The Big Picture

Returning to Cousins Beach is bittersweet after the loss of Susannah, but the new season offers a whole new summer and love triangle. The characters face the conflict of potentially losing the Fisher beach house, navigating complicated family dynamics and past mistakes. The actors discuss their expanded roles, diving deeper into their characters, and their favorite scenes from the new season. They also share their opinions on who Belly should end up with.

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Season 2 Episode 6 of The Summer I Turned Pretty.Returning to Cousins Beach this season in The Summer I Turned Pretty might be bittersweet after the loss of Susannah (Rachel Blanchard), but despite the grief that the characters are experiencing, the new season also offers a new whole new summer. For Belly (Lola Tung), Conrad (Christopher Briney), and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) the sizzling love triangle is still bubbling beneath the surface, but they must also face the conflict of potentially losing the Fisher beach house when Aunt Julia (Kyra Sedgwick) decides to sell the beloved home. Struggling with conflicted feelings, past mistakes, and complex family dynamics, it’s hard to imagine summer being as pure and innocent as before. And while the kids have been forced to grow up, a return to Cousins inevitably brings the kids together.

We spoke with Rain Spencer, who plays Taylor, Belly’s best friend, David Iacono, who plays Cam, the Cousins local, and Elsie Fisher, Skye, who plays Julia’s child and the Fisher’s cousin about the new season. We talked to Spencer and Iacono about returning to the show with expanded roles and getting to dig more into their characters, and then also with Fisher about creating a character who was not in Jenny Han’s original books that the show is based on. With so many group scenes, including a trip to the boardwalk and a party at the house, which we saw end tragically for Belly last week, we also tried to pinpoint the best group shoot the actors had. Finally, we asked the trio who Belly should end up with: Conrad or Jeremiah?

Check it all out in the video interview at the top of this article or read the conversation in transcript form below.

This interview was conducted prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Image via Prime Video 

COLLIDER: So Cam and Taylor are coming back in full force this season, and I love that. David and Rain, what was it like exploring further aspects of your character in the show, and do you think there was a moment that your character really got to shine in this season?

RAIN SPENCER: I was really, really excited to be able to dive deeper into Taylor and who she really is and not just the face she puts on. I think Taylor’s learning how to be vulnerable and really express her feelings. She’s like the type of girl who will date someone she doesn’t really care about, but the person she’s in love with, she’ll never tell. She’ll never tell them. I’m excited to just continue this journey with her and have her show who she really is.

DAVID IACONO: It’s interesting. Similar to Taylor, I think, in the first season—I was thinking about it—Cam is very much on their turf in the first season. I think everybody goes through this type of thing where, like, when you’re constantly in somebody else’s life, like you’re visiting their home, and you’re hanging out with their friends and going to their friends’ parties, it’s easier to maintain a sort of image. You can control that a little bit better. So I think that was really interesting with Cam in the first season, but in this season, I think he can be far more vulnerable. He kind of has to be because they’re coming to him on his turf, they’re returning to Cousins, he’s been there. You see that he’s kind of a little more nervous and a little more awkward than maybe initially he let on when he was with Belly (Lola Tung). So I think it’s also way more relatable in that sense.

For sure, and Elsie, I loved meeting Skye this season. They’re definitely a really welcome addition, I think, to the group. I love seeing the guys together, and especially Skye with their cousins. They sort of have a contentious relationship at first, what was it like coming into this group for you, Elsie, and also, how did you find the soul of this character?

ELSIE FISHER: Oh, great phrasing of the question! You know, I found myself in real life almost in a very similar situation to Skye because I was coming into this group of all these people who were pretty tight with each other, as the kids say. As an actor and with the real people, it worked from the get-go.

In terms of finding the character, too, Jenny [Han] was really great about giving me a lot of freedom to build this person who wasn’t really a part of the books. I think so much of it was taking cues from Kyra [Sedgwick], too, just because Skye and Julia are so close to each other, so of course, a lot of Julia is going to rub off on Skye. I just didn’t want to fall into any conventions of being the conventional nerd or, like, whatever. I like that Skye can kind of get down and party, perhaps drink a beer or two, who knows? [Laughs]

Image via Prime Video

This season, I really like that you leaned into that, those group dynamics for all three of you, and you guys did that with the rest of the cast. You guys did a lot of crazy stuff; you had a party, you went to a carnival, you had laser tag and stuff. Do you have a particular favorite scene or shoot that stands out for you guys individually?

