Zoé de Grand'Maison, who plays Agnes in The Summer I Turned Pretty, is seeing the fan reactions to her character this season. They mainly boil down to three categories: nice, a little mean, and people who mix her up with Sadie Sink.
“Honestly, such a nice compliment,” de Grand'Maison says with a laugh. “She's beautiful and seems so cool, but no, not the same person…. I think this is the first time I've played a character that people, for the most part, seem to enjoy and like.”
The Toronto-based actor and visual artist has been working for more than a decade, appearing in shows like Orphan Black and Riverdale. A self-described “painfully shy child,” de Grand'Maison was put in acting classes and inspired to pursue it as a career after watching movies like Annie (it's a red-head thing). Now, as Agnes, she's already a fan-favorite character in season three of TSITP, largely because Agnes finally tells the emotionally avoidant Conrad Fisher (Christopher Briney) what he needs to hear.
Below, Zoé de Grand'Maison unpacks the Conrad and Agnes scenes we've seen so far and why the friendship dynamic between them is so fun to see onscreen. Warning: Some spoilers ahead for the first three episodes of The Summer I Turned Pretty, season three.
Zoé de Grand'Maison: Oh my gosh. I've seen a few that are, like, a little bit mean, but for the most part people are so nice. I think this is the first time I've played a character that people, for the most part, seem to enjoy and like. I usually end up playing villains, so it's a nice change of pace.
ZDGM: There's been a lot of that, and then a lot of people who think I'm Sadie Sink, and I'm like, “No, we just both have red hair.” But honestly, such a nice compliment. She's beautiful and seems so cool, but no, not the same person. The Evelyn thing, though — I've seen fans be like, “Don't indoctrinate Conrad into your cult.” That's funny because, spoiler alert…
ZDGM: I originally auditioned for Betty, then auditioned for Cheryl, did a bunch of callbacks, and ended up not getting it. That was my first ever audition in LA. The show went on, and then a couple years later, I was back in Toronto, and I got the tape for Evelyn. My roommate at the time, Veronica, and I just did the tape in our living room, and I didn't do any callbacks or anything. I guess they remembered me from the first round. That was a nice surprise.
ZDGM: I think three is my lucky number. I literally have three little dots right here [gestures to her hand]. It just keeps appearing in my life.
But every show has its own kind of heartbeat, and you just kind of ease your way into it. I'm not the most extroverted person, so I feel like I'm really good at observing and trying to adapt to whatever the vibe is. I will say, on The Summer I Turned Pretty, I feel like Jenny [Han] and everybody [on set] really did go out of their way to make everybody feel so included.
The first two weeks in North Carolina, we did a lot of getting to know each other, hanging out. Jenny hosted some evenings at her apartment, where we played games and chatted. She paired the new cast up with some of the original cast, who they'd be doing a lot of scenes with, so I was teamed up with Chris. Sofia [Bryant, who plays Anika] was teamed up with Lola [Tung].
Everybody's genuinely so kind and wonderful on this show, which is amazing. People are nice on other shows too, but this was above and beyond anything I've ever experienced.
ZDGM: Yeah. So when I got my first audition, they were super secretive and didn't tell us what it was for, but I've got detective skills, you see. I was like, I see where it's filming and I see who's casting it. So I figured it out pretty quickly. I started watching it before [I was cast], being like, I'll just check it out. Then I ended up binge-watching it because I was obsessed with it. It's so good.
ZDGM: It was all over Zoom after the first tape. I did, I want to say, either two or three chem reads with Chris over Zoom, and Jenny was there, and Zoe Cassavetes, who directed the first two episodes; David [Rapaport] and Lyndsey [Baldasare] the casting directors; Sarah [Kucserka], one of the execs. I'm, like, aware that they're all watching, and then their screens disappear.
But then I did the scenes with Chris and that was super chill. He brings an ease to it for sure, which was really nice…. I love Chris's energy. He's just very real and very grounded. I think he's awesome, and I think he's so talented.
ZDGM: I think pretty shortly after I booked the job.
I was originally — oh my gosh, I was supposed to go, like, Phoebe Bridgers blonde, almost like a silver blonde. I was excited because I've never gone blonde. I had a meeting with hair and makeup the day before my hair appointment. We chatted, and I showed up to the salon, ready for this big change. They're like, “So, change of plans, hair and makeup saw your hair, and they just really don't want it to get damaged because it's gonna take so many rounds of bleach.”
So we ended up lightening it a tiny bit, but it stayed red, which was nice. I'm glad my hair didn't get damaged, but it would have also been kind of cool.
ZDGM: Yeah, she said, “Take a look at the scene in the book.” I was like, “I already have [laughs].” She said, essentially, we're gonna expand the character and dive into that friendship a little more.
