The long-awaited third and final season of Prime Video‘s The Summer I Turned Pretty premieres on July 16. Adapted from Jenny Han’s best-selling trilogy, season 3 will conclude Belly’s (Lola Tung) love story between the Fisher brothers Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) and Conrad (Christopher Briney) in an expanded 11 episodes, one of which Han directed.
Deadline sat down with stars Tung, Casalegno and Briney ahead of the launch to discuss how their characters evolved over the three seasons, their favorite Taylor Swift music from the show, possible spinoffs and what fans can expect from the epic finale. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
DEADLINE: This is the third and final season of the show. How did it feel saying bye to your characters?
GAVIN CASALEGNO: Oh, man… it was more bitter than it was sweet. Getting to grow with these characters for the last couple of years has been so much fun. Especially seeing how well received all of our characters are to people has been really cool. And, getting to bring life to the books. I think we’re all really excited, and it was really sweet.
CHRISTOPHER BRINEY: Always bittersweet, because there’s excitement in moving forward and having time to do other things. But filming our show, we were there for six months, and it moves so quick. You never know the last day that you’ll be shooting in this location or with this actor.
LOLA TUNG: I remember when we were filming the first season, I was like “Wow, this is gonna come out in a year, it feels so far away and I hope we get a second season.” It’s crazy how fast time has gone by.
DEADLINE: Taylor Swift’s music plays a really big part in the show. What is the significance of her music in the storytelling? And what was your favorite Taylor Swift needle drop?
TUNG: She’s an incredible storyteller, just like Jenny. So it felt very fitting. I think for Jenny, she has a personal connection. When she was writing a lot of the books, she was listening to some of this music, like The Way I Loved You. So, for her, she’s had these in mind for so long. Obviously, not all of these albums were out yet, but it helped her shape the world.
There are so many incredible needle drops. From the first two seasons, The Way I Loved You is a classic. I have to say, though, the trailer songs like the teaser that just came out as well. I remember when Jenny told me what she was doing with that, from Daylight into Red, and I was like, “Oh My God, nobody’s ever gonna expect this.” It’s so genius, and it’s so perfect.
BRINEY: Very thoroughly planned and thought out. It’s part of the vision.
CASALEGNO: I think Jenny does a great job at finding the perfect music for the world. Like with all of Taylor’s music, I think she really does a deep dive into what’s going to fit the world and the feel of all these things. We don’t even know all the songs that are going to be in the next season.
DEADLINE: The transition from Daylight to Red is so fitting for both of their characters. What can fans expect from the finale of The Summer I Turned Pretty?
BRINEY: Drama!
TUNG: Epic-ness. I think some really interesting character growth.
CASALEGNO: Plot twists.
TUNG: Excitement, good storytelling.
DEADLINE: Lola, Jenny said that she wanted Belly to stand on her own power and be the driver of her own story. How do you feel like she’s evolved into that version of herself?
TUNG: She’s been through a lot these past couple seasons. She’s experienced grief, love, and changes in every one of her relationships, with the boys, with her brother, with her best friend, and with her mom. She’s been through a lot of change, and now, especially leading up to Season 3, there’s a huge time jump and people don’t get to see what happens in those years. As an actor, you craft what you think happens, what you think changed, and where this character is now. It was really cool to do that, especially because I am playing my own age now. We had a year off because of the strike, so we had time to grow on our own and separate from the characters, and then come back to bring everything that we had learned on our own to the characters.
I love seeing that with Belly. I think this season, the world expands a little more. You see her with the boys obviously, but there are so many really important relationships, and the first one being the one with herself. We really get to see that blossom this year. She has a new understanding of who she is and what she wants in life, which as an actor, is just awesome.
DEADLINE: There have been discussions about spinoffs for the show. Would you want to be involved if there was a spinoff?
BRINEY: I would want to see the college years of Susannah, Laurel, Adam and Colin. But I want it to be like a sitcom with no audience and no laugh track. There’s just silences. They pause for laughs that aren’t there. I think it works.
TUNG: They all play themselves playing college kids.
CASALEGNO: That would be a spinoff for sure.