Latest news with #TVadaptation
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
15 Behind-The-Scenes Secrets You Didn't Know About The Summer I Turned Pretty
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) — 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😭 # — 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# — 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 🚨 — 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.' Related... The Summer I Turned Pretty Faces 1 Big Dilemma In Its New Season 'Summerween' Has Gone Viral – It's The Perfect Holiday For Sun-Haters Like Me The Summer I Turned Pretty Cast Speaks Up About 'Ignorant' Bullying Ahead Of Finale
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Why the Harry Potter TV cast won't need to leave the set, even for school
Harry Potter is being reimagined for a second time, introducing a new generation of actors to the magical world that will take over their lives for the next ten years. The young cast, particularly Dominic McLaughlin, Arabella Stanton and Alastair Stout, will spend a significant portion of their time on set for HBO's TV adaptation of JK Rowling's books. As a result, they will be unable to go to school during that time, but Warner Bros. has found a solution. To avoid the child stars missing out on their important education, Warner Bros. has built a bespoke school that will ensure they don't fall behind with their studies while the series is in production. Filming has just begun on the show, just in time for the summer holidays, but there will come a point where the young actors will need to return to their studies — here is how it will work. According to the BBC, the Three Rivers District Council has given Warner Bros Studios Leavesden permission to use portacabin structures as a school facility. The film studios have permission to use this for the next decade. The specially designed classrooms will be able to hold up to 600 pupils at any one time, which will come in useful when large crowd scenes with hundreds of extras are due to be filmed. However, it has been reported that the school facility will be used primarily for 150 students on a normal filming day. When they're not reciting magical incantations in Hogwarts, the actors will be in classrooms with lessons operating on weekdays between 5:30AM and 8:30PM. Lessons will also be fit around their filming schedule, which is expected to include night shoots, reshoots and location filming. The planning approval has come in for a "significant new TV series which will base itself at the studio for the next 8–10 years", and while the document does not specifically mention the Harry Potter TV series, it is understood that this is what it is used for. In the proposal it was added that the school infrastructure will be used for a maximum of ten years. Per local paper The Comet, the planning document states: "This facility will play a vital role in supporting young performers and allow production activities to take place seamlessly on site without disruption to the filming schedule and the associated cost impacts that could occur as a result of pupils having to leave site." The HBO series is expected to be a more accurate adaptation of Rowling's books, and it is expected to adapt all seven books. Given that the school facility is approved for a 10-year period, it is likely that the TV show will be made over the next decade. The Harry Potter TV series is expected to be released in 2027.
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Harry Potter fans divided over first image of Nick Frost's Hagrid
Production is officially underway on HBO's forthcoming Harry Potter series and the studio has released a first-look image of actor Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, which has caused some debate among fans. The 53-year-old will play the friendly groundskeeper alongside newcomer Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, who was also pictured in costume this week while filming at Warner Bros Studios in Leavesden. Fans were left divided over Frost's transformation, with some declaring they were 'loving' the actor in the iconic role, while others said his costume looked like 'cosplaying'. 'I'm so sorry this already looks like a parody show,' one person wrote on X/Twitter. 'Who exactly asked for this?' another fan questioned. Referring to the original Hagrid actor, Robbie Coltrane, another said: 'Love Nick Frost, but no chance of out-Hagrid-ing Hagrid.' The TV adaptation of the famous franchise, which is expected to debut in 2027, confirmed by HBO Max in 2023, aims to be a 'faithful adaptation of the beloved Harry Potter book series by author and executive producer JK Rowling'. The series is expected to run for a decade, with each season based on one of the seven Rowling books. The books follow the story of 11-year-old Harry Potter as he learns of his acceptance to Hogwarts, the school of witchcraft and wizardry, and his attempts to defeat the evil Lord Voldemort. Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid in HBO'sforthcoming Harry Potter series (HBO) In May last year, HBO announced that after nearly 30,000 auditions for the three lead roles, McLaughlin, Arabella Stanton and Alastair Stout had been cast as Harry, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. Casting for most of the leading characters has been announced in the last few months. Paapa Essiedu is playing potions professor Severus Snape, Janet McTeer is acting as deputy Hogwarts headmistress and Gryffindor House head Minerva McGonagall, and Frost as Rubeus Hagrid. The actors have faced criticism from some fans calling for a boycott of the series due to Rowling's views on transgender people which many consider transphobic. However, Frost, known for Shaun of the Dead, made clear in an interview that his opinions 'don't align in any way, shape or form' with those of the franchise creator. Last month, Rowling, 59, delivered her early verdict on the series in a post on X. 'I read the first two episodes of the forthcoming HBO Harry Potter series and they are SO, SO, SO GOOD!' the author said. In response, a user asked the author: 'So you are not doing the writing for this show?' to which, the author clarified: 'No, but I've worked closely with the extremely talented writers.' Rubeus Hagrid was previously played by Scottish actor Robbie Coltrane in the Harry Potter franchise, who died from multiple organ failure in 2022, aged 72, after starring in all eight films as the beloved half-giant.


