hopefully get to the end of. It was good.'
8 Briney as Conrad Fisher in Season 3 of 'The Summer I Turned Pretty.'
©Amazon/Courtesy Everett Collection
For fans of the original books, Han told People that certain moments from the third book might not unfold the way readers expect.
'There are a couple of moments that people really love from the books that I knew that people were wanting to see,' Han confessed. 'I wanted to make sure that I was going to really service those fans who've been following the story for a really long time.
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To do that, she watches closely and stays in tune with what audiences respond to.
8 Han said moments from the third book might not unfold the way readers expect.
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'I, as much as I can, try to keep my finger on the pulse of how the audience is feeling but also really be guided by my own compass in terms of story,' Han told Elle Canada.
On making changes from the books, Han shared, 'At times, it's challenging; at times, it's not.'
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'It comes down to listening to your own inner voice and following you gut, and that will guide you the rest of the way,' she added.
However, Han's well aware it's impossible to make every fan happy.
8 Season 3 of 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' premieres on July 16 with two episodes on Prime Video.
Erika Doss/Prime
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'At the end of the day, you have to please yourself and stand by what you made,' she said. 'And, you know, I think I feel that way. I feel really proud of the thing that we made.'
The final season of 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' premieres on Prime Video starting July 16 with a two-episode drop. New episodes will be released weekly until September 17, when Team Conrad and Team Jeremiah will finally settle the score.
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