Yahoo News The Summer I Turned Pretty stars discuss all that chaotic house party drama
Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Summer I Turned Pretty, season 2, episode 6, "Love Fest."
It's Belly's (Lola Tung) party and she'll cry if she wants to on The Summer I Turned Pretty — and while she ended up in tears during the rager at the Cousins beach house in this week's episode, the out-of-control bash had an even bigger impact on Steven (Sean Kaufman) and Taylor (Rain Spencer).
When all hope of saving the beach house seemed lost, Belly, Conrad (Christopher Briney), Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno), Steven, Taylor, and Skye (Elsie Fisher) decide to throw one last party to say goodbye to it. In between Belly getting drunk and fighting with Conrad, the Fisher boys fighting with each other over Belly, and Skye and Cam (David Iacono) sharing a surprisingly sweet smooch, Steven and Taylor checked off every teen house party trope together. They performed a choreographed dance to "Party in the U.S.A." He confessed that he still has feelings for her. Her wannabe rockstar boyfriend catches them vibing, so he and Steven get into a fist fight in the middle of the dance floor set to Blink-182's "All the Small Things." But eventually, Steven and Taylor get their romantic happy ending as she dumps her boyfriend and they finally kiss.
Below, The Summer I Turned Pretty stars Kaufman and Spencer break down all those major moments for Steven and Taylor.
Prime Video Rain Spencer (Taylor), Sean Kaufman (Steven)
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What was your reaction when you read this episode's script for the first time?
RAIN SPENCER: First I was like, "Oh god, I have to dance?!" And there's the fight scene. There's a beautiful moment right before Milo enters, Taylor's so extremely happy and almost this childlike version of her comes out where she's remembering what it used to be like and all these memories that she has with Steven and how much she truly just loves him so much, then reality catches up with her. In that moment she knows that she has to make a decision. I think it's all so beautiful. I love it.
What was it like learning the choreography for Taylor and Steven's big dance?
SEAN KAUFMAN: Oh my God, it was so much fun. When [author] Jenny [Han] told me she had the idea, she was like, "You're going to dance again, and you're going to do it to 'Party in the U.S.A.'" I was like, "Give me a little booty shake, a little butt wag, and I'm with it. I'm so down." We had a wonderful choreographer, and Rain is also so incredible and she's so fun to do anything with, especially that dance. It just felt safe and fun on set. It was just a great environment to produce great content.
SPENCER: It was a lot of fun. I tried to not take it too seriously. I mean, this is a dance that they did when they were probably 11 or 12 so I tried to have just as much fun with it as possible and just be really silly.
What was it like on set the day you filmed that dance?
SPENCER: It's so funny because the dance, it's all this joy and fun, and then immediately, there's a fight. It takes a big 180. I was a little nervous because I had all these people around me and I am not a dancer. But bringing the childlike essence to it and however Taylor would do it, we just had a ball.
What did you think of how Taylor immediately shuts down Steven and Milo's fight?
SPENCER: I thought her reaction was perfect. If that happened to me in real life — which it would never [laughs] — I think that I would have a similar reaction of, "Violence is not the answer. Let's talk about this. We're breaking up. We don't need to fight about it. Everybody put your big masculine arms down and let's just relax."
What was it like filming Steven and Taylor's big kiss at the end?
KAUFMAN: I remember reading it and just being so excited, not only because it was just a lot for Steven, but it was just a lot of cool stuff I was getting to do. I had only danced before once in season 1, and I had never gotten into a fight onscreen, it was all this stuff that I was rehearsing and doing, and by the time it got to the day of the kiss I was so excited and so ready. Rain is absolutely incredible and such a safe and trusting actor, so working with her was incredible and I would love to just keep doing it.
SPENCER: That is my favorite scene of the season. I remember filming it, I still tried to do the scene with walls up as Taylor, and I remember Jenny came out and was like, "I don't want you to put any walls up right now. When it comes down to it and you're telling the truth, I want it to just be real." And I remember being like, "Oh my God, Taylor's doing that?!" It felt so off and weird, but I think that's the beauty of that scene. She's never liked that, she doesn't do that, so I think it was a huge moment of growth for her. I was just so excited, and I loved to be able to dive deeper into Taylor and see her be a little bit more soft and a little bit more vulnerable. That's something that really, really scares her. She has a lot of walls up, and Steven is the perfect person to help break them down.
These interviews were conducted prior to the start of the SAG-AFTRA strike. This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2 debuts new episodes Fridays on Prime Video.
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