IACONO: The fact that you were just talking about all the fun stuff they do, the first thing that came to mind was the scene where everybody’s racing each other on the go-kart track.

FISHER: Oh my god!

IACONO: I just loved so much that they had Cam be the guy with the flag that started the race. I felt like I very much enjoyed—even though I wanted to be racing—I very much felt like that aligned with Cam’s being for some reason. Like, he is totally the dude that’s like, “Ready, set, go!” [Laughs] You know what I mean? I don’t know why. So that was probably the most fun. That whole series at the boardwalk and stuff, that was the most fun I had, I think.

FISHER: God, I mean, same. I almost forgot we even did the go-karts stuff because that was some of the first stuff I ever really shot. But that was so fun because it was Rain driving the car [laughs], and I was just in the little passenger seat, giving my little quips and stuff. All the stuff where it was just sort of all of us together was always great because there’s so many fun dynamics. We got to do so much stuff that wasn’t necessarily scripted, just in the background of other peoples’ scenes, and really flesh out the world and the characters, and that’s all you can ask for.

SPENCER: I always think about the golf course location. We just had so much fun. It was a night shoot, so we ended around, like, 5 am, and when we weren’t filming, we were taking golf carts and bombing hills. [Laughs] It was very fun.

Image via Amazon Prime

I love that you guys all had different answers. I’m going to ask this question for everybody and I want you to answer as yourself, not your character; who do you guys think Belly should end up with? Do you guys have any thoughts?

IACONO: I think it’s Conrad (Christopher Briney).

FISHER: I have to agree.

IACONO: Right? I don’t know. Like, you really– Even though he can be so annoying…

FISHER: The yearning!

IACONO: The yearning!

FISHER: The yearning.

IACONO: It’s so intense. And what she has with Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno)— There was a scene in the first season, Laurel (Jackie Chung) was talking about how Belly comes to her, and she’s asking about her relationship with her father, and she’s talking about how some love is like a cozy campfire that feels safe, and other love is burning and passionate, but it can be so passionate that sometimes it can burn everything down. And I feel like she has the burning one with Conrad and the safe thing with Jeremiah.

FISHER: Yes.

IACONO: And for Belly, I just feel like I want the passion!

SPENCER: That’s exactly why I want the campfire. Because if you’re talking about longevity in a relationship, you want to be cozy and safe and feel at home with the person, and like they’re not just going to leave you at any second.

SPENCER: You know what I mean? You need to feel secure in the relationship, so I think Jeremiah.

Image via Prime Video

I think Conrad went a little too far for me this season. [Laughs]

SPENCER: He went way too far for me!

A little bit too wishy-washy for me.

SPENCER: No security.

Exactly! Is there a character that you guys haven’t had time to share the screen with that you want to have a scene with in the future?

IACONO: That’s a great question.

FISHER: For me, Steven (Sean Kaufman), for sure. I think Skye and Steven is such an unmined friendship.

IACONO: I would say Steven, too, to be honest.

FISHER: Right?

IACONO: Cam and Steven, there’s a funny moment in the second season when Cam first sees everyone at the rock climbing, or whatever, and Steven is just kind of like, “Oh, what’s up, Cam? We’re about the climb this wall now, though!” You know what I mean? [Laughs] So I don’t know, I think it would be cool to see Steven pick on Cam and stuff. I have some moments, but it’s never enough.

SPENCER: I feel like there are so many characters I don’t get to share the screen with that much in Season 2. We have group scenes, which are always really, really fun, but yeah, I don’t have any scenes with Cam. He’s like, “Don’t make a mess,” and I’m like, “I’m not!”

IACONO: [Laughs] “Leave me alone!”

SPENCER: Like, “Leave me alone!” And with Jeremiah, the second season, too, we didn’t– or Conrad! I feel like all of them, you know? I feel like they could blossom into good friendships.

The Summer I Turned Pretty is now streaming on Prime Video.