The plot thickens! The Summer I Turned Pretty made quite a splash with its debut on Prime Video — and Belly’s (Lola Tung) love triangle with brothers Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) is only going to get even more complicated in season 2.
Ahead of the season 1 premiere, which aired in June 2022, creator and showrunner Jenny Han broke down her attempts to adapt the book series into a TV show.
“I approached it like, What do I think are the most important elements of the story to keep? And what do the fans care the most about? I am able to pull from all the emails, letters, and comments I’ve seen over the years from fans, so that’s how we looked at this adaptation,” she told Collider. “What do the original fans care most about?”
Han added: “And then, also for me, what’s going to be most like fun and exciting to explore? Because I think as a writer, you have to feel like you’re doing something new in a way, too. That it’s not going to be just the exact same thing, but what’s the new approach? And how do I make this feel fresh?”
According to the author, getting to incorporate Taylor Swift‘s music into season 1 was one of her favorite additions. “Fans of the books have asked me over the years if there could be Taylor [Swift] music and I always of course wanted it, but I can’t promise anything because it’s like not up to me,” she explained to The Wrap that same month. “But that was the most joyous part for me was able to give the fans that gift because I knew what it would mean to them as well.”
At the time, Han also gushed about getting to see Hung bring Belly to life in her own way. “I really wanted to find actors that felt real and natural and fresh. There’s a feeling of discovery about that. The linchpin was going to be Belly because everything hangs around her,” the Virginia native shared with Variety in June 2022. “She’s the main character and so it was the most important that we found our right Belly.”
For the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before author, the newcomer brought a much-needed perspective to her lead character. “Lola had this freshness to her. She was still 18 when we cast her and she turned 18 on the show, but I think it’s really hard to manufacture a kind of innocence or newness to things,” she continued. “This is our first part and she had never done it before. There’s so many meta elements to that — to Belly’s big summer and Lola’s big summer.”
Tung, for her part, also opened up about her introduction to The Summer I Turned Pretty franchise.
“I was a fan of Jenny, a little bit. I hadn’t read The Summer I Turned Pretty until I booked the role, but I was a fan of the To All The Boys movies and I did often Netflix party them with my friends because they were so wonderful,” the New York native detailed to Seventeen magazine in June 2022. “It’s unbelievable, I can’t believe [I’m part of The Summer I Turned Pretty]. Jenny’s also the best, so it’s really wonderful and wild that I’ve formed that relationship with her too.”
Scroll down for everything we know about season 2 of The Summer I Turned Pretty:
Tung, Briney, Casalegno, Sean Kaufman, Jackie Chung, Alfredo Narciso and Minnie Mills are all expected to reprise their roles in the sophomore season. Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Prime Video
Season 2 will be inspired by the next book in the series, It’s Not Summer Without You. Dana Hawley/Prime Video
"It’s totally up to what Amazon wants and really, truly what audiences want. I would love to get three seasons because there are three books. So I would love to be able to finish telling that story the way that I wrote it," Han told Variety in June 2022. "But I certainly don’t take anything for granted. I just hope people find the audience and people love it and want more." Ahead of the show's renewal, Han signed an overall film and television deal with the network. Peter Taylor/Prime Video
According to the second book, Susannah's passing creates a rift in Belly's new relationship with Conrad as they both deal with her tragic loss. Belly reunites with Jeremiah to track down Conrad at the beach house when he goes missing. During the road trip, Belly's feelings for Jeremiah grow stronger, but so does her love for his older brother. Peter Taylor/Prime Video
In June 2022, Han addressed the show's plans to explore Susannah’s story line ahead of her death between the first and second book. "We have a lot of conversations about Susannah’s trajectory and all the cast members read the books as well, so everybody was coming into it with that base of knowledge. I would say that Rachel and I talked a lot about how I think that Susannah is like one of the most important characters in the first season," Han told Variety. "I think every single person is in her orbit in a way and they’re all there because of her and she’s very beloved by all of them." The screenwriter didn't confirm if the character will make more appearances through flashbacks, adding, "She’s setting people off on different journeys, so it was important to me that the person I cast for that part was somebody that drew people in, someone that you could just fall in love with." Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Prime Video
Following the show's debut, Han teased that not every detail from the books will make it to the screen. "I don’t want to spoil too much but the books have been out for a while. You never know what could happen with the show," she shared with Variety. "I was open minded going into it. I was considering a lot of different possibilities." Peter Taylor/Prime Video
During an interview with CBS in June 2022, Han confirmed that she is "about to leave" to start production and filming on season 2. Peter Taylor/Prime Video
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