The Summer I Turned Pretty' cast

"The Summer I Turned Pretty" stars Christopher Briney, Gavin Casalegno, and Sean Kaufman talked to Seventeen about building bonds and what they hope for in ...

Emotionally, I went on a roller coaster and I think it'll be fun just to kind of smooth out the edges and figure out more of who Jeremiah is and who he thinks he is, and more of what Conrad thinks he is and deepening those relationships. I think what the show does so well and will continue to do so well is be like, "This is a fairytale, but it's also just the real world." I lived in Texas at the time and she was inviting all of her friends to the party, and at this point, I was already talking to her parents. SK: The very last day of shooting, Gavin and I were doing the escort dance with a bunch of wonderful background dancers and it was really so much fun. I really would love to see how that kind of break or shift of complete tones of the show affects Steven and Shayla's relationship going into season 2. When you're representing a man dealing with his emotions, you don't want to be making a mockery of it and you don't want to be playing at an idea of like, "I'm sad now. I do know that Steven and Shayla's story to me was very special and it ended very much with this beautiful bow. Her parents brought her to some restaurant at Universal Studios and I jumped out of the corner and fake proposed with a Hershey's kiss. I read the book and I read the script and I was like, "Conrad, why don't you just tell somebody how you feel? I'm very thankful to Chris and Gavin and the rest of the cast, but specifically to those two for being so willing to just be like, "I'm here to connect and I'm here to make friends and become a better person," rather than just do this final product. I mean, I got in the car and we immediately went to the beach and just started talking, hanging out, getting to know each other and they're just beautiful people in their hearts, man. I mean, I love these two to death — they have become two of my closest friends over the past year and I'm extremely thankful for that.

However, the cast loved the chance to bring these teens — based on the characters written by Jenny Han — to the screen. The book series and TV show follow the ...

I think with our relationship, and with our romantic relationship with Belly, it was so much fun just being able to explore the authenticity of it and the genuineness … just it being so genuine. There’s always a part of you that wants to please fans, but I feel like part of the challenge of filming a show is just overcoming that, and being like, ‘OK, I’m an actor, I’ve done my work, I’ve done my homework. The book series and TV show follow the story of Belly, who is in a love triangle with longtime family-friends Jeremiah and Conrad ( Christopher Briney).