The Summer I Turned Pretty’s Jackie Chung Might Show Up to Your Next Watch Party

Spoilers ahead for The Summer I Turned Pretty season three.

Jackie Chung is a mother, both in real life and on one of television’s biggest shows. But whether raising her two actual children or Lola Tung’s Belly Conklin on The Summer I Turned Pretty’s third and final season, she wants to be known as more than someone’s parent. “I was talking to another mom friend this weekend, complaining that when you go to a doctor’s office or anywhere, people just call you Mom,” Chung tells Vanity Fair. “They’re just like, ‘Mom, do you have this form? Mom, did you call?’ Like, I’m still a person, and I still have a name.”

The Stanford-educated actor, 46, has inched ever closer to becoming a household name with her role as Laurel Park on the hit Prime Video series, which is based on Jenny Han’s best-selling YA trilogy and concludes later this month. Running parallel to Belly’s adolescent love triangle with a pair of brothers—Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah Fisher (Gavin Casalegno)—is the enduring friendship between Laurel and the boys’ mother, Susannah (Rachel Blanchard), whose death before season two lingers over the series.

Their dynamic, along with a steamy rekindled romance between Laurel and her ex-husband, John (Colin Ferguson), is part of what has captivated people of all ages and made The Summer I Turned Pretty’s third outing the most watched TV season among women ages 18 to 34. (Even Malala Yousafzai is an avowed fan—and seemingly Team Conrad, for what it’s worth.) “Sometimes people think that once you become a mom or hit a certain age, you don’t have the same questions or desires or passions that you want to explore. So it’s really good for young people to see that it doesn’t end,” says Chung. “There are so many transitions throughout your life. Hopefully, they’ll remember 20 years from now, Oh yeah, this is what they were talking about.”

In this week’s episode, Belly heads to Paris after calling off her whirlwind wedding to Jeremiah—leaving Laurel to deal with the emotional hangover at home. Ahead, Chung unpacks all the drama, addresses rumors that Laurel and Susannah were more than just friends, and teases what comes after summer vacation.

Vanity Fair: I imagine that life looks a little different for you when the show is airing. What’s the most memorable fan interaction you’ve experienced since being on The Summer I Turned Pretty?

Jackie Chung: A couple years ago, I went to see a friend in a play in New York. I sat down, and this girl…I could feel it because you can feel when people are looking at you and recognizing you. She just looked at me and then turned to me… Because usually people say, “Hey, are you Jackie?” or “Hey, are you Laurel?” She just said, “I’m team Jeremiah and I just needed you to know. I hope you enjoy the show.” There was no intro. She just needed to share her thoughts with me.

Why do you think people are craving a show like The Summer I Turned Pretty right now?

Part of it is nostalgia for a lot of people, remembering that time in their lives when so many things, these feelings of love, were new and confusing. I think you lose some of that as you get older, those butterflies. People are enjoying the escape of a show. It is an incredible fantasy to be following this young woman at the start of her adulthood with two incredible, loving, beautiful men that want to be with her. It’s fun to get caught up in.

What were some of your own coming-of-age touchstones?

I loved My So-Called Life. I watched Beverly Hills, 90210. My friend Kate and I would be watching together and on the phone like, “Oh my God, did you hear what Dylan said?” Which is what is happening with our show now. People will watch like that or sit together and video themselves reacting to the scenes. It was just a different time. All we could do was talk on the phone. We couldn’t make videos and TikToks.

This week’s episode delves into the aftermath of the canceled wedding. Do you think Laurel deliberately gave Jeremiah the note from Susannah that was meant for Conrad on his wedding day to stir things up?

I do not think Laurel intentionally mixed up the letters. The viewers will remember from season two when she was trying to help Susannah and the letters fell. I do not think it was intentional. I don’t think she even knew what the contents of those letters were.

We see Laurel attempt to communicate with Jeremiah, and he’s not receptive to a conversation. What do you think it will take for those guards to come down?

Anyone who is going through a heartbreak needs time. Right after that wedding fell apart, he was still so raw in this last episode. Obviously, she’s not going to abandon him, but it was kind of early.

What do you think Laurel would make of Belly’s Paris exploits? I mean, chasing down her AirTag in a foreign country gave me anxiety. I can’t even imagine how her mother would be feeling.

Laurel always hopes Belly will have adventures, but if she had known she was following that AirTag, I think she would’ve been very concerned. She would tell her to let it go. But parents don’t always know everything that kids are doing, so she was not aware of that and at that point assumed Belly was on her way home.

