SPOILER ALERT: This post spoils the finale for The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3.
The invisible string that has always connected Belly (Lola Tung) and Conrad (Christopher Briney) came through in the Season 3 finale of The Summer I Turned Pretty.
Though it took Belly a bit to open up to Conrad after he showed up in Paris without warning her, the pair cleared the air regarding the years of tension and chemistry between them before declaring their love for each other in heartfelt ways.
Tung called it a “role reversal” for Belly to hold back while Conrad had his heart on his sleeve.
“I like seeing the switch, and I think it’s clear that she’s had a lot of time to grow and has been on her own for a while and enjoys her life here in Paris, and is very surprised to see him show up,” she told Deadline in an interview Thursday morning. “Belly sort of takes on some of the stuff that Conrad used to really do, and she’s very hesitant to invite him into her life and to fully commit to their relationship, because it’s scary. It’s really scary to do that, especially after all that they’ve been through, but at least they’re honest about it this time.”
In the below interview, Tung and Briney break down the end of their character arcs in the show, what they know about the upcoming film installment that will conclude The Summer I Turned Pretty and more.
DEADLINE: Chris, what does it mean for you to have Conrad’s arc play out the way it does?
CHRISTOPHER BRINEY: I’m happy for him. I’m proud of him. First of all, I feel lucky that we got to get to this point in the arc. I remember our first season. We hoped one person would watch it and enjoy it, and hope we get a second season and then so on. So we’re lucky to be able to have finished the arc in that way.
I was always sort of playing him with this in mind. I think it’s, it’s important, and all the things you can say about his past actions, or where he was when you first meet him, or whatever, I think it was all leading up to the finale. I’m proud of him. We made it.
Jackie Chung as Laurel in ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Season 3
DEADLINE: Lola, Belly channels a lot of Laurel in this last episode. Did you talk with Jackie Chung about that at all in preparation?
LOLA TUNG: Aw, I don’t think so, but I spend a lot of time with Jackie, so maybe it just happened naturally. She’s such an incredible role model in my life.
BRINEY: And a great actor.
TUNG: And person. She’s incredible, and Rachel too. I remember [for the] first season, one of the early days filming a scene with the two of them. At lunch, I just sat with them, and they told me stories and gave me pieces of advice. I was like, ‘Yeah, these are some of the coolest women I’ve ever met in my life.’ It’s such a compliment that to hear that, so thank you, that she’s channeling Laurel. She’s her mother’s daughter, for sure.
DEADLINE: You both spoke about the role reversal, but what else you can say about flipping the dynamic between them and how it was similar, like familiar but also different in the finale?
BRINEY: I mean they probably hadn’t seen each other in, what, a year?
TUNG: Yeah.
BRINEY: And especially for Belly like that was a big year. And she — I’m speaking for [Lola] now —
TUNG: Please.
BRINEY: Experienced a lot, and made decisions for herself in a way that we’ve sort of seen Conrad doing and being comfortable doing. So, as much as they have a long history, they’re sort of meeting each other in very different places in their lives. And also, you have to factor in the fact that he did just show up.
TUNG: [Laughs].
BRINEY: She wasn’t prepared to see him when he showed up. He was literally just waiting outside. So that’s jarring, and understandably, maybe that leads to something like, ‘Oh…what’s up?’
TUNG: Like ‘Hey…’ Super jarring, but maybe it’s good that she didn’t have time to prepare.
BRINEY: Sure, sure, but yeah, very jarring, but in terms of part of this reversal, he was more prepared than she was.
Belly (Lola Tung) in ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’
Eddy Chen/Amazon Content Services
DEADLINE: Were there conversations with Jenny about the scene where they kiss, they get together, and then the train scene, making that sequence feel earned for audiences?
TUNG: I mean, I hope that the three seasons have felt like [that] leading up to this, and that nothing felt rushed, and I know people were wanting that moment early on. And it’s like, I think you have to have everything happen the way that it does in order for them to get to this place.
BRINEY: Warranted.
TUNG: Yeah, and I think that’s why it is great that they feel like, not different people. They’re the same people at their core, but they feel like they’ve actually experienced new things and lived life without each other and had time apart. Then they have tough conversation after in Belly’s apartment. It feels like, “Okay, I mean, we’ve done all the things. What’s stopping us now?”
DEADLINE: What are you excited to expand on in the movie when it gets shot?
BRINEY: I don’t know. It’s just so up to Jenny. It’s hard to say. I mean, thank God I’m not in the writer’s room, because I would write in some dumb sh*t.
TUNG: He wants Conrad on the moon. In space.
BRINEY: Driving a cool car. Guns. James Bond.
TUNG: No, no. None of that. Stop saying that.
I’m sure Jenny has, has a great — she apparently has a first draft. So hopefully, maybe soon we’ll find out.
BRINEY: We won’t do that for months.
TUNG: Maybe you won’t. I’m getting my hands on that draft.
DEADLINE: What have you both learned from these characters that you’ll take into future roles?
BRINEY: I don’t know how much I’ve explicitly learned from Conrad, but we’ve been fortunate enough to have so much time working on set. Genuinely so much time. That’s a really lucky thing to be familiar with the way things work and learn your limits and learn how to stay in it when you have to and go home at night and be okay and not lose yourself. I’m grateful for that experience.
TUNG: I actually do feel like I’ve learned a lot from Belly and stepping into her shoes. One of the reasons I love acting is you become someone else for a little bit. And it’s funny, because you’re like, ‘Oh, I’m taking on this confidence and this whatever. That’s me doing that. So I know it’s somewhere inside of me.’
BRINEY: Oh interesting, yeah.
TUNG: And I’m capable of doing that. So maybe from Belly, especially the last few episodes in Paris, she has this scrappiness and determination and confidence that I admire and hope to take into my own life.
Christopher Briney as Conrad in ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Season 3
DEADLINE: Chris, I saw someone read into Conrad’s look on the train — before Belly gets there — that they felt it was similar to him sensing her in the airport. Was that the way you wanted to play it?
BRINEY: I don’t remember that being the choice. I don’t know. Maybe there was some direction in that way that I don’t remember, but I thought it was more of him just working on accepting the rejection and accepting that like, ‘Okay, all right, I had my head up my a**.’ And ‘back to work,’ and ‘that’s okay,’ and ‘that’s all right.’
DEADLINE: Also for Chris, I know you’re worried about getting typecast. I’m wondering if you have any thoughts on fans casting you in an Emily Henry romance. Those are big right now. Wouldn’t you be open to playing one of her main guys?
BRINEY: Oh, I don’t know anything about her stories. I don’t know. I guess it depends on what they’re about. I’d have to read it. I look forward to hopefully being able to do a lot of different things and a lot of different worlds with a lot of different creatives. So I don’t know, I’d have to read it.
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