Times
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
First glimpse of new Harry Potter, the next star of the small screen
Filming has started for the much-anticipated TV adaptation of JK Rowling's Harry Potter series, with HBO sharing a first glimpse of the young wizard. Production began at Warner Bros Studios Leavesden, near Watford, where the films were made between 2000 and 2011, concluding with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, which was released in 2011. A picture of Dominic McLaughlin in Harry Potter's signature round glasses and school uniform has been released. McLaughlin is joined by Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley. They beat more than 30,000 actors to the roles in a casting call last year. • My advice to the new Harry Potter kids — by a Game of Thrones child star All seven books will be adapted and the series is reported to have a budget that is greater than House of the Dragon's $200 million per series. More than 600 million copies of Harry Potter sold worldwide. Its big screen adaptations were hugely successful, grossing almost $8 billion at the global box office. Other characters in the series have also been announced, including Rory Wilmot as the hapless Neville Longbottom and Amos Kitson as the spoilt Dudley Dursley. Nick Frost, who starred in Shaun of the Dead, will play the bearded giant Rubeus Hagrid, while John Lithgow, the Conclave and The Crown actor, will star as Hogwarts' headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. Janet McTeer, who featured in Tumbleweeds and The White Queen, will play Minerva McGonagall, while Paapa Essiedu, from I May Destroy You and Gangs of London, is Severus Snape. The series, debuting on HBO in 2027, will follow the young Potter as he discovers that he is a wizard and goes to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was initially expected that each season would cover one of the seven Harry Potter books, but Casey Bloys, the head of HBO, said that the project could run for 'ten consecutive years'. The final novel, Deathly Hallows, was split into two parts for the film adaptation. Potter, Granger and Weasley's return will be available to stream on HBO Max, which is expected to launch in the UK in early 2026. Francesca Gardiner, the British television writer, is the showrunner, while Mark Mylod of Succession is in the director's seat.


Daily Mail
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The Couple Next Door star Annabel Scholey reveals what she really thinks about intimacy co-ordinators - and why she's now getting so many sexy roles in her 40s
Hit show Rivals, the rollicking TV adaptation of Jilly Cooper's bonkbuster novel, opened with a supersonic bang last year when champagne corks popped as journalist Beattie Johnson and lothario Rupert Campbell-Black joined the mile-high club as Concorde reached the speed of sound. Filming the scene was rather less glamorous, reveals actress Annabel Scholey, best known for legal drama The Split, who starred as Beattie opposite Alex Hassell's Rupert. 'Joining the mile-high club was fun and Alex is absolutely gorgeous, such a gentleman, but it wasn't exactly sexy,' she recalls. While some of the flight scenes were filmed on a real Concorde at Bristol's Aviation Museum, a special set had to be built for the naughty moments. 'They had to build a bigger toilet because the actual Concorde's was so small it could barely fit one person in, and this had to fit me, Alex and the director of photography. He was sitting on the loo while we went at it.' She admits she still gets a little nervous before sex scenes and couldn't eat breakfast before filming that one. 'But once you've rehearsed it, done it to the camera a few times, you're kind of bored; two hours doing the same moves and the same sounds!' Rivals fans will be pleased to learn that we'll be seeing a lot more of Beattie in the upcoming second series after she reappeared in the final episode of the first when it was announced she would be hosting a gossip show for Lord (Tony) Baddingham's TV company – which was going up against his foe Rupert's bid for a TV franchise. 'I've got a really nice storyline in series two,' she says. 'Beattie is bad, and I like playing bad – it's much more fun. So there's a lot more to come from her. It's been so good to be back; everyone in that cast is brilliant and everyone loves each other. 'Normally I do shows that involve a fair bit of weeping so it's nice to do some comedy. Once I'd got over the shock of seeing my sex scene, I watched series one as a punter and I loved it. It was a risk because the story was of its time and there was a lot of sexism, but because it was period they've done it very tongue in cheek. I think it came out at exactly the right time and people were ready for the satire. I'm absolutely thrilled I'm getting to wear my mullet wig again.' Wakefield-born Annabel, 41, is one of those slow-burn actresses who suddenly seems to be in everything. Playing naughty, desperate-for-attention middle sister Nina in The Split first put her on the TV landscape; she's also recently starred as Ann-Marie Blake, the niece who catches a murderer in acclaimed true-crime drama The Sixth Commandment, and took a leading role in BAFTA-winning Welsh film Chuck Chuck Baby. We'll be seeing a lot more of her in the coming months thanks not only to Rivals and Prime Video thriller Apollo Has Fallen, but also to the second series of Channel 4's sexy psychological drama The Couple Next Door. 