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Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Summer I Turned Pretty Author Jenny Han Revealed the Real Reason She Changed Belly's Ethnicity in the Show
The Summer I Turned Pretty is back, and it's time to return to Cousins one last time. But with renewed interest in the Amazon show, some people are finding a major change from book to screen. The Summer I Turned Pretty focuses on the love triangle between Isabel 'Belly' Conklin (Lola Tung) and brothers Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno). It's based on author Jenny Han's coming-of-age romantic drama book series of the same name. Han, who also wrote the To All the Boys book series, which inspired Netflix's movies of the same title, is also the creator and an executive producer on The Summer I Turned Pretty series. More from StyleCaster Who Does Belly End Up With in The Summer I Turned Pretty? Season 3 Isn't 'Exactly the Same' The Major Way The Summer I Turned Pretty TV Show Changed Jeremiah & Belly's Cheating Storyline From the BooksThe Amazon series has garnered praise for the diverse casting, but many fans are wondering what the cast members' ethnicities are in real life. What is Lola Tung's ethnicity? Lola Tung is of Chinese and Swedish descent from her mom's side and European from her father's side. She's frequently talked about Asian-American representation and how being mixed-race has affected her upbringing. She's praised shows like The Summer I Turned Pretty for uplifting Asian American stories and is proud to have a cast and crew that are proud to tell these narratives. 'I think it's really special to have stories about love and about family [and see] different families,' she told Teen Vogue in 2022. 'It's not just the same thing over and over again. To be working with other Asian-American actors — Sean Kaufman, who plays my brother, Jackie Chung, who plays my mom, and Minnie Mills who's also in the show — and to have an Asian-American creator, writer, and showrunner who has that voice and that understanding is so incredible.' She continued, 'We had an Asian-American director, too, Jeff Chan, who was amazing. [I was] constantly being surrounded by incredible Asian-American artists. To have that also be my first experience on a set was really, really cool. It's a story about love and family, and the family happens to be Asian-American, which is so cool, because it's just family, it's just love.' What's Belly's Ethnicity in The Summer I Turned Pretty TV series? Belly is half-Korean and half-white in The Summer I Turned Pretty TV Series. Series creator and author Jenny Han talked about the change from the books when she made the book into movies. 'When I was approaching the adaptation, I wanted to really reflect the moment that we're living in,' she told Cinemablend. 'And I think the diversity of characters is a piece of that, so it felt like a really great opportunity to showcase different kinds of talent. We get to have like an Asian American family on the show.' 'These are all the same characters,' she later elaborated to KCRW. 'And they have the same essence to them, but how would I see them as they are in 2020-2021? And so I thought it was just a really great opportunity to expand that out, and have this story in the show feel more modern and of this moment.' Is Belly Asian in The Summer I Turned Pretty books? Belly is white in The Summer I Turned Pretty book series. Han talked about how when she first pitched the books to publishers in the early 2000s, they were hesitant to release diverse books. 'I think it didn't even really hurt my feelings because it was just kind of so matter of fact,' she told CBS. 'I had tried to sell a book with an Asian main character before this one, and people weren't really interested in it. The thing I would hear is, 'We already have a book with them.'' She stressed the importance of doing more for Asian representation back in those days. 'Even my first book, it was important for me to have my picture on the back,' Han said. 'It wasn't really done at the time, and I thought, 'I want other young Asian women to see that and think it's possible.'' Best of StyleCaster The 26 Best Romantic Comedies to Watch if You Want to Know What Love Feels Like These 'Bachelor' Secrets & Rules Prove What Happens Behind the Scenes Is So Much Juicier BTS's 7 Members Were Discovered in the Most Unconventional Ways Solve the daily Crossword
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Four Letters of Love review
Niall Williams has adapted his own international bestseller for this slushy romantic drama set in the west of Ireland, about love and destiny and dreams never given up on. For me, it pushed the bounds of absurdity and melodrama one step too far, though it undoubtedly has an audience. Something here reminded me of the romdram hits of author Nicholas Sparks, and particularly Message in a Bottle – although to be fair it should be borne in mind that Williams published his novel a year before Sparks' book came out. Two young lives unfold in parallel, fated to be brought together. Fionn O'Shea is Nicholas Coughlan, whose civil-servant dad William (Pierce Brosnan) has an epiphany at work one day when a lozenge of sunlight is blazoned on his drab desk and he abandons his job and heads west from Dublin to pursue his new vocation of painting. It is around these parts that Isabel (played by the excellent Ann Skelly, from Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy's Rose Plays Julie) has been traumatised by her brother's illness and is on the point of being sent away to be schooled by nuns and parted from her kindly parents – poet and schoolteacher Muiris (Gabriel Byrne) and Margaret (Helena Bonham Carter). A strained and convoluted plot point means that John (Pat Shortt), a concerned colleague of William's, offers to buy one of his paintings to use as the prize in a poetry competition, and this painting winds up in Muiris' and Margaret's home – although the details of Muiris finding out about the competition, his deciding to enter and his presumed excitement at winning aren't made clear. Moreover the audience is not allowed a good look at the painting until the very end, to see how it brings all the cosmic forces into alignment. This top-notch cast gives it their considerable all, but to my taste the syrup content was in the end too high. Four Letters of Love is in UK and Irish cinemas from 18 July, and Australian cinemas from 24 July.
