‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’: Lola Tung Had a Go-To Playlist to Get Into Belly’s ‘Head Space’
Just as music is a big part of The Summer I Turned Pretty, the Amazon Prime Video original series’ star, Lola Tung, used it to get into character. What the actor listened to for a fast way to get into Isabel “Belly” Conklin’s “headspace” and what she looked for in songs.
Lola listened to ‘nostalgic’ and ‘more emotional’ songs to connect with Belly
Kim Petras’s “You Can’t Do Better” might’ve blared through the speakers as Belly sang along on the way to Cousins with her brother Steven (Sean Kaufman), and mother Laurel (Jackie Chung) in the TSITP premiere episode. However, the track may not have made the cut for season 2 based on Tung’s description of her own Belly playlist that helped her get into character.
“It was a lot of slightly more emotional songs — songs that felt nostalgic,” she told The New York Times. Why? “Because Belly was really in this season dealing with a lot of changes in her life and dealing with the fact that change is inevitable.”
“It’s a hard thing to realize growing up,” Tung continued. “You know, how do you move forward and still stay in touch with that magic of childhood and the familiarity and things that you know?”
“Music plays such a big part in prepping for different scenes,” she added. “We were jumping around a lot emotionally in season 2. So I think music was a way to very quickly get into the headspace of the character, whatever scene it was.”
As for what Tung listened to, her Belly playlist featured “a lot of Mitski.” She also called “Two Slow Dancers” a “great song to listen to” as it’s “very reflective.” On the playlist was also “a lot of Taylor Swift,” Phoebe Bridgers, Dodi, Lizzie McAlpine, and “some SZA.”
Writing letters to ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ characters also helped Lola get into character
Music wasn’t the only way Tung entered Belly’s world of night swims, belly flops, and feelings for the Fisher boys. Tung, who hails from New York City, New York, turned to writing. Not a diary of her own thoughts on filming the show, but from the view of her character.
“I would journal a lot and write a lot, especially from Belly’s perspective,” she said. “The first season, I wrote letters to each of the characters in Belly’s voice, which was really cool.”
So a letter to her childhood friends-turned-love-interests Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno)? And maybe their mother Susannah (Rachel Blanchard) or Belly’s best friend Taylor (Rain Spencer), too?
“I think when you journal and you write just sort of like stream of consciousness, you learn a lot about the character,” Tung added.
Lola Tung has an official ‘Belly Playlist’
Tung may not have provided the exact playlist she used to get into Belly’s head, but that doesn’t mean fans don’t have access to another one of her TSITP playlists. The 20-year-old created a Belly Playlist, which is available on Amazon Prime Music and Spotify, complete with songs she “played while getting into character,” per the description.
Plus, some songs she and the rest of the TSITP cast “listened to on set or while getting ready in the hair & makeup trailer.” Rounding out her 52-song selection are tracks that were reminiscent of the “magical summer.”
Watch The Summer I Turned Pretty Seasons 1 and 2 on Amazon Prime Video.