This is the first professional acting gig for some of your costars. What has it been like working with actors at the beginning of their careers and seeing them evolve over the last three seasons?

I’ve been in awe of them from the beginning. They all came in with so much confidence. I didn’t have that at that age. So to see them moving through the world the way they do was really impressive to me. They all are really hard workers, so having them as acting partners is very easy. They’re always prepared and very open to connect with me and the other actors. Me and the other older actors were like, “How are they so self-possessed and good at what they do already?”

There have been a bunch of sweet scenes between Belly and Steven (Sean Kaufman). Seeing their brother-sister bond and the banter between them is very fun. They sound like bickering siblings, but also those moments where she’s really heartbroken, you can see him swooping in as the older brother to help and comfort her. I found myself feeling really proud as a fake mother.

If you had been Lola’s age when a show like this entered your life, how do you think you would have navigated that?

I can’t even imagine having social media when I was in college. I have printed photos that I just want to burn and never have anyone see again, so the thought of them being publicly out and shared with the world is frightening. To then be under this kind of microscope at a young age, I think would’ve been very, very challenging, which is also why I’m so impressed. They maintain who they are at their core and have been handling all of this attention with so much grace.

Do you ever think about your kids one day discovering the show?

My older son is at an age where kids a year or two older than him are watching, and he’s definitely seeing fans, when we’re out, expressing interest in the show. It’s been weird for him because he doesn’t know anything about it, really. I did show him a couple age-appropriate scenes. But I don’t know if he was ready yet.

In other words, he’s not watching the bachelor and bachelorette party episode.

No, we are not ready for that.

It’s unclear what will result from Laurel and John 2.0. Do you think she sees parallels between her own situation with her ex and Belly’s romantic issues?

I think that’s why Laurel was so concerned about Belly taking such a huge step at a young age. We saw in one of the other episodes Laurel talking about losing herself in her relationship with John and becoming a parent. What we’re waiting to see from Laurel and John is whether it was a relationship that’s right but just happened at the wrong time, or if this is indeed not the right relationship even though they’re trying it at a later time. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Where do you generally stand on resurrecting a past relationship?

I do think that timing is important, that sometimes it can be the right person but the wrong time. But I’m also someone that’s when it’s done, it’s done. So I can’t imagine going back to any of my past relationships, but it does happen.

Something I always find amusing about the show is thinking about how these families will functionally move forward when all is said and done. What do you think Christmas in the Conklin-Fisher universe looks like a decade from now?

I think time heals all wounds, and hopefully, hopefully, that will be true for them. I do think Laurel will always try to keep everyone together and in each other’s orbit.

A lot of group therapy in their future, I think.

For sure.

There’s been talk of a potential Laurel spin-off or prequel series. If you got to revisit the character, is there a part of her life we haven’t seen on the show yet that you’d be most interested in exploring?

I’m assuming Laurel has other friends besides Susannah, so it’d be nice to see her in other dynamics. People have asked me about a past romance between Laurel and Susannah. I never considered that. I just thought it was a very deep friendship. But then I realized what we’re seeing of their relationship is this incredibly emotional time when Susannah was sick. Laurel at her bedside constantly. So there’s probably a bit more of their connection that we were seeing in those seasons. But I imagine day-to-day, she has other friends and work colleagues. So it’d be interesting to see her move about her life.

Do you have any special plans for watching the final episodes? In New York, they’re having watch parties at bars.

I know! A friend of mine sent me a video. I’ve been thinking it would be really fun to drop into one of those, but I’m also a little scared.

Security may be required.

I’m trying to convince my friends to go or maybe FaceTime me so I can experience it. But it’s incredible that people are getting together to watch these episodes.

How has playing Laurel influenced what you want to do next as an actor?

I’ve had such a wonderful time playing Laurel. I feel like she’s a really solid person, messy at times, but very loyal and honest. The desire of actors after you’ve done a certain kind of role is to do something that’s the opposite. My husband, [Louis Ozawa], is an actor as well. He’s always doing action and shooting guns, and no one ever wants to give me one [of those projects]. It’d be fun to be a villain—do some action or broad comedy. It’s a natural inclination to want to try new things.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

The Summer I Turned Pretty’s Jackie Chung Might Show Up to Your Next Watch Party

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The Summer I Turned Pretty’s Jackie Chung Might Show Up to Your Next Watch Party

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