Gavin Casalegno, who plays Jeremiah Fisher on the coming-of-age Amazon Prime series “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” knows he might be the internet’s most hated boyfriend.
The show, based on the young adult trilogy by Jenny Han, revolves around a love triangle among Isabel “Belly” Conklin (Lola Tung) and her two childhood friends, the brothers Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah Fisher (Mr. Casalegno). As Belly pings between the two, fans online have declared their allegiance for either Team Jeremiah or Team Conrad, leading to such heated debates that Amazon posted a statement asking viewers to abstain from bullying: “Let’s keep the conversation kind this summer.”
That a series about teenage love, set against the idyllic backdrop of a fictional East Coast beach town, would stir up such ire is a sign of its growing popularity. The first two episodes of the third and final season, according to Amazon, drew 25 million viewers and the series, which now has triple the viewership of the pilot, has become the platform’s top show globally. The analytics firm Luminate reports that viewers are spending more time with it than they did with prior seasons, adding that its main audience is not teenagers but 25- to 54-year-old women.
Since last month’s Season 3 premiere, though, social media has turned on Mr. Casalegno — or at least his character. In one meme, Delta Air Lines chose which seat it would assign to Jeremiah: the toilet seat.
Mr. Casalegno drew more anger for a recent Dunkin’ Donuts ad in which he called himself “the king of summer” and said his “golden” tan was the result of “genetics.” Online critics slammed the ad for promoting Eurocentric beauty standards.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The post Gavin Casalegno Knows How You Feel About Him on ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ appeared first on New York Times.
