Gavin Casalegno Can Relate to Jeremiah’s ‘Issues’ in ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Season 2
28.07.2023 - 15:41
/ usmagazine.com
Gavin Casalegno was able to seamlessly return to playing Jeremiah on The Summer I Turned Pretty, in part because of how his own experiences shaped his performance.
“I feel like in my own life I was dealing with some very similar things as Jeremiah. It was interesting because I found — as I was learning it — I could also help Jeremiah learn that in a sense,” Casalegno, 23, exclusively told Us Weekly in an interview conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike about Jeremiah’s journey in season 2. “So, it was a beautiful give and take.”
The actor said he was thrilled with how the sophomore season of the Prime Video drama showed more of Jeremiah’s perspective.
“It was so rewarding. Because I think [in] all of season 1 and even season 2, you get so much of Belly’s inner dialogue. You get so much of her thoughts, and you’re able to love Belly [Lola Tung] because of it,” he continued. “For Jeremiah, it’s the same. I feel like people are going relate to him and understand him better and really get to love the person he is because he has such a big heart for everyone around him.”
The Summer I Turned Pretty, which is based on a book series of the same name by showrunner Jenny Han, focuses on the love triangle between Belly, Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah. After exploring her feelings for Conrad, Belly starts to reconsider whether his brother, Jeremiah, is The One. Jeremiah, for his part, is dealing with the aftermath of mother’s death amid ups and downs with Belly.
Casalegno previously teased the “emotional walls” Jeremiah would have up after Belly shut him down in the season 2 premiere in favor of Conrad. He also discussed not allowing what he knows about Jeremiah’s future shape his current performance.
“I try to keep it as real as