The Summer I Turned Pretty fans asked by show creators to 'act normal' as actors face abuse because of storylines
The Summer I Turned Pretty actors have asked fans to remember that the show is fiction and they are not the characters they play.
Their message comes after cast members received abuse amid the show’s recent, and super dramatic, eighth episode which saw the tensions and complicated feelings between Belly, Conrad and Jere come to a head.
Lola Tung and her character Belly have been targeted - as has Gavin Casalegno, who plays fiancé Jeremiah (or Jere), as many fans hope Belly will ends up with his brother, Conrad. The abuse of the actors has been so frequent, that the producers behind the show have been forced to put out a message urging fans to stop and think about what they are doing. "The show isn't real but the people playing the characters are," read a message on the show's TikTok account, adding: "The summer we started acting normal online."
Jenny Han, who wrote the original booksthe series is based on, also posted online. "I know fans of the show are passionate and no one has bad intent. But even in jest, posting images of a woman being slapped or choked is not funny,” she said.
The warnings come after a message on the show’s TikTok account was posted back in July asking fans to "keep the conversation kind this summer" and not to engage in "bullying and hate speech".
Asked last week by the New York Times, what it felt like to play "one of the internet's most hated boyfriends", Casalegno replied that he knew fans "tend to dislike him". The actor said he does not check Instagram any more, "so I really haven't seen that much hate", and only sees funny memes sent by his sister.
But he added: "I think it's important to also understand and realise that this is a fictional story - and it's also not me. 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 admitted.
*You can watch episodes 1 to 8 of The Summer I Turned Pretty on Amazon Prime video now. The remaining three episodes of the season will air on consecutive Wednesdays, starting on September 3 and ending on September 17.