Lola Tung’s Next Steps

Few things captivate an audience like a love triangle, and The Summer I Turned Pretty, Amazon Prime Video’s hit adaptation of the beloved young adult novels, delivers one that’s as addictive as it is heart-wrenching. Often dubbed “this generation’s Twilight,” the series has returned for its third and final season, drawing viewers back into the sun-soaked world of Cousins, a fictional seaside town, where Belly Conklin is confronted again by choosing between two brothers: the brooding Conrad or the warmhearted Jeremiah. It’s an alluring premise that has made it one of Amazon’s most viewed shows of all time.

Now twenty-two, actor Lola Tung was only eighteen when she was cast as Belly in her first acting job ever. The audition came in 2020 while she was a freshman at Carnegie Mellon, where she was enrolled in the drama program. Securing the role meant she had to drop out of university to film the show, but given that it was a “really weird COVID year,” Tung didn’t mind. “I think it was the greatest curveball that could have been thrown my way,” she recalls. “I’m very happy that everything happened the way it did.”

Fame came swiftly for Tung. Since The Summer I Turned Pretty first aired, she has gained millions of followers on social media and learned to navigate her newfound spotlight with grace. “I don’t think there’s anything that can prepare you for that type of thing,” she reflects. “It’s been an interesting learning experience and process, and one that never fully feels normal.” While adjusting to the sudden attention, Tung leaned on a strong support system of friends, family, and her castmates. “I have a lot of really incredible people in my life,” says Tung. “Especially on this show. We all went into it pretty fresh, and we just had this really awesome summer and got to make something that we were really proud of and just really bonded. I think we were able to all have each other’s backs, talk about everything that was happening, and be excited together, also lean on each other when things were a little more difficult.”

Much like her character, Tung was a teenager when the show began, and she says it’s been meaningful to grow up alongside Belly. From the moment she read the script, she felt a deep connection to the role, seeing her not just as a character embroiled in a love triangle, but as a complex and profound human. “I was so excited that it was a portrayal of a teenage girl who was going through all those emotions and feeling them, and it wasn’t making fun of that,” says Tung. “I mean, people will say what they want to say, but those are all very real emotions. Whatever she was going through, love triangle or not, I think those are all really real feelings at sixteen or seventeen. And sometimes they’re not taken as seriously, especially with teenage girls. So I was really excited to see that and I related to it.”

Now, in season three, Belly is a college student, and more grown up, just like Tung. It’s a shift she found both exciting and relatable while filming. “There is a nice little arc to her. It’s nice to see her more grown up. And I was playing my own age, which was really fun,” says Tung. “You can see a little bit more of the maturity in her decisions, more of the life experience reflected in the way she just moves through life. I’ve sort of gotten to grow up with her, which has been really fun.”

What sets The Summer I Turned Pretty apart is the way showrunner and author Jenny Han infuses everyday drama with lightness, heart, and a touch of magic. “Jenny has so much care for the story, and everything is so intentional,” says Tung. “I don’t know how she does it, but she is able to really just know what people want and touch people’s hearts.” That thoughtfulness extends to how she treats her characters and collaborates with the cast. Over time, Tung has had the opportunity to work with Han to shape Belly’s character more deeply and make her truly her own, from her style and her vocabulary to the music she listens to. “She’s very collaborative and will ask our opinion now that we’ve been with these characters for so long,” says Tung of Han. “So it’s cool to feel that sort of closeness to the characters.”

As the show comes to its end, Tung reflects on what she’s learned from portraying Belly and what she’ll carry with her beyond. “I’ve learned a lot from her. I think she has a confidence and an impulsiveness and spontaneity that I sometimes lack. I will overthink a lot about things that I want to say but feel like I shouldn’t, and she sometimes will just say the hard thing even if it may cause some tension,” says Tung. “Sometimes things need to be said to move forward and hash out relationships. I think I’ve gotten a little bit tougher and maybe a little more impulsive. Not in a dangerous way, but in a necessary way, which I do appreciate. It’s needed sometimes, and overthinking can be such a nightmare. So yeah, I love that about her.”

While it may seem like this opportunity came out of nowhere, it’s one that Tung has been preparing for since childhood. As a young thespian, the New York City native performed in school musicals and plays, and eventually attended the famous and prestigious LaGuardia Arts High School. “Once I got to high school, I knew that it was something that I wanted to do seriously forever,” says Tung. “It was very exciting getting in and getting to study acting every single day and meeting some incredible people. My best friends are from high school. I got so much incredible knowledge, and I wouldn’t be here now without all of that.”

Outside of Belly, Tung has been pursuing other acting opportunities. Last year saw her Broadway debut in the role of Eurydice in the Tony-winning musical Hadestown. “That was beyond my wildest dreams. It was so incredible,” she says of performing on Broadway. “That was my absolute dream since middle school. And I really can’t believe that happened, still sometimes.”

She also recently wrapped filming on her feature film debut, Forbidden Fruits. Starring alongside Lili Reinhart and Victoria Pedretti, the film is an adaptation of Lily Houghton’s play Of the Women Came the Beginning of Sin, and Through Her We All Die. “It’s so different from The Summer I Turned Pretty. So it’s always fun when people want you for a certain part, even when what you’ve done is so different, because they just see something. It was so cool that they even wanted me to be part of it. I had such a blast filming that, and it was my first experience doing a whole film, start to finish,” recalls Tung. “The director, Meredith, is incredible, and the cast was incredible. I was working with all these women who’ve been doing this a lot longer than I have, and have so much wisdom and taught me so much, and are so talented and funny. It was such a blast.”

Ultimately, Tung is welcoming all future opportunities in the dramatic world. “It’s just cool meeting different people, directors, actors, and writers. It’s just exciting to be on set or to be on a stage, to be working on something that you’re really passionate about,” says Tung with a huge smile. “It reminds you why you do the whole thing, why you love it so much.”

The Summer I Turned Pretty continues on Wednesdays on Amazon Prime Video.