Khaleej Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Khaleej Times
'Saiyaara' was born in Dubai: Mohit Suri returns to heartbreak, music, and timeless romance
It's not every day that a Bollywood filmmaker comes up with an idea for his next big film in the middle of a DJ gig in Dubai. But Mohit Suri isn't your usual storyteller. Sitting across us on a Zoom call, he recounts a moment of unexpected nostalgia that sparked the first flicker of Saiyaara, his much-anticipated romantic drama releasing July 18 in the UAE under the Yash Raj Films banner. 'I was in Dubai, meeting an old friend. My wife was DJing, and suddenly they started playing all my old songs from Awarapan, Zeher, Kalyug,' he says. 'But what hit me wasn't the film sets or the actors, it was the fact that every song was connected to a certain emotion, a particular person, or a moment in my life.' That was the genesis of Saiyaara. Not from market research or trends, but from a feeling. For Suri, love, music, and memories are connected, he says, "it is a triangular relationship between the three, and I thought it is an interesting concept to work on." Suri's brand of cinema has always been synonymous with heartbreak — not just romantic loss, but the ache of separation, longing, and inner turmoil. From Aashiqui 2 to Ek Villain, he's crafted stories that linger in the audience's emotional muscle memory. And Saiyaara comes from a similar thought process, only more suited to the newer generation. 'I don't think I keep love broken,' he says when asked about his recurring themes of loss. 'If there is love, there will be pain. If someone going away doesn't hurt you, it wasn't love in the first place.' His last film, Ek Villain Returns, a sequel to the 2014 hit, was released in 2022. So what makes Saiyaara different than his previous projects? Suri explains it as a taste of love which he grew up with. At 44, married and with children, he says, "I can sit back now and reflect on the childhood Mohit who was, at one time, looking for success, fame, power, and position. And at the same time, he was falling in love." A new generation of lovers Saiyaara features newcomers Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda, two fresh faces backed by the legacy and training of Yash Raj Films. But for Suri, directing newcomers wasn't just about coaching them, instead, he aimed to capture real emotion. 'It's unfair to judge raw talents, saying they're not emotional. Whether you swipe right or write letters, heartbreak still hurts in the same place — slightly to the left of your chest,' he says. 'It's unfair to look at this generation and think that they don't have it.' He praises casting director Shanoo Sharma for nurturing Ahaan for years and discovering Aneet. During the shoot, he adapted his directorial style to suit their unique strengths — 'not building a wall with bricks, but shaping clay with care,' as he poetically puts it. "My mentor always told me that when it is a new person, you cover their minuses and accentuate their pluses." One telling moment on set? During a concert scene shoot, Ahaan walked past a massive screen projecting himself from a previous shot. 'He couldn't believe himself. That look in his eyes — I've seen it before. In Emraan when Footpath released, in Kangana during Gangster, in Shraddha and Aditya during Aashiqui 2. It is the same look. The moment changes but the look in the eye stays the same.' Music as a memory The music of Saiyaara — already climbing global charts — is poised to become the emotional backbone of the film, just as Tum Hi Ho once was for Aashiqui 2. For Suri, composing tracks begins not with marketing strategies but with the screenplay itself. 'The story always inspires the soundtrack,' he says. 'A song can say what three scenes can't. Some of my tracks were composed before we even cast the actors.' That's how integral music is to his storytelling. That explains why some of the songs from his previous films top the Spotify heartbreak playlist. And while today's content often bends to the algorithm, Suri went the other way. The Saiyaara title track runs six and a half minutes — far longer than a standard digital-friendly runtime. Yet, the audience responded. 'I didn't follow any rules, I just did what I thought was emotionally right at the time. Now it's No. 2 in India and climbing globally.' Suri is candid about the difference between content that's 'scrollable' and stories that are memorable. 'If you're trying to match the algorithm, you'll only be as good as yesterday's success,' he says. 'But if you personalise your emotion — if you tap into something real — you end up creating something universal.' His advice? "Just make music that you think you would like. Something that touches the heart. And I think that will last longer."
