Jenny Han sat Rain Spencer down before The Summer I Turned Pretty season 1 started filming and told her she had big plans in store for her character Taylor. “She was like, 'Listen, Taylor's not really liked in the books, but I would love for you to come on this journey with me and to trust me,” Spencer recounts to Teen Vogue.
In The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2, those plans have started to come to fruition. Season 1 Taylor is prone to self-absorbed teenagedom, hooking up with Belly's brother Steven (Sean Kaufman) behind her back and being somewhat jealous of Belly's (Lola Tung) glow-up. She's not a great friend, necessarily. But the school year — and Belly's grief over Susannah — changes her. When we return to Cousins Beach in season 2, Taylor is a more devoted friend who is slowly allowing herself to be vulnerable in several of her relationships.
Related: What Is Conrad Doing? TSITP’s Christopher Briney Has Thoughts
Below, Rain Spencer dives in to all the nuances of Taylor in a conversation with Teen Vogue: the defense mechanisms, the friendship growth, the vulnerability, and of course, the Steven/Taylor relationship dynamic and where it might be headed in The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3.
Teen Vogue: Where did you grow up? When did you decide you wanted to pursue acting?
Rain Spencer: I was born in Germany, because my dad was in the Army. Then I actually lived in Wilmington, North Carolina, from three to eight, which is where we filmed the show. My grandma's there, which has been wild and awesome to spend time with her. Then I moved to L.A. when I was eight. I decided to pursue acting in Wilmington. I did a bunch of community theater starting when I was five and was like, this is what I'm going to do. It was just something that was built into me.
TV: When you were in Wilmington as a kid, were you aware of the movie/TV culture and what has filmed there?
RS: Kind of. I was so young that I was just having fun in theater and then I think my mom just wanted to live in the city and it worked out for me because I wanted to act. I naturally changed from theater to wanting to be in movies and TV. In high school I trained in theater, as well. I think it's good to have that background. I auditioned for a long time, didn't get anything, but I knew that I wanted to do it.
TV: How did you push through maybe not getting parts that you wanted early on?
RS: Looking back at it now, I'm really grateful that I got to be a normal teenager and just do normal things. I'd do a bunch of commercials, so I'd always be really excited to be on set, even if it was a commercial. But even though I was auditioning and not getting anything, I'm really grateful now that I didn't until I was 19 because I got to be completely immersed in school and friends and just grow up in a normal way.
TV: That makes sense. More time to just become a person.
RS: Become a person and learn life lessons and make mistakes.
TV: What did your friends think after you booked the first season of The Summer I Turned Pretty and as you were getting more well-known?
RS: My friends are just extremely proud of me. I have a pretty small circle. I'm thinking of three people right now and I'm like, they're all my cheerleaders. I think of people that I grew up with that I don't talk to anymore, but they'll reach out and say, "I saw this and it was awesome," and I just feel supported and loved.
TV: This season is a big one for Taylor — she gets this really interesting pivot. We get to see her be vulnerable.
RS: 100%. 100%.
TV: What did you think when you were reading the script?
RS: I was extremely excited because Taylor has a lot of walls up around her. She has a lot of defense mechanisms and she doesn't let a lot of people in. She puts on this persona to be left alone because she's so scared of her own emotions. She only has a soft spot for two people, and the main one is Belly. She can be herself, she can be real with Belly, but the other one's Steven, because she grew up around him. They've seen each other in their awkward phases. Steven is to Taylor what Conrad is to Belly. You don't see much of it in season 1, you just see her kissing her best friend's brother, and it seems like whoa, why is she doing that? That's so out of pocket. But you don't get to see the vulnerable side of her in season 1 and how much it deeply hurts her that she can't have the one person that she actually loves.
She goes and dates these other guys that are less scary [to be with] because if they break up, she won't care that much. But if she actually pursues something with Steven, then her whole heart is on the line. It's terrifying to be with someone that you actually love who actually has the power to break your heart.
TV: I would love to hear more about that scene with Steven and Taylor in the country club when they're slow dancing and having a real conversation for one of the first times. What do you think they're seeing in each other in that scene?
RS: That scene always makes Jenny cry. She's like, "I've seen it a million times and that scene makes me cry," because it is the first time where you see a little bit of surrender in Taylor. She's thinking, okay, maybe I can trust this person, maybe he really does like me. I think the big question that's surrounded even her childhood, having this crush on Steven, the big question is rejection. If I tell him how I actually feel, I'm going to get rejected and my heart's going to be broken.
