NEED TO KNOW
- Jenny Han is the mastermind behind a host of beloved YA novels, but none has captured the world’s attention quite like The Summer I Turned Pretty
- Han has served as creator, writer, co-showrunner and executive producer on the Prime Video series sparked by her book trilogy, and she tells PEOPLE how different her life looks now
- “I like to watch something and really just feel like, ‘These are real people, living their real lives,'” she says of her dedication to perfecting every detail onscreen
Jenny Han’s life has changed in more than a few ways since The Summer I Turned Pretty came to life on TV.
The author had seen another beloved series of hers adapted for the screen — the To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before trilogy was turned into three Netflix movies, making stars out of Lana Condor and Noah Centineo, from 2018 to 2021 — but Summer always felt different.
As she told PEOPLE ahead of the first season’s premiere three years ago: “There had been interest over the years. But I always said no, and now I think it’s because I actually really wanted to be able to do it myself — and to do it the way that I envisioned it.”
Han served as creator, writer, co-showrunner and executive producer on the Prime Video series, the third season of which began July 16. While that means she got her wish, it’s also required some major life changes.
Describing the end of season 3 as “emotional” for her, Han tells PEOPLE that it was “in part because I put everything into the show.”
“It takes up your whole life, pretty much, all year round,” she says of the series, which stars Lola Tung as protagonist Belly Conklin, who’s caught between the two great loves of her life, brothers Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) and Conrad Fisher (Christopher Briney).
“I wasn’t taking any vacations except for the two weeks that Hollywood shuts down between Christmas and the New Year,” she says. “That was the only vacation that I was taking.”
It was quite a jump from her schedule as an author. “I was used to a much more easy life as a novelist. I’m like, ‘Ph, I’m going to a coffee shop to write.’ Or, ‘I’m going to Italy to rent a house and we’ll just write,'” Han continues. “I’m sitting in a pool, I’m just being inspired by vibes.”
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Making a TV show, on the other hand, “is a totally different beast,” she’s come to realize. “Which I love, is the thing. I feel so lucky to do it. And I feel so energized by the work.”
More challenges still arise because, on top of being the creator and visionary behind the world and the story, she’s a self-proclaimed “perfectionist.”
“I also like things how I like them. So I am always on set, because so much storytelling happens at every single level,” Han explains.
Even the smallest details are decisions she’s making. “I’m going, hmm, this orange juice, we wouldn’t be using this brand … And I think those sort of details, to me, make it feel really real.”
“I like to watch something and really just feel like, ‘These are real people, living their real lives,'” Han adds. “So all those details make a difference.”
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The first three episodes of The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3 are now streaming on Prime Video, and new episodes drop Wednesdays at 12 a.m. PT.
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