This summer, Lola Tung has a big decision to make. Reprising her leading role in the on- screen adaptation of Jenny Han’s Gen Z romance series The Summer I Turned Pretty for its third and final instalment, Tung’s character Belly is at the centre of a complicated love triangle with the Fisher brothers. Over the past three summers, fans have watched the trio’s dynamic unravel, piece itself back together, and fall apart again, picking a steadfast side: team Conrad or team Jeremiah. Will Belly’s final decision be what they’re expecting? It’s a secret Tung is keeping tight-lipped on ahead of the show’s premiere episode in July – not even her co-star, Riverdale alumni Lili Reinhart, could get it out of her on the set of their upcoming horror indie, Forbidden Fruits. A who’s who of modern-day it-girls, the film also stars Victoria Pedretti, Alexandra Shipp and Emma Chamberlain, and follows a group of shopping mall employees who form a witchy cult in the building’s basement.

Lili Reinhart: I’m going to go off the cuff and ask you a random-ass question.
Lola Tung: OK. [laughs]

Lili: If you were a kid…
Lola: We didn’t even say hi to each other!

Lili: Hi, Lola! I just woke up 30 minutes ago.
Lola: You look beautiful.

Lili: This question popped into my brain because I know all actors – maybe not all – did this growing up. Did you play something else instead of playing house? For example, I would play Devil Wears Prada with my friends. We’d have a landline, I’d be answering the phone and making notes on a magazine. Or we would play Zoey 101 and I think I would play the boys a lot.
Lola: I don’t know if I ever got as specific as that. When I was really little, it was mermaids and spies. What [would be] your mermaid name?

Lili: It would be something like, Pearl or Aurora. [both laugh] What’s the most annoying question people ask you in interviews? Because I know at one point I was like, “At what point are people going to stop asking me how I became an actor?”
Lola: Oh, really?

Lili: Still hasn’t stopped. Do people still ask you how you got into this situation?
Lola: Yeah, I don’t mind it. I have my lines where I’m like, “Yeah, this is what happened.”

Lili: Is there a question that makes you roll your eyes – or no comment? [laughs]
Lola: Here’s what I’ll say, because it’s not a question that makes me roll my eyes… I think it’s cool to be able to have such passion on The Summer I Turned Pretty for team Conrad and team Jeremiah – I love that – but I get frustrated when people are not satisfied with my answer of ‘team Belly’. People are like, “OK, but what team are you really?” I’m like, “You heard me the first time!”

Lili: I remember that! If you ever gave a different answer than that, people would come at your throat.
Lola: But like, why are you not supposed to advocate for your character?

“I get frustrated when people are not satisfied with my answer of ‘team Belly’. People are like, ‘OK, but what team are you really?’ I’m like, ‘You heard me the first time!’”

Lili: Especially as a woman, I choose myself. On our Forbidden Fruits set I was like, “Hey, how does your show end?” I asked you three times and you just gave me a little mischievous shrug. I was like, “This girl really signed some NDAs, huh?”
Lola: You hear that Jenny [Han], I promise I’m keeping it a secret.

Lili: She didn’t say anything. I haven’t watched it yet, so I’ll have to see how it all shook out for you.
Lola: Wait, did I seriously not? Look at that.

Lili: You were like, “I’ll tell you when we’re not on set.” But you never did.
Lola: It was such a short shoot.

Lili: It was, we also didn’t really have a lot of time to hang out off-set because, for context, we were shooting at night. So we were waking up at 6pm, going to work at 8pm, getting back in bed at 10am. Then on the weekends, we had to keep that sleep schedule, otherwise you would just screw yourself over for the next week of work. So on the weekends, we would try to stay up and keep on that time zone. But we also just like, didn’t want to leave our beds. We were living in the same building and having a lot of group chats. You and I went out – not out out, but we would go to our director’s apartment and would play games. It was fun. And then one night, you and I watched The Love Witch together, which is a movie that our director Meredith [Alloway] loves.
Lola: What are you up to right now? If you can say.

