Jenny Han on ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Easter Eggs & Writing About Youth

Warning: Spoilers forward The second season of my summer time

“Our partitions are the identical coloration,” Jenny Han was fast to level out throughout a Zoom name with us from her New York condo on a latest afternoon. Her little video field has a picturesque backdrop : Ground-to-ceiling sage-green partitions flush with neatly trimmed bookshelves. A location so pristine it might simply be mistaken for a set. For all I do know there could also be a soundstage behind her totally opened door. As a best-selling creator and showrunner for Amazon Prime, her thoughtfulness and meticulousness are clearly an extension of her. the summer time when i turned stunningparticulars are second nature to her.

Following the profitable movie adaptation of her guide sequence To all of the boys I’ve ever beloved, This led to a three-part movie sequence and spin-off TV sequence, XO, Kitty For Netflix, Han returns to the world of drama manufacturing together with her beloved 2009 trilogy the summer time when i turned stunning Life. Consistent with the present and assembly the excessive expectations of its loyal followers, she stays carefully concerned in each side of the present’s final result. From casting to clothes and music selections, Han has the ultimate say on how the world of Cousins ​​Seaside will rework.

exist summer time The primary season opens in June 2022, with Han laying the groundwork for Isabel “Stomach” Conklin’s world (Dong Lihua) and her summer time on the seashore together with her fictional cousin. By way of Bailey’s lens, Cousins ​​is a picturesque city off the coast of Massachusetts the place the Conklin household – Isabel, her brother Steven (Sean Kaufman) and her mom, Laurie – Spent each summer time with the Fisher household, Suzanne Fisher, for the previous sixteen years. and her two sons Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casaleño).

Han has deftly created the type of pleasing Vale that may be becoming for any upscale East Coast seashore city: suppose Americana-style landscaping (blooming hydrangea bushes dot the lushest inexperienced grass), shingled cottages with coastal interiors, seashore cruisers and Probably the most pristine nation membership. As we observe Bayley’s feminine path—from the start of her promenade debut to the tip of the Fisher brothers’ bickering over her love—we see the interpersonal particulars on the similar time, by Laurel, Suzanne, and Stie. The article exhibits totally different sides of Cousins, who’re extra inclined to know the fact that “pleasantville” isn’t essentially “nice”. By the tip of the primary season, the characters are all entangled in a tangled internet of life’s most disagreeable realities.

In season two, as Han leads the Conklins and Fishers past the confines of Cousin Seaside, new areas, characters, music, and naturally, new questions come to the fore. Under, Han discusses her personal realization of Summer time, if her character exists in the identical universe, and why she will’t at all times give followers what they need:

To All of the Boys I’ve Beloved Earlier than is a profitable movie sequence.Why go the TV route The summer time after I turned stunning?

I feel TV exhibits are extra revolutionary. You possibly can actually dig into the characters and spend hours with them and undergo their journeys in a manner that films simply cannot. Since tv is extra of a author’s medium and movie is extra of a director’s medium, I simply knew I’d have extra artistic management.

There are such a lot of tales I want we might inform from right here To All of the Boys I’ve Beloved Earlier than sequence, however there may be merely no house within the film.Not solely had been we in a position to delve into the sequence the summer time when i turned stunning, but in addition created a brand new story and actually expanded on characters we did not spend a lot time with. Steven is one in all my favourite characters, however within the second guide, he is visiting school. So you do not see a lot of Steven or Laurel or anybody apart from Bailey and Jeremiah and Conrad. It is nonetheless a problem even on a TV present, but it surely’s enjoyable.

What was the method for introducing new characters that weren’t within the authentic books in Season 2?

I wished to get some historical past round the home and in addition to see a few of Suzanne’s household that we hadn’t met but. With the ability to really feel her presence in several methods.

It was good to really feel some type of attachment to Suzanne, not a substitute — that female determine feeling.

I am glad you pointed this out as a result of I’d say numerous this present is about moms and daughters. After dropping Suzanne, the facility of motherhood remained in our home, only a totally different, extra hostile drive.

Are there points of the guide that make you nervous to see them on display? How is the outcome?

It is a kind of issues that followers will say, “Please do not make Conrad imply to Bailey on the dance. Or do not let Bailey be imply to Bailey on the funeral.” However these are the individuals who learn the books Count on to see moments, so we needed to ship these iconic moments and discover a option to actually floor them. I feel we have all mentioned issues we have been ashamed of and performed issues we have all felt horrific on reflection. Particularly whenever you’re an adolescent, your feelings can get so wild and uncontrolled, and you are still studying the right way to handle them.

Was there something in your life that was affected whereas creating Stomach?

I’d say that I did acquire perception that summer time. Going to the seashore with mates and unwrapping my swimsuit after which my pal has all these bikinis. I all of the sudden felt actually backward, younger, like a toddler. I suppose I wished to inject these feelings into the characters. Often, I feel that feeling of awkwardness when writing about youth and maturity is a basic feeling that does not actually go away over time. It feels as contemporary as it’s now.

I learn the summer time when i turned stunning Watching it as an grownup after I was 15, it was very actual how your feelings would fully overcome any actual life factor that occurred to you whenever you had been younger.

Precisely. Like two issues can occur on the similar time. When somebody you liked probably the most dies, you possibly can really feel very unhappy and unhappy. And then you definately’ll even be very upset whenever you see your most up-to-date ex put his head in one other lady’s lap.

Do all of your characters exist in the identical universe, from Lara Jean to Stomach? If that’s the case, is there a foreseeable crossover between them sooner or later?

I’ve a little bit easter egg on my cowl Endlessly, at all times, Lara Jean. have a replica the summer time when i turned stunning On the quilt of her bed room as a result of I feel Lara Jean will learn that guide. Tome, the summer time when i turned stunning Exist in a barely grounded universe. The world of Lara Jean feels extra fleshed out.

Alright, let’s focus on the fascinating cultural meals difficulty. What books are in your nightstand proper now?

tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow By Gabrielle Zevin, everybody mentioned it was one of the best guide of the yr. And I have never learn it but! That is what I’ll learn.

Which TV exhibits hold you up at night time?

i simply began the brand new season that is all.I really feel like I am watching it yet again Felicity As a result of it is on my TikTok. So now I feel, possibly I ought to re-watch it.

What’s the very last thing you Googled in your cellphone?

Pizza place close to my home.

Which albums, playlists, songs are you at the moment listening to?

I take heed to Lana Del Rey, at all times Taylor Swift. I have been struggling to search out appropriate materials for the present. After I’m cooking or at residence, I am at all times in my condo taking part in Taylor Swift, Nina Simon, Fleetwood Mac, Harry Types, Colleen Bailey Ray and Stein Tevie Marvel. These are my high picks.

Do you take heed to podcasts?

No.

Do you imagine in astrology?

Probably not. I imply, I am a Virgo, so I feel folks hold saying issues that sound Virgo. I’m additionally the Yr of the Monkey, and I imagine within the oriental zodiac. However I’d say I am a skeptic.

What’s the particular significance of the Yr of the Monkey?

Inventive, naughty, trickster. Complicated. I really feel like I would say that is correct for me.

the summer time when i turned stunning second season Now streaming on Amazon Prime.