4 days ago
"The Summer I Turned Pretty" Trivia And Easter Eggs
The Summer I Turned Pretty is one of the most significant teen shows of the decade — and with Season 3 coming out soon, it's the perfect time to dive into the show's behind-the-scenes lore.
Here are some interesting facts and Easter eggs you won't want to miss...
Lola Tung and Chris Briney, who play Belly and Conrad, had to do their chemistry test over Zoom back in 2021 when the series was in pre-production.
And they nailed it! 🔥
Lola fractured her foot while filming the very first episode of Season 1.
"We were filming the flashback scene," she revealed. "We were running around the table and I jumped to grab the muffin from Sean and I landed weird and fractured my foot."
The show is set in Cape Cod but is filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina, which is a hotspot for teen TV — iconic series Dawson's Creek, One Tree Hill, and the more recent show Outer Banks were also filmed there.
Jenny Han, who is both the creator of the show and the author of the books it's based on, has a cameo in each season — in Season 1, she appears at the deb ball, and in Season 2 she's a customer at the gas station.
Keep your eyes peeled for her in Season 3.
Taylor Swift features heavily on the soundtrack for The Summer I Turned Pretty, which is a nice full-circle detail, considering Jenny Han says she listened to Taylor's album Fearless on loop while writing the original books.
Some of Belly's looks in Season 1 were directly inspired by Olivia Hussey as Juliet in the 1968 film version of Romeo and Juliet.
Lola Tung went to high school with two of her co-stars — David Iacono, who plays one of her love interests, Cam, and Sean Kaufman, who plays her brother, Steven.
The three of them attended LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.
The cast seems to have as much fun on set as their characters do — between filming, they do things like play baseball, play chess, game, go on picnics, and have pillow fights.
Although they do have tense moments too — Chris revealed Gavin Casalegno, who plays Jeremiah, didn't talk to him after he went "too far" filming a Season 2 scene where Conrad is mean to Jeremiah and Belly.
Chris apologized and made up with Gavin.
Gavin credits spending all his time at the beach playing beach volleyball and swimming in the ocean with giving him such incredible curls.
Jenny Han says she drew on the movie Beaches for inspiration for the platonic soul mates story of Susannah and Laurel.
Laurel's memoir being named It's Not Summer Without You is not only an emotional tribute to Susannah, it's a nod to the title of the second book in Jenny Han's original series.
There's a small moment in a Season 2 flashback where Laurel knocks over letters Susannah is writing to her sons — foreshadowing a mix-up with them that is a major plot point in book 3 and, presumably, Season 3.
Season 2 had all female directors across its eight episodes.
Zoe Cassavetes directed Episodes 1 and 2, Isabel Sandoval directed Episodes 3 and 4, Sophia Takal directed Episodes 5 and 6, and Megan Griffiths (pictured above) directed Episodes 7 and 8.
In the final episode of Season 2, both Belly and Conrad are bathed in warm light in the motel, while Jeremiah is in the cool lighting — suggesting Belly's heart is ultimately still with Conrad.
The Season 3 teaser poster visually references the movie Sabrina.
The characters actually go to see Sabrina at the drive-in in Season 1. Like The Summer I Turned Pretty, it's about an "ugly ducking" who gets a glow-up and is pursued by two rich brothers she's grown up with. Many fans believe the poster is a hint that Belly will definitely choose Conrad in the show, like Sabrina chooses Linus (Humphrey Bogart's character).
Are you Team Bonrad or Team Jelly? Share in the comments below!
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