'For a long time I was frustrated not to be doing anything substantial on TV – I was in the theatre for ten years before I did much at all,' she says. 'But it makes sense to me that this is my path, this is my moment.' In the first series of The Couple Next Door, Eleanor Tomlinson's Evie and her husband Pete moved next door to Danny and Becka, before a night of passion between Evie and Danny had disastrous consequences. But you don't need to have seen that to watch the second, which tells a new tale. Annabel plays renowned heart surgeon Charlotte Roberts who's happily married to consultant anaesthetist Jacob (Sam Palladio). They seem to have a perfect life with busy careers, a large house, nice cars and a loving sex life. But then a red-headed bombshell moves in next door. And patients suddenly start dying… Aggy K Adams stars as the mysterious new neighbour, Mia, a nurse who works at the same hospital. She's feisty, outspoken, refuses to obey the hospital hierarchy – and is stunningly beautiful. Soon both Charlotte and Jacob find their worlds being turned upside down by her before Charlotte's millionaire celebrity doctor ex-boyfriend Leo (Sendhil Ramamurthy) re-enters her world. 'The great thing about turning 40 is that I find myself suddenly playing biochemists and heart surgeons, which is hilarious,' says Annabel, who's been acting since she was 13. 'One of the things I love most about my job is getting to experience different worlds, and to play Charlotte I went into an open-heart surgery theatre, which was mind-blowing. When I had to do it myself, the heart surgeon I'd been following was in there too, pretending to be learning from me. 'And what I also love about playing women of this age like Charlotte is that she's come to this point in her life where's she's thinking, 'What's next?' She's having a bit of a mid-life crisis. She's achieved everything she wants and then she goes on this journey which sees her unravel. 'As a 40-something woman, that's interesting. You've got to that age where you're confident, you know who you are, what you won't put up with any more. But then you suddenly think, 'What am I supposed to do now?' I can feel it myself – I've worked really hard since I left drama school and I feel like I'm not getting really great roles, but I keep thinking, 'What could be next?' 'The other thing about being in your 40s is when you look in the mirror you aren't necessarily at your peak any more, you start to see signs of ageing, and I love that Charlotte goes on a journey of sexual rediscovery. She's hidden that side of herself,her femininity, because she's atop surgeon in quite a masculine world and she's married to someone she's known since she was a student. She becomes awakened physically and mentally, which is really interesting.' As on almost all shows with sexual content now, Annabel worked with an intimacy co-ordinator. She admits she's still getting used to it. 'I've done a lot of sex scenes in my career – I'm often cast in 'sexy' roles and I think because I used to dance for a long time, I'm quite comfortable in my body and the choreographing of these things. I've spoken to other actresses of my own age group and this intimacy co-ordinator thing has been a tricky transition for some of us because we were on our own for so long. But I feel like I'm really starting to get used to it, and actually it makes me feel sad we never had this before. There have been some tricky moments in the past.' Annabel divorced her first husband, actor Ciaran McMenamin, two years ago and they share daughter Marnie, who is six. She has since got married again, to pilot Jim Trayhurn, and says life is now a little easier for actors who are mothers. The Couple Next Door, although set in Leeds, was filmed mainly in Antwerp but Annabel was allowed every other Friday off so she could fly home and be with Marnie for the weekend. 'I think they're now much keener to help actors see their children, and that makes all the difference,' she says. 'My mummy guilt is always sky high but I also firmly believe that I want to show her that it's good to follow your passion. I do get the question, 'Do you love your job more than me, Mummy?' And I say, 'Absolutely not. I don't love anything more than you but I do love my job and it's OK to do both.' I want to show her that it's OK and hopefully by the time she's grown up it will be better still. 'When I was filming The Sixth Commandment I was going through my divorce and it was very tough but they looked after me, got me an apartment and I felt taken care of. I think things are shifting in a good way for mums who are working – which is good as I don't feel like men feel the guilt that we do. It's one of the best things about Rivals as I don't live too far from where it's being filmed in the West Country so I'm working from home, which is fantastic.' Marnie hasn't seen much of Annabel's work – although she's obsessed with a 2014 musical she starred in called Walking On Sunshine – and she knows there will come a day when someone will make a comment about some of her sexier roles. 'She's very cool, not judgmental; she's an adventurer and will be a woman of the world. But also, I'm sure she'll find me deeply embarrassing. She already does at times. But I'd like to think she will think, most of all, 'Mum, you followed your dream and you made a success of it' and that will override anything else.'