Season two will be a continuation of the heated love triangle between Belly and her childhood friends Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher, but judging from the trailers, this season will deal with more difficult and mature material.
After season one ended on a hopeful note for Conrad and Jeremiah’s mother, Susannah, who was battling cancer, trailers for season two seem to hint at her passing and how the brothers are struggling to deal with the loss.
And if the trailers filled with some of Taylor Swift’s most melancholic songs such as “August” and “Back to December” hint at how things will play out for the protagonists, fans of the show are in for an emotional roller coaster.But who’s the real-life actress behind the beloved character?
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Meet Lola Tung, who plays Isabel “Belly” Conklin, the show’s main protagonist. She’s been enjoying plenty of success since she made her acting debut in the show’s first season last year.
As she returns to our screens for the anticipated follow-up season, let’s find out who she is, where she came from and what’s in store for the rising 20-year-old star:
She comes from an artistic family
The Asian-American actress, who hails from New York, fell in love with acting from a young age. Tung was born to a Chinese-Swedish American mother and an Eastern European American father.
According to an interview with Collider, Tung played the role of Tin Man in her school’s production of The Wizard of Oz, which kick-started her interest in acting.
Tung told 1883 Magazine that her parents were supportive of her wanting to pursue an artistic career. Perhaps creativity runs in the genes, as her father was a musician and her mother had a brief acting career, per British media.
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She studied acting at the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University
According to British media, Tung was approached by a manager just a few weeks into her first year at university, and was urged by her talent agency to audition for the part of Belly.
“I was like, ‘Alright, I’ll submit tapes for this audition, but I’m really focused on school because it’s really important to me,’” Tung said in a 2022 interview with Glamour.
The teen romance series was the first project Tung had ever auditioned for and after confirming that she had booked the role, the then-19-year-old took a year off school to shoot the first season of The Summer I Turned Pretty.
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She’s a huge Taylor Swift fan
The first season of The Summer I Turned Pretty featured several Taylor Swift songs, and the second season is likely to follow suit as evidenced by the trailer’s use of “August” and “Back to December (Taylor’s Version)”.
“I’ve been a Taylor Swift fan for a really long time,” said Tung in an interview with People. “I used to listen to ‘Fearless’, ‘Speak Now’ and ‘Red’ on my CD player when I was younger. When I would go to sleep, I would listen to them.”According to an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Han confirmed that the second season will feature nine Swift songs.
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She’s set to be Hollywood’s next “It” girl
There’s no doubt that Tung is on her way to becoming Hollywood’s next “It” girl. After the success of her debut, the actress has already started to land endorsements with companies such as Coach and American Eagle.
Tung has also been frequenting fashion shows and events. She recently attended a Chanel dinner and was at Balmain’s autumn 2023 show during Paris Fashion Week.The young actress has a bright future ahead of her – it’s only just the beginning.
“I started in theatre and that’s a big love of mine, and there’s so many different things I want to do,” she told Harper’s Bazaar in a recent interview. We can’t wait to see what’s next for this rising star.
