They’re not high schoolers, but they actually aren’t too far off! The cast of The Summer I Turned Pretty are older than the characters they play on the Prime Video series. Lola Tung‘s Belly and Gavin Casalegno‘s Jeremiah may be holding out for graduation, but in real life, they’ve already put the books behind them.
However, the cast loved the chance to bring these teens — based on the characters written by Jenny Han — to the screen. The book series and TV show follow the story of Belly, who is in a love triangle with longtime family-friends Jeremiah and Conrad (Christopher Briney).
“What makes a good love triangle is the authenticity. I feel like, worrying about what other people are gonna think — even in real life, like for life advice — worrying about what other people are gonna think is going to stress you out and make you worry about the little things,” Gavin told J-14 ahead of the show’s premiere when asked about fan expectations. “In reality, you’re supposed to enjoy them. I think with our relationship, and with our romantic relationship with Belly, it was so much fun just being able to explore the authenticity of it and the genuineness … just it being so genuine. It was so much fun to work with Lola on screen. I felt like everything just kind of went super smoothly. I know everyone’s gonna love it.”
Christopher weighed in, adding, “I think you always want to please fans. There’s always a part of you that wants to please fans, but I feel like part of the challenge of filming a show is just overcoming that, and being like, ‘OK, I’m an actor, I’ve done my work, I’ve done my homework. I’m with another actor who I respect and I trust.’ Trusting the direction, trusting the script. It’s all there. Everything’s just there.”
With the help of the script, the stars were able to form major bonds both on screen and off — even playing high schoolers can create some major friendships!
Scroll through our gallery to uncover the real ages of The Summer I Turned Pretty stars.
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