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If you’ve ever found yourself screaming at your screen over whether Belly should end up with Conrad or Jeremiah, welcome to the club. For three summers, The Summer I Turned Pretty has gripped the internet with a chokehold not seen since the heyday of Twilight. It was a coming-of-age phenomenon, wrapped in sun-drenched nostalgia, first crushes, late-night bonfires, and of course, Taylor Swift lyrics that felt dangerously personal.
Adapted from the beloved book trilogy by author Jenny Han, the series followed Isabel “Belly” Conklin’s tender transformation from a girl caught in the in-between of adolescence to a young woman trying to navigate the complicated messiness of love and loss. Every season, viewers were sweeping romance and coastal aesthetic, to renew their allegiance in the great fandom war of our time: Team Conrad vs. Team Jeremiah.
Let’s be honest, Taylor Swift’s discography didn’t make the decision any easier. From Cruel Summer to Back to December, the show’s iconic soundtrack turned scenes into emotional sucker punches. That car ride with Exile playing? Still hurts. But in its final chapter, The Summer I Turned Prettyisn’t just about who Belly ends up with, it’s also about who she’s become along the way.
In an exclusive conversation with ELLE India, author Jenny Han and the core cast — Lola Tung (Belly), Gavin Casalegno (Jeremiah), and Christopher Briney (Conrad) — talk about their journey with the show, what it meant to say goodbye, and the kind of full-circle moments that happen only when fiction and real life begin to blur.
When the first season aired in 2022, no one quite knew how big the series would become. “You always hope it’ll happen,” says Lola, “but when you're actually filming, it feels so far away.” Christopher agrees: “There were three books of source material, so it was always my hope to tell the full story. But I never expected it to actually happen. I kind of can’t believe we made it this far.” Gavin nods: “Four years. It's crazy.” Jenny Han adds, “I was really hopeful we would get to do all three—just like the books. That always felt right to me.”
On the scenes that broke them (and us)
When asked about the most emotionally intense scene they filmed, the cast has no shortage of memories. “The scene with Chris and I and Rachel [Blanchard, who plays Susannah] towards the end of season one,” Gavin recalls, “That was a really hard day. Just an hour and a half of crying in her lap. It was wild.” Christopher, visibly reflective, agrees. “It was one of those days you don’t forget.”
Lola shares a moment that lives rent-free in fans’ heads—Belly sobbing in her car during Driver’s License. “It was 4 AM. I wasn’t really driving, but they blasted Olivia Rodrigo, drove me around, and told me to cry. So I did—two takes, just sobbing. Then it was like, ‘Alright, goodnight everybody!’” she laughs. “But yeah, very emotional.”
The Evolution Of Belly, Conrad, And Jeremiah
Three seasons later, it’s not just the relationships that have evolved, it’s the characters themselves. “I mean, just in terms of age, Conrad goes from 17 to about 24. That’s a huge amount of growth,” says Christopher. “I think about who I was at 17 and who I was at 24, completely different people.” Lola chimes in thoughtfully, “These characters have been through so much, together and separately. Grief, love, heartbreak, growing up. I hope people can see that change. Because I felt it, reading the scripts and living those scenes. It’s in the way they talk, the way they move through problems.”
Belly’s journey this season feels raw and real andd Jenny shares, “I thought a lot about what felt satisfying for her arc—as a writer and a fan. I wanted to stay true to her and the growth we all hoped to see and the cast surprises me all the time. There’s nothing better than seeing something done differently—and it turns out even better than you imagined. Also, building a community—both on set and among viewers. Every summer, we knew what we’d be doing: going back to Cousins Beach. That rhythm, that ritual, I’ll really miss it.”
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Gavin, who has often collaborated closely with Jenny Han on Jeremiah’s arc, says, “We worked hard to make it feel real. It wasn’t just like, 'He’s older now.' It was: how do we make him wiser, more self-aware, while still showing he has room to grow?”
It Felt Like A Chapter Close
Some moments on set were more than just scenes, they were emotional landmarks. “Our first-ever shooting day was at the summer house,” Christopher recalls. “Even though we didn’t end the final season there, it’s crazy to see how far we’ve come. From that one porch to all of this.”
Gavin remembers their final day shooting there vividly. “We were literally walking backwards down the driveway, saying goodbye. It was surreal. Like, we’re not coming back. This really is the end. It felt like a proper close to a very important chapter in our lives.”
Three Words, One Bond
Before they wrapped, we asked them to describe their off-screen chemistry in just three words. “Witty,” says Christopher. “Fun,” adds Gavin. “Laughy?” they both laugh. Lola finishes the thought with the kind of tenderness that has always defined the show: “There’s a lot of laughter. It’s a very fun environment to be in. Joyous, really.”
The Soundtrack That Shaped The Story
Taylor Swfit's music has always been a powerful tool in visual storytelling but this series turned it into a signature. In fact, few shows in recent memory have fused music and emotion as seamlessly as this one. “She’s an incredible storyteller, just like Jenny,” says Lola. “It felt very fitting. Jenny told me she actually listened to a lot of Taylor while writing the books, like The Way I Loved You. So some of those songs were part of the story from the very beginning.”
Fans, of course, know the feeling, because some of the show’s most iconic moments are scored by Swift. Exile during a devastating beachside breakup. Back to December echoing after a kiss that never should’ve happened. “There are so many incredible needle drops,” Lola continues. “But my favourite might be what Jenny did in the latest teaser, from Daylight into Red. I remember her telling me and I just said, ‘Oh my God, nobody’s going to expect this.’ It’s genius.”
Christopher calls the musical vision “thoroughly thought out,” and Gavin praises Han’s curatorial instinct: “Jenny does a deep dive into what fits the feel of the world. And with Taylor’s music, she always finds the right emotion, the right mood. Honestly, we don’t even know all the songs that are going to be in the next season—but we know they’ll hit.”
So, Who Does Belly End Up With?
We won’t spoil it here. But what we will say is this: whether you were Team Conrad, Team Jeremiah, or just Team Good TV, the show gave us something rare. A show that understood that a summer crush are major deal. That grief could look like pushing someone away. That loving two people at once could be real and complicated and valid. Talking about this Jenny said, “My north star is always the story. I need to be able to stand by it and feel proud. I write with the door closed, not thinking about reactions—but about what feels right.”
And most of all, it reminded us that growing up doesn’t happen all at once. It happens slowly, in saltwater-soaked conversations and starlit silences. In songs you’ll never listen to the same way again.