'The Summer I Turned Pretty' cast talks about what to expect in season 2
It's back to Cousins Beach for the second season of "The Summer I Turned Pretty" and the cast is dishing about what's in store.
"More of the characters you know and love, more love triangle more drama, emotions are high, stakes are high," Lola Tung, who plays Isabel "Belly" Conklin on the show, told "Good Morning America" about the upcoming season. "Expect it all."
During the first season of the hit show, which is based on the bestselling novel by Jenny Han, fans were introduced to a teenage girl named Belly and the magic of her mother's best friend's beach house, where she spent every summer with her brother Steven (Sean Kaufman) and childhood friends Conrad Fisher (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah Fisher (Gavin Casalegno).
The hit coming-of-age show follows Belly as she falls in love for the first time and finds herself caught in a love triangle with the Fisher boys. In the second season, Tung said Belly continues to grow up and discovers more of herself amid drastic life changes.
"They've grown a lot," Tung said about her character and her co-stars' characters, adding that "her relationships have changed so much with the boys and with her family," and that Belly is "finding herself again and her confidence, and sort of rebuilding."
A season of 'coming together'
Tung also said a lot of "family moments" will unfold in season 2. Kaufman, who plays Tung's brother in the show, said fans will see Belly and Steven "turning to each other" for support amid those pivotal life changes.
"It's a season of them coming together," Kaufman said. "There's a lot that happens in between the seasons where they really need to turn to each other, I think in a way that very few people understand. And that often turns into fights or arguments or whatever, but at the end of the day, they realize that they have to kind of reconcile with each other and be there for each other in a way that not many other people can be."
For Conrad and Jeremiah, who have both fallen in love with Belly by the end of season 1 and who learn about their mother's heartbreaking recurring cancer diagnosis, Briney said season 2 will focus on their need to be "open and honest with each other."
"There's a lot going on between them," Briney said of Conrad and Jeremiah's relationship in the first season. "Conrad doesn't know that Jeremiah and Belly kissed and Jeremiah doesn't know that their mom has cancer. And there's a lot like that's just not on the table, and then by the second season, it all is."
"It was really exciting to be able to play a relationship where they have two options: you either talk about it or you don't," Briney added. "There's no hiding, there's no artificial takes. They had to be honest with each other."
As for the love triangle between Conrad, Belly and Jeremiah, Casalegno said that fans will see that "the love triangle unfolds and then refolds back together."
In addition to Tung, Kaufman, Casalegno and Briney returning to the show, Jackie Chung, who plays Laurel Conklin, Belly and Steven's mother, will also return to the show, as well as Rachel Blanchard, who plays Conrad and Jeremiah's mom, Susannah Fisher.
Elsie Fisher and Kyra Sedgwick are also heading to Cousins Beach for the first time as new characters on the show.
"The Summer I Turned Pretty" will be available to stream on Prime Video starting July 14.
Editor's note: This was originally published on July 6, 2023.