Lili: I’m working on a movie called The Very Best People, which is based on a play. We’re shooting in Staten Island, so I’m in Brooklyn. The last time I shot a movie [in New York City] was Hustlers, in 2019. I feel like it’s a blessing anytime I get to shoot in the United States, because nothing shoots here anymore, unfortunately. I like to explore the US, not that I don’t want to go outside of it, but it does make things more complicated in terms of bringing my dog. You haven’t met Milo because I didn’t bring him to Toronto [where Forbidden Fruits was filmed]. I didn’t want to put him through the snow, although there was hardly any.
Lola: Just cold, cold weather.

Lili: It’s hard, you don’t want to pawn your dog off to someone and be like, “Help take him for a walk.”
Lola: There ended up being a lot of dogs around and on set.

Lili: Let it be known, I’ve tried to get you to see a horror movie with me.
Lola: I’ve been thinking about it. I really do need to up my horror movie game. I do like them when I go see them, I’m just such a scaredy cat. What’s this one?

Lili: It’s like the worst one to bring you to see, because it’s supposed to be so scary, Bring Her Back.
Lola: Bring Her Back! That shit looks terrifying.

Lili: When you’re home alone, taking a shower, washing your face, you’re like, “I can’t open my eyes because there’s going to be a ghost.”
Lola: I don’t even know if ghosts bother me that much. It’s the anticipation I feel when I’m going to see [the film] and knowing what it’s about. Maybe having done horror movies now it helps to know how silly and funny it is and how everything is so technical. What do you think is the scariest movie of all time?

Lili: It depends. There are categories because, for me, movies about killers don’t necessarily keep me up at night, but watching something about demons does. When I watched Hereditary, I had a really hard time sleeping the first night that I watched it, because it is very demonic and that really scares me. I was trying to show someone the Jeffrey Dahmer Monster show with Evan Peters, and they couldn’t watch past the first episode because it disturbed them so much.
Lola: I mean, that’s also based on real life.

Lili: The really good HBO horror documentary series, like The Jinx, and I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, really kept me up at night, because [they are true stories]. But I guess when I’m seeing an actor perform a true story, it’s less spooky for me.
Lola: I respect the genre so much because I think there is so much smart and thoughtful horror, and it’s a hard thing to do to get all of those moving pieces to work out the right way. I do need to watch more, I’m aware of the fact that I need to.

“Lili: Let it be known, I’ve tried to get you to see a horror movie with me.
Lola: I’ve been thinking about it. I really do need to up my horror movie game. I do like them when I go see them, I’m just such a scaredy cat.”

Lili: You’re fine, you’ve got time.
Lola: I need to, but I don’t want to watch them at home alone, so maybe I will go to the theatre with you.

Lili: I did invite Lola to see Dangerous Animals that’s coming out next week, but she has press, so that’s the excuse. But it’s fine.
Lola: I would have forced myself to go. But I do have press.

Lili: What’s the coolest thing you’ve experienced on a set that not all other sets have?
Lola: I mean, I haven’t been on that many sets to be honest but we had some good catering on season three! The guys who did the catering were so lovely, Chef Ken, shout out. They did a bunch of Marvel movies too, so we talked about the whole Marvel lifestyle of becoming a superhero.

Lili: To be Belly you’ve got to have that good food being cooked for you!
Lola: Strong like a freaking superhero! I’m trying to think of what was on Fruits?

Lili: Cat!
Lola: Cat! Little Celine!

Lili: What was she? A Scottish Fold cat. Beautiful.
Lola: She was beautiful. She was not a diva but she knew she was important, and we got to stare at her from afar and admire her.

Lili: We actually talked about this in our little cast tent, probably at 5 or 6am on either the second last day or the last day of Fruits. My question is: what do you wish someone had told you to prepare for the type of fame and attention from being on a successful young adult show?
Lola: I don’t know if there’s one thing, because I feel like people would just be like, “Are you ready for your life to change?” And you have no clue what that means until it actually happens. I’m grateful that there were some things that my manager told me, and that Jenny told me, in the most positive and loving way she was like, “Hey, maybe start seeing a therapist before the show comes out.” And I’m very grateful that I did that.

