{"id":564903,"date":"2026-03-27T18:44:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T18:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/564903\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T18:44:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T18:44:10","slug":"lola-tung-on-the-summer-i-turned-pretty-movie-new-horror-roles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/564903\/","title":{"rendered":"Lola Tung On ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Movie, New Horror Roles"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tFresh off Paris Fashion Week, Lola Tung<\/a>, the actress who became a household name playing Isabel \u201cBelly\u201d Conklin in Prime Video\u2019s \u201cThe Summer I Turned Pretty<\/a>,\u201d sat down for the inaugural episode of Variety\u2019s \u201cUp Next<\/a>\u201d podcast, where she opened up about the show\u2019s upcoming film continuation, two new horror projects and her path to Hollywood.<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking on her first-ever podcast appearance, Tung revealed she has not yet seen a script for the upcoming film continuation of the popular book story turned hit show, but insists conversations with showrunner Jenny Han are already underway. \u201cI\u2019ve talked to Jenny a lot about ideas,\u201d Tung said. \u201cI\u2019m excited to read the script.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film has been a subject of considerable fan speculation. When told a treatment was reportedly circulating, a visibly surprised Tung laughed, \u201cNo one sent it to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs for where she imagines Belly and love interest Conrad Fisher (Christopher Brine) ending up, Tung painted a picture of two independent young adults navigating a long-distance relationship. \u201cThey love each other so much,\u201d she said, adding that she sees Belly \u201cliving her life in Paris\u201d and Conrad \u201cdoing his doctor stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe actress, who has played Belly since she was 18, also addressed the series\u2019 most enduring fan debate \u2014 Team Conrad vs. Team Jeremiah \u2014 saying she does have a team from reading the books but is leaving it to Han to reveal her true feelings when the time is right. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what I think,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s all about you and your experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFor Tung, the impact of the show runs much deeper than fan debates, though. \u201cIt changed my life in every way possible,\u201d she stated. \u201cIt gave me a career.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBeyond \u201cTSITP,\u201d Tung is generating early buzz for two new horror film projects. \u201cForbidden Fruits<\/a>,\u201d a witchy thriller co-starring Lili Reinhart and produced by Diablo Cody, is already drawing comparisons to \u201cJennifer\u2019s Body\u201d and \u201cThe Craft\u201d for its female-driven storytelling. Tung praised director Meredith Alloway for her creative vision, recalling a three-hour conversation about the complicated dynamics of female friendships and \u201cthe frustration and anger that just comes with being a woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTung, who has worked predominantly with female directors thus far, said the difference is palpable during filming. \u201cWomen are so thoughtful when it comes to the conversations that you have on set,\u201d she said candidly.<\/p>\n

\n\tAdditionally, she is set to appear in \u201cThe Young People,\u201d an upcoming horror project directed by \u201cLonglegs\u201d director and writer Osgood Perkins; she\u2019ll star alongside Nicole Kidman, Nico Parker and Tatiana Maslany. Tung described the experience as \u201ccrazy, weird, and awesome,\u201d adding that she \u201cgot a little scared on set a couple times.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen not on horror sets and reading film scripts, Tung is also learning to carve out authentic moments amid the noise of sudden fame. She was famously spotted dancing with \u201cHeated Rivalry\u201d star Hudson Williams at Gold House\u2019s Lunar New Year party<\/a> in February.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYou almost instantly have this connection of like, \u2018We get each other,’\u201d she says of their similarities of being young actors navigating the business. \u201cI do appreciate that he was like, \u2018Let\u2019s just have a good time.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDuring the interview, Tung also revealed that she sent in her audition tape for \u201cThe Summer I Turned Pretty\u201d during her freshman year at Carnegie Mellon University where she was studying drama; it was filmed in her college apartment and she received a callback days later. She never returned to finish school.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI always want to go back and take classes,\u201d she says, noting she continues to take voice lessons and has been eyeing dance classes with friends. She also made her Broadway debut in \u201cHadestown\u201d and has not ruled out returning to musical theater: \u201cI\u2019m down to do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWatch the full interview here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fresh off Paris Fashion Week, Lola Tung, the actress who became a household name playing Isabel \u201cBelly\u201d Conklin…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":564904,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[49,48,75,176835,81160,337,1913,217835],"class_list":{"0":"post-564903","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-forbidden-fruits","12":"tag-lola-tung","13":"tag-movies","14":"tag-the-summer-i-turned-pretty","15":"tag-up-next"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}