'The Summer I Turned Pretty' Star Rain Spencer Talks Season 2 Love Triangles
The Summer I Turned Pretty is back for Season 2 and actress Rain Spencer is weighing in on our favourite lovestruck teens in Cousins Beach.
If you're one of the millions of viewers tuning into The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 2—the first three episodes of which are out today—then you might (read: definitely) remember actress Rain Spencer as Taylor Jewel, Belly Conklin's extroverted hometown BFF and self-described President of #TeamJellyFisher. Now, almost a year after the end of Season 1, viewers are reintroduced to a more mature Taylor, still just as self-assured as ever, but this summer, she's joining Belly (Lola Tung), Steven (Sean Kaufman), Conrad (Chris Briney), and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) in Cousins Beach as the group battles love, loss, and a little bit of lying to their parents.
On the eve of the show's premiere, which coincides with the recent SAG-AFTRA strike, Spencer spoke to L'OFFICIEL about on-screen female friendships, love triangles, and what the strike means for the entertainment industry.
L’OFFICIEL: In The Summer I Turned Pretty, you play Taylor. How would you describe Taylor in your own words?
Rain Spencer: I think that Taylor is—first off, she is a fiercely loyal friend to Belly. I think that Taylor is someone that has, over the years built up a lot of defense mechanisms. I think that she has a hard time being vulnerable, and is very careful with her heart, but I think that she has a soft spot for two people and that is Belly and Steven. She's grown up with both of them, and has had really big feelings for Steven her entire life. And I think that that's very scary for her. In Season 2, she's matured a lot and she's learning how to accept her own feelings and herself. She's young, she's growing up, and I don't think she really knows who she is yet, but she's figuring it out. And she's trying not to get hurt in the process. Kind of like all of us.
L’O: Taylor and Belly’s friendship is actually one of my favourite relationships in the show. They're such opposites, and yet they're so perfect. I even noticed in the party scene [from Season 2, Episode 1] that they were wearing matching yin/yang necklaces. Who made that choice?
RS: Jenny [Han, the series showrunner and author of The Summer I Turned Pretty novel series] did. She makes all of the decisions. She has the okay on absolutely everything. She's been so incredible and so involved every step of the way.
L’O: I love to hear that. Knowing that it has her cosign, I'm sure it's important to you guys.
RS: 100 percent. The fans, too.
L’O: But despite them being so different, Taylor's always there to support Belly. How did you and Lola build that connection and that friendship chemistry?
RS: I love Lola with every fibre of my being. First of all, I watched all of Season 2 a few weeks ago, I'm so blown away by all of the scenes that I saw that I wasn't there for when she was filming them. This girl did such an amazing job in Season 1, of course, as well. But just because I just watched Season 2, I'm so absolutely blown away by Lola Tung. I love her with my whole heart. She's so phenomenal. There are just so many scenes where I feel so bad for her and she just breaks my heart and I'm rooting for her—in real life, too. I think that our friendship has grown and is just so beautiful. I'm really excited that I get Lola. I get to be with someone like Lola going through this process and this journey, because this is her first acting job. This is my second. So it's so new for both of us, and we get to be support systems for each other in real life too. And I think that that's beautiful.
L’O: Did you read the books?
RS: I did. I read them. I read the first book before Season 1, the second before Season 2, and the third before Season 3, to keep it fresh. So it's like, This is what happened. And now I go do it.
L’O: When I read the books, Taylor came off as a bit superficial and flaky, but in the series, there are elements of that, but the character is so much more layered and rooted in her friendship with Belly. Is that something that you and Jenny spoke about before filming?
RS: 100 percent. Jenny and I, in the beginning of Season 1, we had a lot of conversations about it because it could have gone a number of ways. I think that it was really important for Jenny and myself to humanize Taylor. [To] see where she's maybe insecure and see where she is scared or Jenny and I talked about her home life and why she feels the need to protect herself so much. I think that those conversations have been so crucial in rounding out Taylor and what you see because yes, she can put on a superficial face, but that’s only because she's protecting herself from her real feelings that are scary to feel. She's not mean, she's never coming from a truly nasty place. It's always either defending herself out of fear. I mean, Taylor's like a baby. She's a really big baby. She's very sensitive, and someone that is so sensitive has to put up a certain amount of walls to not be constantly hurt all the time. And I think that that's where I was coming from and Jenny was coming from with Taylor.
L’O: I think you see her have those real moments when she's being there for Belly, when she’s having a vulnerable moment, like in the first episode of Season 2, which I really enjoyed seeing. I love seeing a good powerful female friendship on screen.
RS: Well, I think in Season 2, Jenny and I also talked about the fact that Taylor has actually matured a lot. She is learning how to be there for her grieving friends, how to put Belly’s needs before her own, and how to show up and not be selfish, essentially. And I think that that's something that is true for Taylor in Season 2. I think she's really learning how to put Belly before herself.
L’O: A lot of your castmates have emphasized how this season is about “transformation” for their characters. Do you see Taylor’s storyline as one about transformation and growth as well?
RS: Taylor is definitely changing in her own right. Taylor is learning how to be vulnerable. That's a word that did not exist in her vocab vocabulary previously. It was kind of like she was constantly shielding herself and protecting herself and Steven is someone that she's grown up with. Who really sees Taylor for who she is, and I think at a certain point in Season 2, Taylor can't deny the fact that Steven actually sees her, so she learns how to be vulnerable.
L’O: Getting into the Steven of it all. When the season opens, Taylor has a new boyfriend Milo. But there are certainly some vibes between her and Steven. What can you tease about this relationship triangle?
RS: I think that Steven is to Taylor what Conrad is to Belly. Although Taylor may seem like she is constantly pushing Stephen away, it’s because her feelings for him are so massive.
L’O: In the books, Taylor's not really in the second book. I'm so glad that Jenny changed things to include Taylor and Steven, but also some new characters. What can you tell me about some of the new characters that are going to be joining the gang in Cousins this summer?
RS: Let me just say, first and foremost, Elsie is my favorite person in the whole world. Elsie did such a good job in Season 2, and I'm really, really, really excited for everyone to see both of them.
L’O: Was there a particular scene or episode that you had a lot of fun filming or just stands out to you as one of the best moments from being on set?
RS: Yes, I think it's Episode 5, which I won't say too much about but it was a night shoot. Episode 5 was a lot of night shoots, which are really, really fun because you're up until 7 a.m. with your favorite people messing around and playing games and laughing. I can't tell you what we were doing because it gives away the location, but respectively, we were goofing around a lot.
L’O: As we are speaking, the SAG-AFTRA actors have voted to go on strike starting at midnight on July 14. I saw that some of your castmates a few months ago joined the picket line with Jenny for the writers' strike. For fans of the show who may not be informed about the situation and what's going on, can you maybe talk a little bit about what's going on and why this is happening?
RS: I can do my best. I think it's a really tricky time right now. I think I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is the first time that the WGA and SAG [have been] on strike at once since 1960, which is a long time ago, which means that a lot of things need to change. A lot of things are up in the air. I know a lot of filming has been either shut down or postponed. I'm really happy that this is happening because I think that there are things that need to change in a massive way. And I think the ability to fight for what we need and having that freedom to fight is amazing, and for voices to be heard, in general, is super important and needs to happen. It's going to be tricky. I have no idea how long or what's going to happen. So everything is very up in the air. I have no idea how long it's going to last, or the deal that's going to be made. So we just kind of wait and see.
