NEED TO KNOW

  • Lola Tung is discussing her love for The Summer I Turned Pretty
  • In a new interview with Nylon Magazine, the actress talked about the moment she first finished the book series, along with her thoughts on the young adult genre
  • Tung stars in the Prime Video adaptation of the young adult trilogy

Lola Tung had an emotional experience when reading The Summer I Turned Pretty book series.

The actress, who stars in the Prime Video adaptation of Jenny Han’s beloved book trilogy of the same name, spoke with Nylon Magazine about her admiration for the series. Tung first read the books while attending Carnegie Mellon University, before she dropped out to take on the role of title character Isabel “Belly” Conklin.

“There was a really dramatic single tear that rolled down my cheek,” Tung 22, said about finishing the trilogy. “I love this world so much. If I wasn’t in this show, I would watch this.”

Lola Tung in ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’.

Dana Hawley/Prime Video

Tung isn’t alone, as devoted fans tune in every week to learn the fate of Belly and her love triangle with brothers Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah Fisher (Gavin Casalegno). But despite the show’s popularity, the actress still notices there’s a stigma that surrounds the young adult genre.

“People do this thing where they’re like, ‘Oh my God, it’s embarrassing [that I like Summer because] I’m 30,’ and I’m like, why is that embarrassing?” Tung said. “I don’t think there’s anything embarrassing about liking the things you like.”

“A lot of times YA is associated with women and female audiences, and that’s why sometimes it gets pushed aside,” she continued. “Everyone should just feel things and stop being afraid of it.”

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The actress also opened up to Nylon about the whirlwind experience of first joining the cast of The Summer I Turned Pretty — and how Han, who is also a showrunner on the TV series, encouraged her to start seeing a therapist when she felt too overwhelmed.

Lola Tung (right) and Jenny Han in June 2022.

Sean Zanni/Getty Images

“It’s helpful just to be able to talk to someone objectively about everything,” Tung said.

Han, who also wrote the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before trilogy, previously told PEOPLE that she’d turned down adaptation offers for The Summer I Turned Pretty until she could do it herself. The author later stated in an interview on the Wild Card with Rachel Martin podcast that she felt she had a “responsibility” to the novel’s fans, particularly as a YA writer.

“I care about my readers,” Han said. “I would never want someone to read my book and then want to cause, like, self-harm or feel, like, deeply depressed after reading that … because they’re still a child. You know, you are responsible for them to some degree.”

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Tung also spoke to PEOPLE in 2022 about stepping into Belly’s role, and how it mirrored what she was going through at the time.

“I’m in that period of my life where I’m figuring things out and I’m sort of coming into my own as well, so getting to do that in her shoes has been really cool,” Tung said.