‘Anyone Could Be the Girl Next Door’: How Jenny Han Defied Hollywood Typecasting to Turn ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Into a Smash Hit
28.07.2023 - 20:29
/ variety.com
Rachel Seo Sitting in her writing office, surrounded by mossy green bookshelves, Jenny Han is telling an origin story of sorts. She was 24, and her first novel was about to be published. At the time, it wasn’t considered appropriate for authors to put their headshot on the back flap of their books.
But Han wanted hers to be on it — not for vanity’s sake but to reinforce the magnitude of her achievement. Because when she was younger, she “just didn’t know it was possible to be an author.” Eleven books, three movies and two TV shows later, the YA writer has built a fervent fan base through her ability to capture the flutter of an emerging crush, the euphoria of falling in love, the scald of heartbreak. Netflix’s adaptation of “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” became one of the streaming service’s most-viewed original movies upon its premiere in 2018.
“The Summer I Turned Pretty” vaulted to the No. 1 spot on Prime Video when Season 1 debuted in 2022. Viewers of the series, which just premiered its second season, swooned for 16-year-old Belly Conklin (Lola Tung), who becomes entangled in a love triangle with two brothers over the course of a summer in their families’ shared beach house.
Sweetening the show’s appeal are the carefully curated needle drops strewn throughout. Olivia Rodrigo, One Direction and especially Taylor Swift are a few of the artists who populate the soundtrack to Season 2. Han is an avowed Swiftie, but using the pop superstar’s music is also a smart creative decision: Placing nine of her songs in “The Summer I Turned Pretty” will no doubt attract — and possibly convert — Swift fans to viewers of the show.
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