Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Season 2 of The Summer I Turned Pretty.

The Big Picture

The second season of The Summer I Turned Pretty has brought on new challenges for Belly and her friends and family, including the potential loss of the Fisher beach house. The death of Susannah has impacted Belly and Steven differently, causing them to grieve individually and struggle to come together as a family. Lola Tung and Sean Kaufman, the actors who play Belly and Steven, express their love and support for Belly’s character, encouraging her to follow her heart and find happiness.

After a chaotic second season, The Summer I Turned Pretty is nearing its end but Belly’s (Lola Tung) story is far from over. After losing Susannah (Rachel Blanchard), the season started off on a low note, with the potential loss of the family beach house threatening the Fisher boys. Struggling with her grief and her complicated love triangle with Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno), Belly and her brother Steven (Sean Kaufman) head back to Cousins Beach with a lot of uncertainty still lingering in their relationships. And, with college coming at them fast, these are the final summers of their youth before they are fully thrusted out into the world.

We spoke with Lola Tung and Sean Kaufman about the second season and what surprised them about the season after learning about the story their characters would take. We also discussed how their characters have changed since the death of Susannah. We discussed who Belly should ultimately pick between the brothers, or whether she needs to pick anyone at all. We also talked about the changes in Steven’s relationship after dating Shayla and now dating Taylor (Rain Spencer).

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: Coming into Season 2, there’s a lot happening. Lola, did you know where you were going to go in this season and how you were going to end up? I know you guys have started filming Season 3 already, so you kind of know her future. Oh, you haven’t?

SEAN KAUFMAN: We don’t even know anything.

LOLA TUNG: We don’t even know what’s happening with that. [Laughs]

KAUFMAN: Unless you know something!

I was just doing some Googling last night. I know nothing. [Laughs] Did where Season 2 went surprise you?

TUNG: I guess yes and no. I think we kind of had the blueprint of the book, which Jenny [Han] is so dedicated to staying true to her work and just bringing that vision to life while keeping the heart of the book. It was really special to have that. So, I kind of knew in that sense, but also there were so many new things, like her relationships with the boys are slightly different than they are in the books, especially coming off of Season 1. So, I feel like yes we had most of the script at the beginning, but you never really– I don’t know, it’s all kind of a journey with the characters. I feel like you never really know where you’ll end up, and it was really fun to go on that journey with Belly, [to Kaufman] and with you.

KAUFMAN: You can even do as much work as you want on the script beforehand, and it all kind of changes the moment you step into the space and actually start doing it, you know?

Image via Amazon Prime

Sean, this season, you have a whole new romance that was kind of hinted at last season with Rain [Spencer’s] character, Taylor. How do you think your character has grown from his previous relationship with Shayla (Minnie Mills), and does that growth translate to his relationship with Taylor?

KAUFMAN: I think so. I think, if anything, Susannah’s (Rachel Blanchard) death has kind of shown that there’s a lot of stuff from the past that he needs to look at. He needs to take a second to look around at who’s really been there all his life, who’s been next to him. I think such a shocking event kind of brings everything back to reality, and he looks to his side and sees a person that has been with him for the whole time. So I think he’s learned a lot from his relationship with Shayla. I don’t think he forgets that. I don’t think he pushes it to the side, but I think he also understands to make amends and have a good relationship with somebody else, you must learn from your past and you must acknowledge it.

Obviously, everyone on the show is dealing with the loss of Susannah in their own way, but I wish that we had more of Belly and Steven’s reactions because they obviously grew up with Susannah and saw her every summer. How do you think her death affected them, and how did you process that?

TUNG: I think in their family, and this is sort of Laurel’s (Jackie Chung) battle throughout the season, but it seems like for the most part, they sort of deal with things on their own. They have trouble coming together and grieving together. So, I think, especially at the beginning of the season, Belly was really living in that in her own world, her own headspace, not really wanting to interact with anyone else, and not feeling like anyone else could really understand her experience. Because I don’t think Steven ever reached out and said, “Hey, I understand that experience,” and I don’t think Laurel ever reached out and said, “Hey, I understand that,” because they were all trying to be strong for each other and to move forward in their own ways.

It’s really beautiful to see Steven and Belly a little bit later into the season, maybe, like, Episode 3 or 4, when Steven gets to the summer house, and Belly just says to him, “I’m glad you’re here.” They do need each other, and they do lean on each other, even if it’s in smaller ways like that. It’s important to be there for each other, and I think they both need that.

KAUFMAN: Yeah. Even when they don’t show it. It’s just that small, like, one-word thing.

Image via Prime Video 

For sure. So I’m asking this question to everybody, and I’m curious to hear your guys’ answer; who do you personally, not your characters, think that Belly should end up with?

KAUFMAN: Sean is very hard to distinguish from Steven sometimes, being an older brother myself. So Sean is always and will be Team Belly, which I know ain’t the answer people want to hear, but I, as an older brother, just want my little sis to be happy. And whoever that is, whether it’s nobody or somebody, I just want you to be happy.

TUNG: Yeah, I feel like as cast members, as people and not our characters, it’s much harder to be like, “You should be with this boy, you should be with that boy.” Especially since we do see so much of Belly’s inner battle and how much she goes back and forth. Because there’s not one perfect person all the time, it’s messy, and that’s life. So I think it makes sense to be Team Belly, and to ultimately be like, “You know what? Follow your heart. Follow your heart. See where it takes you. You’re young! You’ve got time.” [Laughs] As I’m, like, three years older than her. But yeah, Team Belly all the way.

I agree 100%. I like that Laurel’s like, “I want you to have many lovers.”

TUNG: [Laughs] Yeah!

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