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Four Letters of Love review
Niall Williams has adapted his own international bestseller for this slushy romantic drama set in the west of Ireland, about love and destiny and dreams never given up on. For me, it pushed the bounds of absurdity and melodrama one step too far, though it undoubtedly has an audience. Something here reminded me of the romdram hits of author Nicholas Sparks, and particularly Message in a Bottle – although to be fair it should be borne in mind that Williams published his novel a year before Sparks' book came out. Two young lives unfold in parallel, fated to be brought together. Fionn O'Shea is Nicholas Coughlan, whose civil-servant dad William (Pierce Brosnan) has an epiphany at work one day when a lozenge of sunlight is blazoned on his drab desk and he abandons his job and heads west from Dublin to pursue his new vocation of painting. It is around these parts that Isabel (played by the excellent Ann Skelly, from Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy's Rose Plays Julie) has been traumatised by her brother's illness and is on the point of being sent away to be schooled by nuns and parted from her kindly parents – poet and schoolteacher Muiris (Gabriel Byrne) and Margaret (Helena Bonham Carter). A strained and convoluted plot point means that John (Pat Shortt), a concerned colleague of William's, offers to buy one of his paintings to use as the prize in a poetry competition, and this painting winds up in Muiris' and Margaret's home – although the details of Muiris finding out about the competition, his deciding to enter and his presumed excitement at winning aren't made clear. Moreover the audience is not allowed a good look at the painting until the very end, to see how it brings all the cosmic forces into alignment. This top-notch cast gives it their considerable all, but to my taste the syrup content was in the end too high. Four Letters of Love is in UK and Irish cinemas from 18 July, and Australian cinemas from 24 July.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘I wish I'd enjoyed my fame a bit more': Jim Sturgess on regrets, romance and the art of the mix tape
Like all good love stories, this one starts with a chance meeting and ends with a reunion. It was 2008, pre-Hardy and Hiddleston, post-Bale and Grant; Jim Sturgess was a rising star and the latest handsome young Brit to break Hollywood. Having landed the lead role in casino thriller 21, Sturgess needed a love interest: cue a slew of chemistry tests with a roll call of beautiful young women, a process Sturgess remembers now as 'the most exposed blind date you could ever possibly put yourself through, with five producers watching you from afar'. Kate Bosworth got the role, but one actor lingered in Sturgess's mind: an effervescent Australian called Teresa Palmer. 'When you do those chemistry tests, they put you through it, so we spent the whole day together,' Sturgess says. 'I was really hoping she was going to get the part, because we got on really well. She's Australian, I'm English, and we were both in Hollywood going, 'Where the hell are we?'' Palmer didn't get the part, but Sturgess never forgot her. And, almost 20 years later, Sturgess and Palmer have been reunited – for Mix Tape, a wistful romantic drama about two people who reunite after 20 years apart. Told in four one-hour episodes (you'll wish it was much, much longer), Mix Tape follows two teenagers, Dan and Alison, as they woo each other with letters and mix tapes in 1980s Sheffield (which means we get some amazing needle drops: the Jesus and Mary Chain, the Cure, Joy Division). Guileless young Dan (Rory Walton-Smith) is completely smitten, but Alison (Florence Hunt) is guarded, desperately trying to hide her difficult family life at home. When she suddenly disappears – for reasons revealed much later – Dan is completely heartbroken. Sturgess, now 47, plays adult Dan: a music journalist who never left his home town and, despite being married, never really moved on from his first love. When he discovers Alison (Palmer) is now a bestselling author living in Sydney, he sends her a friend request online. Letters and cassettes are swapped for Facebook messages and Spotify playlists, but the feelings remain the same. Palmer tells me Sturgess is 'the kindest, warmest, coolest, most effortless actor I've ever worked with. And that dude really has great taste in music,' she adds. 'He is that character – he is the real deal.' Before filming even began, Sturgess and Palmer were sending each other playlists, with Sturgess putting her on to UK rappers like Kano, Dizzee Rascal, Ocean Wisdom, Little Simz. 'It was just like the show,' he says. 'Twenty-odd years later, we were reconnecting.' In his 20s, Sturgess made his name as the romantic lead in the Beatles musical film Across the Universe and opposite Anne Hathaway in One Day, but he has spent the past few years in roles that require guns and running – think Hard Sun and Geostorm. But Sturgess is made for this work, with his crinkly eyed smile and soft eyes. Last year was all about 'rodent boyfriends' – well, you can take your Mike Faist, because Sturgess is the OG rodent boyfriend, with a face particularly suited for yearning. 