ZDGM: Not to use that word again, but there's just an “ease.” I feel like Agnes is one of those people that might have less of a filter than some other people have. That's probably exactly what Conrad needed at the time that they found each other.
I feel like my character's purpose is that I finally give the audience a chance to get into Conrad's head, because she's able to open him up and and pull these things out of him. I see her as a bit of an unpaid therapist. He has an actual therapist, but…
We all have those people in our lives that just, for whatever reason, we feel very comfortable opening up to, and we can make fun of each other a little because we know that it's all coming from a place of love.
ZDGM: I feel like Agnes [has] created this very non-judgmental environment. That's why she can kind of pick on him a little, because he knows that, at the end of the day, there's a safe space and she is there with open arms and to accept him as he is. And I love that for him.
ZDGM: Yeah, there is something about, you know, when you've been carrying something with you for a long time, it becomes this heavier and heavier thing. It just feels like this weight that you'll never be able to shed. Then you finally tell somebody, and they can make a joke of it, and they hold space for that and let you know they still love you. It's such a relief to feel that.
ZDGM: I mean, ultimately, this is her life's purpose and what she's worked toward her whole life. And I think she's very intimidated by Dr. Namazy, so that might be the one moment where she's like, “My hands are tied.”
ZDGM: Exactly. She goes above and beyond for him in many ways, and she's happy to, but yeah. Getting into medical school, I hear it takes a lot of work and determination, so…
ZDGM: There's a lot of wisdom to that. I feel like I'm pretty good at checking in with myself. Maybe not as regularly as I should, but just being like, Okay, I'm feeling this way. I've been feeling this way for a long time. Clearly this isn't just a fleeting emotion, it's something that I need to face and address.
It's really important to look inward. I like to journal or write songs or paint. I think meditating on a certain feeling while expressing it through any art form is really nice. That's my personal way of doing things.
So yeah, that one did resonate, and I've never really put words to that thing that I do, but it was cool to see it written on a page. Because when emotions, especially negative emotions, fester, it eats away at you and can actually change who you are and how you navigate the world. You don't want to give these negative feelings that much power.
ZDGM: Yeah, totally. We've all seen that sexy, brooding character, and in the movie or show, being that way always works out for them. I like that Jenny challenges that. He needs to grow, and it is cool that Agnes is playing a huge role in being like, “Hey, buddy, you know, you're great and I have so much love for you, but you need to make some changes here and you need to address these feelings.”
ZDGM: No. The thing, too, with really mysterious people who never open up is that nobody ever knows them, and people tend to idealize them because they project whatever they want to see onto them. So they put them on this pedestal and they're like, “Oh, he's brooding and mysterious because he's thinking X, Y, and Z,” when you actually don't know that. Open up to people. It's important.
ZDGM: First of all, I think Agnes would need to, like, suss Belly out and make sure the vibe is right because she cares so much about Conrad. But we love Belly, so she would realize that Belly's awesome.
I think she would maybe encourage Belly to challenge Conrad and be like, “Listen, I know he’s got this kind of tough or nonchalant persona that he puts on, but there's so much beneath that surface. There's gonna be some work involved and you're gonna have to push him a little bit, but just try to nurture an environment in which he can open up and express himself. And don't be afraid to tell him what you need from him.” That's also important, right? It's a two-way street.
ZDGM: And she's so young, right? The characters are so young, and we've seen a bit of a time jump this season, but they're still so young. I think it's important for viewers to give them some grace too — they're figuring it out. It's their first time on Earth too.
Jenny creates these very beautifully flawed characters. Things aren't polished in the way that you usually see in YA shows; they're a little bit messy. But that makes them feel so grounded in such a special way.
ZDGM: I do think that can happen in real life. I've seen that. Looking back to the history of my friend group, yeah, things were a little different in our early 20s, but we're still all very close, which is awesome.
It's a rare thing. I get the sense that Agnes is probably the one who was like, “Okay, that didn't happen, but I still think you're cool and let's move on from it. Let's move past it and still be in each other's lives because I think you're awesome.” I think it was definitely an Agnes thing, and that he was like, "Cool."
It takes work, and sometimes it won't work out. But sometimes you have somebody who you start seeing in a romantic way, things don't work out for whatever reason…. But you're like, “I just care about you on a human level.”
ZDGM: I think she just really has so much love and appreciation for Conrad as a person and wants him in her life in any capacity. I do get the sense that she is somebody who, at times, pushes her own wants and needs aside to make space for others — and to make space for medical school. I think you kind of have to put your personal wants and needs aside to thrive in that field. Ultimately, she knows that Conrad is meant to be in her life, and she has done the work necessary to ensure that is the case.
