It's not easy embodying the villain of a widely beloved TV show — but The Summer I Turned Pretty star Gavin Casalegno is taking it all in stride. He also wants to remind fans that this is just a character.
As season three of Amazon Prime's immensely popular young adult drama continues on, fans have chosen sides in the messy love triangle that's at the center of the series. Based on Jenny Han's book trilogy of the same name, the story centers around the Fisher brothers — Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (Casalegno) — who are both in love with Isabel “Belly" Conklin (Lola Tung). Belly is currently engaged to Jeremiah, despite their young age, mutual family disapproval, and the story portraying Jeremiah as an immature frat boy.
Because of this, a large portion of the internet has loudly declared themselves as “Team Conrad,” with Jeremiah becoming the butt of every joke and meme. In one episode, Jere goes on about an expensive mirror-glazed wedding cake he insists they buy, which has now become a viral TikTok sound.
And while Jeremiah is a fictional character, Gavin Casalegno is very much real. In a recent interview with The New York Times, the actor opened up about playing the internet's “most hated boyfriend" and how he copes.
“They tend to dislike him, yes,” Casalegno said of the fan base. “I don’t check Instagram anymore, so I really haven’t seen that much hate.”
Instead, Casalegno said he only sees “the memes that are really funny," courtesy of his sister sending them to him.
“I think it’s important to also understand and realize that this is a fictional story — and it’s also not me,” he continued. “I don’t think there’s a single human being in the world who can carry the emotional negativity to the degree that stuff like this happens. And I think that’s why Amazon did a good job of stepping in and being like, ‘Hey, no bullying.’ Though, not really going so well.”
He's referring to Amazon sharing a statement on The Summer I Turned Pretty's official social media accounts, reminding fans to “keep the conversation kind this summer.” The account added that they have a zero-tolerance policy for bullying and hate speech. And while most of the comments under his personal Instagram accounts have been in good fun, there are the occasional ones that sneak in. Still, Casalegno thinks the internet divide is “pretty comical.”
Lola Tung has also shared her own concerns about some fans taking the fictional story a bit too far. In her Teen Vogue cover story in July, the actor expressed her own thoughts about the extreme attachment to the characters:
“I’m so grateful that they care so much, but people get a little scary about it,” Tung said. “Please don't threaten to kill someone if something doesn't go your way — I promise you, it's not that serious. Jenny [Han] is so smart and she cares so much about the story and making it the best story that it can be. It will be okay.”
While the world is anxiously awaiting the conclusion of this torrid love affair at Cousins Beach, Gavin Casalegno hasn't been watching. He's instead been in Bali, Thailand, and Indonesia with his wife, Cheyanne King, with whom he married last summer.
“I honestly haven’t even really watched any of the show,” he continued. “Because, you know, when you’re in it, you know what’s happening. And so it’s like: why? At the end of the day, it’s work — it’s an amazing job, a dream job — but it is still work.”
Despite people linking Casalegno with Jeremiah, the actor says that he is different from his character in that he was “never a partyer,” unlike Jere (more of a Conrad type, it seems). Still, he said he loved the “sunshine and golden retriever vibes” of Jeremiah.
The Summer I Turned Pretty is currently in the midst of season three on Amazon Prime. The final episode will air on September 17.
