Summer I Turned Pretty’s Gavin Casalegno Explains Decoy Paris Scene

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Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Summer I Turned Pretty season three.

Gavin Casalegno is getting real about the fall he went to Paris.

In October 2024, videos appeared online showing Gavin filming scenes with Lola Tung in Paris, leading fans to believe they were getting a glimpse of what to expect in the third and final season of *The Summer I Turned Pretty*. However, the August 27th episode surprised viewers by revealing that Belly and Jeremiah had already broken up and called off their wedding *before* Belly’s trip to Paris.

In the end, Jeremiah didn’t go to Paris with Belly. Instead, Conrad, played by Christopher Briney, was the one who traveled to find her. The photoshoot with Gavin was just a way to mislead fans about what was happening.

Gavin shared with *The Hollywood Reporter* that filming in Paris was incredibly spontaneous. He explained that he was simply told to fly there and begin working, receiving scripts with no dialogue written on them and performing the scenes on the spot.

Despite not appearing in the finished product, Gavin has no regrets about his time filming in Paris.

Honestly, it was an incredible experience! I was lucky enough to take a trip to Paris, completely free, which is always a win. Beyond the sights, I really enjoyed the coffee culture, and I had the chance to connect with some fantastic people from the local French teams – they were just amazing and so welcoming. It was a truly memorable time.

Author and showrunner Jenny Han also spoke on the plan derived “to throw off the fans.”

In an interview with *People* magazine published on September 18th, Jenny explained that if Gavin hadn’t been able to come to Paris, the outcome would have been clear. She added that they were fortunate he could be there.

In the end, Conrad not only ended up in Paris, but he also won Belly’s heart. Although the TV series has finished, Amazon MGM Studios quickly announced a movie is planned to return to Cousins Beach. While details are still secret, Jenny Han hinted that the movie will include one significant, previously unseen moment for Belly.

Jenny announced on Today on September 18th that Belly is reaching another important milestone and that they will continue to share updates on her progress.

For more on The Summer I Turned Pretty season three, keep reading.

Though the show opens with Belly Conklin (Lola Tung) completing her first year of college, season three of *The Summer I Turned Pretty* is set during the summer after her junior year of high school.

In the show, Jeremiah Fisher (Gavin Casalegno) and Belly had been dating for four years, not two, when Jeremiah cheated on her with Lacie Barone (Lily Donoghue).

In the very first scene of the new season, before entering her freshman dorm, Belly’s brother Steven (Sean Kaufman) playfully covers up her given name, Isabel, on the door, writing just “Belly” instead. Later, her new college friend, Anika (Sofia Bryant), also refers to her as Belly.

However, in the book, Belly didn’t correct anyone who called her by her government name.

She explained in her book that she didn’t intentionally choose the name Isabel – it simply came about by chance. She recalled a specific moment when she was struggling with her key at the door and noticed a nameplate. ‘Isabel,’ it read, spelled out in sparkly, stick-on rhinestones.

She told her roommate, Jillian Chapel, that her name was Isabel, and from then on, everyone at Finch College knew her by that name.

Jenny Han’s *To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before*, which became a popular Netflix movie, was the first book in a series. Though published three years after *We’ll Always Have Summer*, the series included subtle references to the earlier book for fans to discover.

Belly showed her love for the *To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before* movies by displaying a photo of herself and Jeremiah dressed as the characters Peter Kavinsky and Lara Jean on her dorm wall. The sequel, *P.S. I Still Love You*, even appeared as an answer in a crossword puzzle Conrad Fisher (Chris Briney) and Belly worked on together during Christmas.

During the first season of the TV series, the show delved into Conrad’s battles with anxiety, particularly as he coped with the news that his mother, Susannah Fisher (played by Rachel Blanchard), had been diagnosed with cancer again. He tried to remain strong despite these challenges.

By the third week, the Stanford student met with a therapist to discuss his plans to return to Cousins Beach for a memorial dedicated to Susannah. They talked about his worries regarding the event, though he didn’t discuss the issues with his relationships. The important thing is he’s going, isn’t it?

Belly found out she’d been accepted into a study abroad program in Paris for the next semester, which unfortunately meant she wouldn’t be able to live with her friend Anika that fall. This happened before Jeremiah even asked her to marry him.

But in the book, she alters her plans to move because she unexpectedly got engaged. Anika is understanding about it, telling Belly in a text message, “I’m not upset. It’s just disappointing we won’t be living together, but I’ll make it work.”

Though Taylor Jewel (played by Rain Spencer) and Steven’s relationship isn’t a major focus in the books, it becomes a significant subplot in the newest season of the show. Even though Taylor is currently dating Davis and Steven is with Mia, they’ve been secretly having an affair since reconnecting in Manhattan during spring break – the same week Jeramiah betrayed Belly.

