Team Jeremiah! While Conrad Fisher gets a lot of hype — and love — in The Summer I Turned Pretty, his younger brother is a notable force.
In the Prime Video series, which was adapted from Jenny Han’s YA book trilogy of the same name, teenager Isabel “Belly” Conklin (Lola Tung) is eagerly looking forward to another summer at Cousins Beach alongside her brother, Stephen, and family friends Conrad and Jeremiah. The catch? Belly has had a longstanding crush on eldest brother Conrad (Christopher Briney) and hopes it’s finally the year that he notices her in a new light. Then, there’s Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno), who is Conrad’s younger brother — and he definitely notices Belly in a way that his sibling hasn’t.
“I will say is there are some scenes between Jeremiah and Belly that have some pretty amazing music,” Casalegno, 22, exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the series premiere. “I don’t know if it’s in the final cut, but those songs just, like, really hit the spot.”
The first season of the series, which has already been renewed for a second season, dropped on the streaming platform on Friday, June 17, as fans watched Belly figure out her love triangle while embracing the debutante social season. Conrad and Jeremiah, for their parts, both tried to figure out their changing feelings amid summer plans and family surprises.
“I feel like it was a very brotherly relationship from the get-go. It was really cool,” the Texas native told Us Weekly ahead of the series’ premiere of working with Briney. “I’ve never had an older brother, so to kind of grow with Chris on screen, it was so much fun to explore.”
The Connecticut native, for his part, was equally excited to work with the Vampire Diaries alum, telling Us: “Honestly, from the second we met I knew it would be easy. I don’t have a brother, but I feel like I can now imagine what it is like to have a brother. I think we pretty naturally just had a dynamic [of] people that get along.”
While Casalegno is no stranger to Hollywood, he knows this project is something special.
“All the hard work, blood, sweat, tears, and endless night of laughter finally out for the world. I couldn’t be more joyful and proud of these wonderful people
,” the actor gushed via Instagram on Friday, sharing behind-the-scenes snaps with his costars.
Acting has been a focus of Casalegno’s for many years now, which he thoroughly enjoys.
“I love doing what I do, and I know, at this time, this is what I want to be doing,” he told Photobook magazine in an interview published earlier this month. “I plan to get my real estate license at some point, but for where I am at right now, acting is my passion and focus. … Preparation for me is all about the headspace of the character. Music helps me to focus and what I listen to is determined by the scenes that day.”
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