She never says anything, but in the silence of that dance, she gets information. She surrenders a little bit. She's vulnerable. She puts her head on his shoulder and it's like, oh, this is Taylor. This is who she is. She is soft. I would argue that the reason that she has to put on such a charm and just boldness is because she is so incredibly sensitive and soft. She's so easily broken.
TV: In the final episode, their relationship is off to a rocky start, they go on that group date that goes badly. Why do you think that they conflict in the way they do?
RS: I think it's not easy for anyone to [do] a 180 and completely change immediately. Just because they've had some stepping stones, they've gotten somewhere… you start acting on your defense mechanisms because you're trying to protect yourself again. If you're trying to change as a person, it's not going to be a linear thing. It's going to ebb and flow… That's what I love about Taylor's journey, is it's a process. She's acted one way her whole life. It's going to take some work and it's going to be scary for her. In the moments where she's going to want to deflect and be mean to protect herself, she's going to have to make a choice to surrender to herself and her emotions and the person that she loves and be honest. I think [their argument] was just an echo of the past, and then he comes up in the car and he gets a little bit hurt and a little bit angry because he is like, "I thought we got somewhere. Why are you acting like this?" Then he starts to walk away and the fear of losing him is bigger than the fear of being vulnerable in that moment.
TV: Does playing her make you think about your own defense mechanisms or things you're doing to protect yourself?
RS: 100%. All the time. Totally. I can relate to Taylor in some ways, and I don't relate in other ways, but this is a way that I have related in the past, where being vulnerable is scary. Saying how you truly feel in the moment can be terrifying.
TV: What you were saying earlier about how Steven is to Taylor what Conrad is to Belly, obviously at the end of the season, we see where that ends up, the Conrad/Belly relationship. How do you think that bodes for Steven and Taylor in the future? Liking someone for so long unrequitedly, how does that inform the relationship you then have?
RS: I think there's so many different possibilities. I really do. It could go so many different ways. We haven't seen enough. Yes, it's the same unrequited love, but Conrad and Steven are different people. How something ends with Conrad might be drastically different than how it ends with Steven, or it could share similarities. I think that it's a really interesting journey to follow. I think it's super relatable. I relate to it, and I think that the fear of loving and being loved can be terrifying.
TV: I also wanted to ask about the Belly of it all, because she's very on board with the relationship by the end. How do you think their friendship has shifted? Why do you think that she's more supportive?
RS: I think that Taylor had these defense mechanisms and didn't even tell Belly, who was her best friend, how she was feeling her entire life. Season 1 Belly was shocked. Who wouldn't be shocked? That's why it was a disaster. But in season 2, there's been more space around it, more time, more room for maybe off-camera discussions between Belly and Taylor, right? I think that they have come to a place where Belly understands that Taylor is never going to be able to get over this guy. No, I'm so serious. She's like, "I understand." They even have a quick conversation of when they're walking together on the golf course where it's in the silence and it's only in a few words, but it's like we both look at each other and we're like, “I understand.” Even though Taylor doesn't want [Belly] to be with Conrad, she understands why it's so hard to leave him alone. Belly understands why it is impossible for Taylor to go against her heart. Have you ever liked someone so much and tried to not like them and it makes it worse?
TV: Yeah, totally.
RS: You can't do it. You don't pick who you have a crush on. You don't pick who you're in love with. It just happens. There's nothing you can do about it. In a lot of ways, season 1 Taylor acted adult, but season 2, she's actually matured. She has grown up a little bit, and so has Belly. We're able to talk about things. It's not just this young, confusing, taking stabs at each other thing. It's more communication and understanding of each other.
TV: It seems like they're both able to be better friends to each other at the end of this season.
RS: Taylor starts to put Belly before herself in a lot of ways, and that's something I was talking about with Jenny, too. It's not as selfish as it is when you're so young. It's like, okay, this is my friend, what do you need? Let me put you before me. The episode where they go to the graduation party, Belly's leaving, and Taylor says it repeatedly, "Let me come with you. Let me take care of you," even though she has her whole thing going on at the party. She's being selfless and actually wanting to go. She's fiercely loyal to Belly. That's her person. Then Belly is selfless because she's like, "No, your date's here. I will go. My emotions are mine to deal with. Only I can feel this grief." There's maturity there.