While driving, Steven confessed to Taylor that he’d ended things with Mia, hoping they could try dating again. This news was too much for Taylor, and she asked him to stop the car. As she stepped out, Steven was hit by another vehicle while turning around, and doctors put him into a coma. Fortunately, he fully recovered.

Although the same can’t be said for their relationship—at least at this point in the season.

In the story, Belly said yes to Jeremiah’s proposal, even though he had been unfaithful to her during spring break, highlighting a relationship where they were overly reliant on each other.

She described his proposal in chapter 10, saying he looked at her with intense determination and sincerity. She knew his face incredibly well-perhaps better than anyone, even better than she knew her own. She explained this came from countless hours spent watching him sleep, gently tracing the lines of his face with her finger.

You know, as someone who spends a lot of time thinking about connection and cherishing loved ones, this quote really resonated with me. It beautifully captures that deep desire to *know* someone completely – not just their stories, but the very landscape of their life, right down to the little marks and mysteries. It’s about wanting to be present for everything, good and bad, and loving someone so completely that their face itself becomes a beloved map. It’s a really touching expression of wanting intimacy and a shared history, and frankly, it’s something I think we all crave.

Throughout the story, it’s revealed her choice is also a method of self-deception, a way to convince herself she doesn’t have feelings for Conrad-a parallel that’s also present in the television series.

Jeremiah’s deception was ultimately what led him to propose to Belly. She confessed to Taylor that Steven’s accident made her realize life is fleeting. However, it’s evident she was also trying to avoid confronting her true feelings for Conrad.

Taylor’s mother, Lucinda (played by Kristen Connolly), doesn’t appear much in the original book. However, her financial problems become important in the Amazon series, affecting Taylor and Steven’s complicated relationship. Steven discovers Lucinda’s hair salon is losing money after she tries to get him and Taylor back together.

Even though Taylor had ended things with Steven, she didn’t want his help anymore. Instead, she teamed up with Lucinda to reduce expenses and eliminate her debts. This difficult time also explains why Taylor struggled to ask for support from people like Steven.

When Jeremiah and Belly’s relationship began, he was still a junior at Finch, so he didn’t have the stress of graduating hanging over him. Later, he found out he wouldn’t graduate on time, adding another complication. This news was actually the main reason Belly originally decided not to study abroad in Paris the following semester.

Now that Lucinda was more involved in the show, she and Laurel’s daughter helped Belly find her wedding dress and organize the bridal shower, as Laurel didn’t support the wedding.

Kayleigh introduces another complicated love affair to the story. She works as Adam Fisher’s secretary and becomes involved with him while his wife, Susannah, is battling cancer. In the novel, Jeremiah and Conrad’s father also has a secretary, Denise Colletti, who is responsible for wedding planning, but their relationship remains professional.

In the book, Belly’s parents, Laurel and John (played by Colin Ferguson), had a clear and separate coparenting relationship. However, the TV series took a different turn in season three: after attending a literary conference and sharing some wine, they unexpectedly ended up having a romantic encounter.

After Steven’s car accident in episode two, Laurel and John didn’t notice Belly’s upset calls. This left them feeling incredibly guilty about their impulsive night together.

After a period of disagreement, including some arguments and John missing a memorial service for Susannah, he and Belly started reconnecting. This was evident when Belly couldn’t make it home for Thanksgiving and a video call with Laurel revealed that John was spending the holiday with her.

Before Belly’s wedding, Taylor revealed that Conrad was the one who persuaded Laurel to attend the festivities.

In chapter 44, she shared with her best friend, as they were drifting off to sleep, that Conrad had talked to her mom. He’d managed to get her to agree to come to the bridal shower, and the news had spread – from her mom to her own mom, and finally to her.

During the show, Belly suddenly understands that Conrad secretly helped her, which makes her feel very confused while dancing. She’d recently had an edible at her bachelorette party and, while on the dance floor, kept replaying cherished memories of them together, set to the song “we can’t be friends.”

Belly originally planned to study abroad in Paris but missed the application deadline when she decided to stay with Jeremiah. After their wedding fell through, she finally got to spend a year in Paris, taking classes online, meeting new people, and even having a brief romance with someone named Benito.

Although we only saw a small part of Belly’s time studying abroad in Spain through a letter from Conrad, the show spent three full episodes focusing on her experience in France.

For Jenny, expanding on Belly’s time away from her family was needed for the character arc.

Jenny recently told Entertainment Weekly that the Paris scenes and the show’s finale will have a lot of unexpected moments for viewers. She emphasized that it’s more than just a quick wrap-up after the main story.

She explained that she kept revising her scripts while in Paris, constantly adding new details. She realized there was a lot to capture about the experience of living independently for the first time in a new country, and that was an important part of her character, Belly’s, development.

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2025-09-19 02:48