'I've been working on my yearning,' he laughs. 'I'm actually very attracted to romance stories, more so as I get older. They're just so human – it's literally two people navigating their feelings and their emotions, which is really beautiful and interesting.' Mix tapes were a 'big, big part' of how Sturgess wooed girls. 'It works!' he laughs. 'A mix tape was a really big deal back then! That was why I was so attracted to young Daniel – I was that guy!' As a teenager, he was obsessed with US hip-hop and guitar bands from Northern England; he vividly recalls listening to the Stone Roses on his Walkman while delivering newspapers. 'That's what's so beautiful about Mix Tape – it is about that period when you first fall in love, when you first hear music,' he says. 'Your receptors are just so wide open and everything is so important to you. And that's why, when people ask you what your favourite band is, you'll probably say what your favourite band was when you were 16.' Sturgess had a hand in choosing the music used in Mix Tape and even taught Walton-Smith and Hunt how to make mix tapes on cassette: 'It blew their minds. They were like, 'This is an art form. And this is a lot of work!'' he laughs. 'I was explaining to them how you couldn't just get the music off the internet – you had to own it, all your mix tapes came from what was in your collection. They couldn't believe it.' Director Lucy Gaffy let Sturgess in on the audition process for young Dan; they picked Walton-Smith, a complete newcomer who will be in everything soon. 'There was a real gentleness to Rory that some of the other actors didn't bring,' says Sturgess. 'He's got that natural Northern swagger and charm to him. And it was his first job! He was so wide open and desperate to learn. Beautifully inquisitive. He was brilliant. I'm really proud of what he's done.' When Sturgess was his age, he was too afraid to ask for help: 'I was dropped in at the deep end.' He never formally trained as an actor, but he got the bug as a six-year-old when he was cast in a production of Wind in the Willows. 'I was not very good at school. I struggled to concentrate … I was slightly tarnished with the naughty brush. But I just took to [acting]. I still remember the sense of community, of making something together – which I still crave now.' When he was cast opposite Evan Rachel Wood in Across the Universe, Sturgess was propelled to international stardom. 'I didn't really know what I was doing. I was just a kid from England, playing in bands – and suddenly this movie thing happened. Everything changed quite quickly. I didn't really understand how to navigate myself through all that. I didn't have anybody guiding me. I'd be invited to these big parties, but I would always not go. It was a bit scary, it feels a bit mad.' Over the years, he's been in the very good (Cloud Atlas), the worthy of reappraisal (Across the Universe – 'I feel like if it came out now, it might have done all right,' Sturgess muses), and the very bad (London Fields, a spectacular box office flop overshadowed by the subsequent tawdry trial between his co-stars, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard). He's passed on some big opportunities (playing Spider-Man on Broadway) and said yes to much smaller parts that made him happy. If anything, he's learned to focus on the experience of making something, rather than the reception: 'It's such a rollercoaster ride … If your end goal is just to have it be well received and get all the admiration that might come with that, you're going to fall over a lot. You're going to trip yourself up. If it is well received, that's the icing on the cake. I don't really read reviews. I just don't. I'm not trying to hide from them or anything. I'm just never that interested. If I read a bad one, I'll probably agree, you know? Fair enough!' At the premiere for that casino film 21, which was held in Las Vegas, he remembers his face was plastered across billboards on the Strip, on the blackjack tables at the hotel and even on his room key. What is his relationship with fame now? 'It is easier,' he says. 'I was definitely more famous when I was younger and, sometimes, I wish I'd enjoyed it a bit more. But I shied away from fame a lot. I had it at an arm's length. And, looking back, I think I would have got more out of it if I opened myself up to it and embraced it, if I wasn't quite so wary of it all.' Now, he is recognised 'just enough that I'm quite flattered when it happens'. These days, Sturgess is performing music under the moniker King Curious and his next film will be 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank, alongside Liam Neeson and – you guessed it– Teresa Palmer, who plays his girlfriend again. Is this what they're doing now, a la Fred and Ginger, Kate and Leo, Hanks and Ryan? Sturgess laughs. 'If you could just find somebody you got on with and kept making relationship movies … well, I'd be down!' Mix Tape is on BBC Two and iPlayer
