Did You Know? "The Summer I Turned Pretty" Filmed Fake Scenes to Confuse Fans

Perhaps one of the biggest romantic dramas this season, The Summer I Turned Pretty has amassed a loyal following of viewers glued to the production team’s every move. They overanalyze interviews and produce theories in hopes of predicting the show’s endgame couple after the book’s author, Jenny Han, teased an “unexpected ending.”

Doubling as the showrunner, Jenny used the fans’ eagle-eyed dedication to their advantage by purposefully shooting fake scenes to throw them off the scent of TSITP’s real and much-awaited conclusion.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jenny Revealed that they invited Gavin Casalegno, who plays Jeremiah Fisher, up to Paris to film a few extra outdoor shots with Lola Tung, fully intending for onlookers to take videos and spread them online. "We did have Gavin come out so that we could have some stuff with him in Paris, just because I like to keep surprises for the audience," she said. No extra sequences or actual dialogue were written. Instead, they filmed around scenes that would actually be part of the show.

Jenny explained the difficulty of filming these days, particularly when it comes to location shoots. With phones everywhere, it’s virtually impossible to keep things a secret. She explained, “I think it takes away from some of the excitement around it when you have all these spoilers. So that was my way of trying to protect the story for the audience."

Their elaborate scheme worked its magic after a video of the two lead actors hugging for the cameras went viral on social media, stirring a frenzy among viewers considering Belly ends up with Conrad in the original books. According to Gavin, who was nothing but happy to help out, they’d actually filmed a few more fake scenes involving Jeremiah and Belly, but it was only that one moment that really caught on with panicked fans.

"Obviously they weren't in the episodes, but it was kind of fun to do that and see people leaning out of their balconies recording it," shared the actor. "Because I was like, 'They're never going to see this…It was cool. I felt like a CIA agent or something."

If you’ve watched the show’s finale, then you already know who Belly actually ends up with. FYI, their love story isn’t over yet. Fans are in for a treat as Prime Video announced a movie for The Summer I Turned Pretty to be written and directed by Jenny herself. "There is another big milestone left in Belly's journey, and I thought only a movie could give it its proper due," the author said in an official statement.