"Did my fair share": When The Summer I Turned Pretty star Lola Tung talked about being a part of "high school and middle school theater"

It isn't often that an actor's first acting credit ends up being the biggest summer blockbuster, but such was life for The Summer I Turned Pretty actor Lola Tung. The summer blockbuster premiered in June 2022, and life has been a whirlwind for the young actors since then.

The fact that this show is the first acting credit to Tung's name, yet her performance in it, along with Gavin Casalegno and Christopher Briney, has managed to enthrall audiences for three years now, just goes to show how dedicated the young actors have been.

Now, we're only two weeks away from the series finale, and as we put our predictions in for Belly's choice between the Fisher brothers, here's a look back at Lola Tung's journey as an actor before she was cast as Belly for The Summer I Turned Pretty.

The Summer I Turned Pretty actor, Lola Tung, has always been the theater kid

The Summer I Turned Pretty is coming to an end with only two episodes left to premiere for the third and final season of the series. Belly and the Fisher brothers' stories might be coming to a close, but the young actors playing these roles are just starting out in the industry.

Lola Tung, who plays Belly, the central character on the show, sat down for a conversation with Seth Meyers before her Broadway debut in Hadestown and after the second season of The Summer I Turned Pretty took over the world's summer.

Welcoming Tung on the show, Seth brought up the fact that Belly's role was Tung's first acting credit, and the show went on to be a massive blockbuster. He asked her how surreal it felt to experience this surreal blow-up in real-time with her first acting credit.

Tung went on to tell him just how unbelievable this experience has been for her. She shares her first experience of being recognized after the show's popularity skyrocketed at a Yankees game with her castmates, where she was stared at a lot more than she ever knew, and her pictures were being taken from afar, which later ended up on the internet.

Talking about her journey as an actor, which led to her landing Belly's role, Lola expanded on her high school and middle school theater journey:

"But, I mean, you know, I did my fair share of high school and middle school theater. So, you know, it's been a long road, but, yeah."

Lola has always been the artistic theater kid, and her leanings toward theater were evident ever since she was in high school. Tung went on to reveal two of her major theater roles in high school and middle school:

"I was the Tin Man in "The Wizard of Oz." That's my first one."

"And I was studying drama in high school, so, um...I was, uh, Apostle Number 9 in "Jesus Christ Superstar." "

Her passion for acting found structure, guidance, and support at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, New York, and then went on to the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama. It was in her freshman year at Carnegie that Tung landed the role of Isabel "Belly" Conklin on The Summer I Turned Pretty, and her life essentially changed forever.

Since her 2022 debut on Prime Video's blockbuster most-watched young adult romance drama, The Summer I Turned Pretty, Tung has been on a whirlwind ride and even landed her first Broadway role as Eurydice in Hadestown. She was also cast in a 2026 witch horror film, Forbidden Fruits.

Trending

Keep reading Soap Central for more such insight into your favorite shows and characters!

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback