The creator of The Summer I Turned Pretty, Jenny Han, made sure to throw viewers off about how the series could end.
In October 2024, videos quickly went viral online of what appeared to be Lola Tung (who portrayed the lead character, Belly) and Gavin Casalegno (who played Belly’s former fiancé, Jeremiah) filming the show’s third and final season in Paris, France.
Fans then suspected that the show could conclude with the two characters getting together, even though they called off their wedding, and Belly chose her first love, Jeremiah’s brother Conrad (portrayed by Christopher Briney), in Han’s final book of The Summer I Turned Pretty series.
Now, Han has revealed that all those apparent scenes of Jeremiah and Belly in Paris never existed, and they pretended to be filming to throw fans off about how the series would end.
“We did have Gavin come out so that we could have some stuff with him in Paris, just because I like to keep surprises for the audience,” Han said during a Thursday interview with Entertainment Weekly. “That's really hard in this day and age. As movies get filmed, people see the whole movie, and I think it takes away from some of the excitement around it when you have all these spoilers. So that was my way of trying to protect the story for the audience.”
Casalegno said that he was happy to participate in this little trick on fans.
“They just told me to get on a plane and show up and they handed me sides that were blank and then I just went out there and ran,” he said during a Thursday interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
The actor also said his visit to Paris for the fake scenes was “super fun,” filled with some other amazing opportunities.
“It was a free trip to Paris, can’t complain,” he added. “I had some great coffee. I got to meet a lot of the French crews as well and the French are so amazing.”
*Major series finale spoilers to follow*
In the final episode of the third season, which was released Wednesday, it’s not Jeremiah who visits Belly in Paris, it’s Conrad.
Conrad shows up at Belly’s apartment in Paris unannounced, on the eve of her birthday, and confesses that he’s never stopped throughout their years apart. While Belly is initially unsure about her feelings for Conrad, prompting him to leave Paris, she rushes to the train station to catch him before his train departs and tell him he’s always been the one for her.
The third book of Han’s series, We’ll Always Have Summer — which is what the third season of the show is based on — ends in a similar way, with Jeremiah and Belly calling off their wedding and the latter moving to Paris. That’s followed by an epilogue, which jumps forward two years and reveals that while abroad, Belly and Conrad reconcile through letters. They later reconnect at Belly’s college graduation and end up getting married.
Although the series wraps up with Belly and Conrad together, back at their family’s beach house in the U.S., we don’t see them get married, which disappointed fans.
However, it turns out The Summer I Turned Pretty franchise isn’t actually over. Only hours after Wednesday’s series finale, Amazon Prime Video announced the story will continue in a forthcoming movie.
“There is another big milestone left in Belly’s journey, and I thought only a movie could give it its proper due,” Han said at the series’ finale red carpet celebration in Paris, France, per Variety. “I’m so grateful to Prime Video for continuing to support my vision for this story and for making it possible to share this final chapter with the fans.”
While the exact plot, casting details, and film release have yet to be announced, Han will return to write the film alongside Sarah Kucserka.
