\n\tBefore Conrad and Jeremiah\u2019s mom, Susannah, died of cancer between seasons one and two, she was always secretly hoping Belly, the daughter of her best friend Laurel (Jack Chung), would end up with one of her sons. But what she didn\u2019t know was the pressure it was actually putting on Belly, as revealed in the season three finale <\/a>before Conrad and Belly ultimately end up together.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cShe probably saw something in both of them, and I think it was a bit of fantasy for her. But if she knew the chaos that would ensue and the hurt, she would have said it differently, I think,\u201d Blanchard says.<\/p>\n \n\tDespite all the messiness after her death \u2014 from Laurel and Belly fights, and Conrad withholding his true feelings for Belly, to Jeremiah and Belly becoming codependent on each other in their relationship and rushing to get married \u2014 they all matured throughout the final season and eventually, all found clarity as individuals and with love.<\/p>\n \n\tBelow, Chung and Blanchard unpack the drama-filled third and final season, their thoughts on the show\u2019s ending, if Laurel would actually be open to going on a single\u2019s cruise and their thoughts on a potential prequel with their characters.<\/p>\n \n\t***<\/p>\n \n\tHow does it feel to see the series come to an end after spending so many years with your characters?<\/p>\n \n\tJACKIE CHUNG I feel very lucky that we\u2019re able to be here in Paris and watch it together, not only with an audience, but with each other. Because I think when I spoke to you [previously], people would ask me, \u201cHow did you feel?\u201d I ould say it doesn\u2019t feel over. I\u2019m still seeing everyone. I haven\u2019t seen all the episodes. I still have to experience those, and now this feels like a\u00a0finale; it feels more complete.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tRACHEL BLANCHARD A really special finale. I\u2019ve never had a screening for the last episode of anything, let alone in Paris and being together with everyone, so it feels really special.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tJackie, why do you think Conrad was able to convince Laurel to come to the wedding, but she instantly shut Jeremiah down when he came earlier to ask her with Belly?<\/p>\n \n\tCHUNG Part of it was because I think they do have a close relationship and she really does value his thoughts and opinions, because they think similarly. He\u2019s not impulsive, he\u2019s very thoughtful and measured as she is, but I also think when Jeremiah and Belly came to her, it was still so fresh. Belly was still in the house. By the time she talked to Conrad, as she mentions in the scene, everybody else has turned. John was a quick one and Steven was also a quick one (laughs). I think she was feeling the loss of Belly in her home and in her life, and more time had passed. I think she was hopeful she would come around, and she didn\u2019t. So I think he came at an important moment and was able to just push her further to the other side.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tJackie Chung in The Summer I Turned Pretty season three.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrime Video<\/p>\n \n\tRachel, knowing Susannah knew the way Conrad felt about Belly, what do you think she would have thought about Belly and Jeremiah\u2019s relationship?<\/p>\n \n\tBLANCHARD I think she would have thought they were too young to get married. But I think Susannah would have been supportive of whatever her kids and Belly wanted to explore. I don\u2019t think she was set on Conrad at all costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThere\u2019s no doubt Susannah would have hated seeing Conrad and Jeremiah fight, so what do you think she would have thought of their confrontation, which turned into a resolution, at her grave in season three?<\/p>\n \n\tBLANCHARD I think she would have been so disappointed. She didn\u2019t mean to cause this kind of chaos and fracture in their relationship. All I think she ever wanted was everyone to look out for each other, and maybe her message got a bit misconstrued and taken a bit too seriously.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tJackie, why do you think Laurel hasn\u2019t gone to visit Belly in Paris? Especially since she stayed longer than Laurel was expecting, and it\u2019s clear she misses her daughter.<\/p>\n \n\tCHUNG I imagine they\u2019ve spoken. They\u2019re close enough that Belly\u2019s probably given her updates. If it were up to me, I would have been there (laughs). But in terms of the story, Belly needed this time to discover who she is and to explore this Parisian version of herself, and really come into her own. I think it was important for her to be on her own without her mom voicing some opinions in her ear.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tLola Tung in season three.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrime Video<\/p>\n \n\tI have to ask your thoughts, Jackie, on fans saying Belly got a Laurel bob in the finale?<\/p>\n \n\tCHUNG I did not hear that (laughs). No way! She looked so cute, but she could have any haircut and look so cute. She\u2019s so beautiful. Laurel would be like, \u201cTwinsies!\u201d And then Belly would be like, \u201cUgh. I\u2019m going to change it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tRachel, since Susannah has\u00a0only been seen in flashbacks since season one, was it hard playing this character that is essentially still the glue that brings everyone together, but now as a memory?<\/p>\n \n\tBLANCHARD I knew it was going to be like that because it\u2019s based on the books. But it wasn\u2019t hard. It was just really fun. For a while I was just doing dying scenes and those got sad and are pretty heavy. So even though I really enjoyed doing it, they were interesting scenes to do. I also really loved doing the scene at the bar [in season one.]\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tDo you think it was wrong for Susannah to push for Belly to be with one of her sons? Especially since viewers learn in the finale that this has been an internal fear for Belly.<\/p>\n \n\tBLANCHARD I don\u2019t know if Susannah knew they were interpreting it as pressure. If she had known that, she would have maybe expressed it differently. She probably saw something in both of them, and I think it was a bit of fantasy for her. But if she knew the chaos that would ensue and the hurt, she would have said it differently, I think. But I also think she\u2019d be happy they ended up together, but only if they both really wanted it. She didn\u2019t want it at all costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tGavin Casalegno, Lola Tung and Christopher Briney in season three.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrime Video<\/p>\n \n\tIn episode 10, fans started to panic when Belly\u2019s dad, John, had some heartburn, leading them to theorize that he may have a heart attack in the series finale as a reason for Belly to come home. Did you all see those theories, and if so, what did you make of them?<\/p>\n \n\tCHUNG We did see and hear about those. It never crossed my mind at all. I think it\u2019s so amazing that fans are so invested and also that they want to know so badly what\u2019s gonna happen in the story that they\u2019re just so open to creating theories, but that was a very unexpected one.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tIn the finale, it seems like Laurel is on good terms with John and Adam. Since she\u2019s now an empty nester, what do you see next for Laurel? Maybe she\u2019ll actually go on that singles cruise Adam suggested?<\/p>\n \n\tCHUNG I don\u2019t know if Laura would go on that singles cruise (Laughs), but I think she is open to exploring different relationships and building probably new friendships, not just romantic relationships, and hopefully more professional goals for herself. She has so much room to grow even at this age and stage of her life. And the three of them, they\u2019ve been in a family already for decades, so they will always be family. They do fight and bicker and they know the annoying things that each of the other one does, but there is always going to be a closeness between the three, and I think they can have a good time together sometimes.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tMaybe the Summer I Turned Pretty movie should just follow them on this singles cruise.<\/p>\n \n\tCHUNG I actually would love to see a movie of the singles cruise.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tBLANCHARD Yes! That would be really funny.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-hollywoodreporter-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
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