Lili: I wish there was a little bit more of a “Your client’s about to be on a huge fucking show, here’s what you need to tell them” handbook. Another question I thought about on my walk with my dog and I’ve been experiencing the last few years, have you ever been surprised by scripts that you’ve been sent in regards to someone seeing you in a role that you’ve not done before? The role I’m doing right now is a far reach from anything I’ve ever done, and I had to ask the director, “Why did you think of me specifically for this?” Because I like to see how directors or people in the industry perceive me as an actor.
Lola: Yeah, I mean Fruits was like, the biggest thing. And Meredith seeing me in that world was such an amazing surprise. I’m so grateful that I got to be a part of it. When you read a script and you just connect with it, or you are drawn into the world, something clicks. I was like, this is so crazy that Summer is my only TV work out there and she watched that and saw me in this world.

“When you read a script and you just connect with it, or you are drawn into the world, something clicks.”

Lili: I was really glad that we got to have a little chick flick time together – there were a lot of women on that set. I think it was carefully and intentionally curated by Meredith. I’m all for seeing more women on set.
Lola: Hell yeah. I learned so much from all of you guys. You’ve all been doing this a lot longer than I have, and I am incredibly grateful for everything that you all – intentionally or unintentionally – taught me.

Lili: I will sing your praises for a second. We met when I was leaving my fitting and you were arriving from New York. I had been really excited to meet you. We met for a quick moment, where we gave each other a hug and… Did I have my wig on?
Lola: I think so.

Lili: Spoiler, no one can know I wear a wig! It’s fine. I don’t like to walk into a set with expectations of other actors. Like, I expect them to be nice and professional – that’s the expectation. But you know, I followed you on Instagram ahead of time. I didn’t do any weird stalking, but my impressions were, this girl has really cool hairstyles when she goes to fashion events.
Lola: [laughs] Thanks.

Lili: Really good skin, obviously gorgeous and cool ass sense of style. But like, I’m not going to draw conclusions about someone’s personality based on their fucking Instagram.
Lola: Because social media makes it weird.

Lili: You’re obviously just a very kind human. You were very open to the experience and everyone could feel your excitement to be there. I’d be the first to say, “It’s been a long day,” or, “I’m tired.” I don’t think I ever heard those words come out of your mouth. And when I said, “Lola, can we do a TikTok in my trailer at 4am?” You were like, “Yeah! Let me just finish my lunch first.” [both laugh] You have an extra special kindness and warmth. These last two years in our industry have been so hard and really discouraging in a lot of ways. I’ve seen a lot of actors struggling and I’ve become somewhat jaded. But when I show up on a set, I still feel really grateful to be there and be doing what I do. It was nice to work with you as someone with no bitterness at all, as someone who is very optimistic and has this happy-go-lucky attitude. I appreciate that.
Lola: I hope I wasn’t overwhelmingly annoying at four o’clock in the morning!

Lili: No, because it’s not performative. It’s genuine. Now that you’ve this horror movie, is there a genre that you feel really jazzed to do?
Lola: I mean, Fruits kind of dabbled in comedy… It’s hard though. I think I’m funny, but you know. [laughs]

Lili: You’d be crying all day long, because Lola cries when she laughs.
Lola: You’re so right. Not fun for make-up. [laughs] I cry at everything. I mean, I literally cry at everything, when I laugh, I cry, when I’m happy, I cry. I love getting to laugh hard on set with everybody.

Lili: It’s a giggle fest. The job we do is insane, and I feel very grateful that I get to play dress up for a living, because especially in Fruits there’s some really fun stuff. You’re doing press now for Summer, right?
Lola: Yes. I’m excited for season three of The Summer I Turned Pretty to come out. I’m so proud of the work that we all did. Oh my god, today is my sister’s prom and I’m doing her make-up.

“I’m excited for season three of The Summer I Turned Pretty to come out. I’m so proud of the work that we all did.”

Lili: That’s so cute. What’s the look?
Lola: So, she sent me reference photos and I did a little bit of a smokey eye and she was like, “I love it.” I was honoured that she asked me, because she hasn’t let me do her make-up since she was maybe seven and I was like, twelve.

Lili: And what’s her dress?
Lola: She has this really gorgeous red dress with little drapey bits, it’s beautiful.

Lili: On that note, I need to go put some damn make-up on. I have a Zoom chemistry read I’m doing after this. I would look a lot better, but because I’ve already got the role I don’t have to look good, right? [laughs]

hair ADLENA at BRYANT ARTISTS; make-up MAKI RYOKE at WALTER SCHUPFER MANAGEMENT using MAC COSMETICS; styling assistant HILTON PALMER