TSITP’s Jackie Chung Says Goodbye To Laurel, The Messy Midlife Mom We Needed To See

We’re all bracing for the end of summer, sure. More pressingly, though, we’re bracing for the end of The Summer I Turned Pretty. Season 3 of the wildly popular hit Prime Video series drops on July 16, meaning it’s time to say goodbye to Cousins Beach and the characters we’ve come to know and love. Among them? Laurel — best friend to Susannah, mother to Belly and Steven, messy mid-adult woman just out here trying to live a whole-ass life without imploding. (Relatable!)

I would go so far as to argue that it’s Jackie Chung as Laurel that anchors viewership of the series for moms like me. We see Chung’s complex portrayal of midlife womanhood in a YA-tinged world, and we realize we’ve reached that point where we see more of ourselves in her than we do in Belly. The scales have tipped, and you know what? We’re OK with that.

As the series reminds us, life goes on, and soon, it’ll go on without the characters from Cousins Beach, too. But for now, Chung is reflecting on her journey — from steamy car scenes to the romantic advice she would give to Belly — and what fans can expect from Laurel in Season 3.

SM: Here on the precipice of the final season, how do you plan to say goodbye to Laurel?

Jackie Chung: We shot last year, so I sort of feel like I'm saying hello to her again before I say goodbye, and it's just been really lovely. I think I'm just going to watch in real time with everyone and then see what all the feelings are.

SM: As a fan, there’s this natural inclination to want the characters we love to stay with us as long as possible. Would you say this is a final goodbye to Laurel for you, or would you be open to revisiting her in a future… maybe a movie adaptation?

JC: Oh, wow. I feel like I would be open to revisiting Laurel. I have such a good time with this cast. We have created our own family, and I would love to have a reunion with them at some point in my life.

SM: That’s good to hear! We are living in the age of reboots, so I feel like it could happen...

JC: Yeah, we'll just send postcards to Jenny.

SM: I’m already bracing to have my heart broken, as I’ve been a staunch supporter of Team Jellyfish. Were you surprised to see just how passionate fans have become about their relationship loyalties, duking it out left and right on social media?

JC: Oh, yeah! I think if you do any show, even when it's based on a popular book series, it's impossible to anticipate what the reaction is going to be or how much people are going to like or not like it ... the incredibly passionate responses when it comes to Belly's relationship choices have been really surprising.

I was just thinking about this the other day. I went to see a friend in a play — this was a couple of years ago — and I sat down before the play started. This woman turned, and I could feel her looking at me, and then she just started talking to me. But it wasn't like, “Hey, I recognize you from the show." She just went, "Hi, what team are you? I'm Team Jellyfish, what about you? These are my reasons, what do you think? Nice to meet you.” (laughs)

SM: Everyone talks about teams primarily in terms of Conrad or Jeremiah and Belly, but I feel like the dark horse here for me is Team Staylor. I was really happy to see Steven get to step into his own stan-dom. Did you feel a sort of maternal pride or protectiveness in watching Sean, who plays your son, make this shift?

JC: I feel a lot of pride with all of the younger actors on our show. I do feel very close to Sean [Kaufman, “Steven”] and Lola [Tung, “Belly”] because they do play my children. I check in on everyone, because there's a year where I don't see them, so I like to check in on everyone and just see how they're doing. But I'm happy to see any and all of them step into any light that is shining on them because I think they're all really wonderful actors and people.

SM: We know Season 3 picks up with a major time jump ... What, if anything, can you tell us about where the time jump finds Laurel?

JC: Yes, it's been four years, and Laurel is in this new place because she is now an empty nester. Belly is in college and Steven has entered the workforce, so she has a bit more time on her hands to figure out, I feel like, who she wants to be. Because she's also without this huge relationship that was part of her life, that being her friendship with Susannah. So, she just has a lot of room to grow.

SM: Honestly, she’s been arguably my favorite on the show for this very reason: I feel like, for mid-adult moms like me, she’s just the most relatable character. She’s complicated and sometimes messy, but fiercely loving and just out there trying to do her best. Was that something, as a mom, that drew you to her?

JC: I mean, thank you for saying that, because we do have a lot of mothers or just women who are in their thirties or forties who relate to these characters because they enjoy watching these young adult shows. I think they enjoy the romance and the nostalgia, but I feel like they also love seeing these adult relationships.

What initially drew me to the show was Jenny [Han], because I'd seen the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before films, and I feel like she just has such an incredible way of capturing this time in your life where emotions run so high and everything feels life or death, and your heart is just bursting. There's so much that you're trying to figure out. So, I was excited to work with her.

Then, once I read the script, I really loved seeing the relationship between Laurel and Susannah. Rachel [Blanchard] and I talked about it a lot, how lovely it was to see a long friendship where the women just support each other. They don't ever try to take each other down. They're always there to hold each other up. It was really lovely portraying that.

SM: Before we get into that more, we have to talk about *that* scene with Laurel and Cleveland in the car in Season 1. It’s spicy, and I was here for it. Let’s please normalize stories like this for women over 35! Were you a little nervous about that scene?

JC: I was not nervous about that scene actually! ... Any of those scenes are kind of weird. Like, Hey, just got to go bounce around in the car for a while. I'm friends with Alfredo Narciso, who plays Cleveland. We've done a couple of plays together, so I knew him before. That was very helpful because I already felt comfortable and safe with him, and I didn't necessarily feel nervous about it.

It's maybe not the most comfortable scene to be in, but I do think what you said is true — that it is important to normalize being women over 30, 35, whatever, having intimate relationships and people who are mothers and who are divorced, like Laurel, still exploring relationships and their sexuality... that it doesn't end at a certain age.

SM: Yes! You mentioned the friendship between Susannah and Laurel, which was so very special. Is it safe to say that Laurel’s grief over losing Susannah will still be bubbling up in Season 3?

JC: You'll see that Laurel is always thinking about Susannah and that, in this season, she's channeling that loss and that love for her friend into her relationships with all of the children, particularly Susannah's children. I think she really feels like a lone adult in the room and wants to be there for her best friend and soul mate's family.

SM: I read an interview where Jenny said some of Laurel and Belly’s scenes in Season 3 are the ones that made her cry. This love triangle is coming to a head, and that will affect Laurel as well. If Belly were your real-life daughter, what advice would you give her?

JC: My advice would be to listen to your heart and focus on yourself. I actually have said this to friends before. When we were in our twenties, I had a friend who was looking for someone, always looking, and I'm like, Just look at yourself. Develop the person that you are, the interests that you have, the career that you want to build, and someone interesting that matches you will appear. Stop looking outwards and look inwards. I feel like I would tell that to Belly. She's at a big transitional time in her life, and there's so much to explore in the world and in herself. I would hope she would just do that.

SM: Love that. Well, being a working mom is obviously not new to you, but the series has exploded; it’s part of the zeitgeist. Do you feel like it has changed your day-to-day life as a mom?

JC: I definitely get recognized when I'm out, and sometimes I'm with my kids, so I feel like I've had to create boundaries when I'm with my family versus when I'm out by myself. I feel like I owe it to my kids to explain what this attention is. So, I just try to articulate to them that this is part of my job, and it's lovely that people respond to the show that I'm on, but receiving attention is not something that I'm seeking or something I want to stress that they try to attain.

SM: I’m sure that’s something that will just be evolving constantly for you now! Which, speaking of, what’s next for you?

JC: I'm waiting for the right, interesting role to come along. I'm enjoying the summer with my family, enjoying some downtime with them, and then just open to seeing what's next.

This interview originally ran on Scary Mommy. It has been edited for length and clarity.