Gavin Casalegno is well aware that his The Summer I Turned Pretty character, Jeremiah Fisher, isn’t winning over much of the fandom. The actor recently addressed the heated reactions in an interview with The New York Times, acknowledging that his on-screen persona often finds himself on the losing end of the Team Conrad vs. Team Jeremiah debate.
“They tend to dislike him, yes,” Casalegno admitted. “I don’t check Instagram anymore, so I really haven’t seen that much hate. The only thing that I see is my sister sending me the memes that are really funny. I think it’s important to also understand and realise that this is a fictional story — and it’s also not me.”
The actor explained that the intensity of the online discourse can sometimes get out of hand. “I don’t think there’s a single human being in the world who can carry the emotional negativity to the degree that stuff like this happens. And I think that’s why Amazon did a good job of stepping in and being like, ‘Hey, no bullying.’ Though, not really going so well,” he added, referencing a PSA posted by the show’s official accounts ahead of Season 3’s debut, which urged fans to keep conversations “kind” and reaffirmed a “ZERO tolerance policy” on harassment.
Despite the backlash, Casalegno has managed to take the criticism in stride — even when fans confront him about it in person. “It’s pretty comical,” he said of people approaching him just to tell him how much they dislike Jeremiah.
Based on Jenny Han’s bestselling novels, the Prime Video series follows Belly Conklin (Lola Tung) as she navigates love and heartbreak between the Fisher brothers—Jeremiah (Casalegno) and Conrad (Christopher Briney). The third season has put Jeremiah at the centre of the story, with his upcoming wedding to Belly serving as the season’s emotional core.
The latest episode saw the drama between the love triangle reach a boiling point. Belly confronted her lingering feelings for Conrad after learning he convinced her mother, Laurel (Jackie Chung), to attend her wedding. Meanwhile, revelations of Jeremiah’s infidelity triggered a blowout fight between Belly and Conrad on Cousins Beach. Though Conrad confessed his love and begged her not to marry his brother, Belly rejected him, later breaking down in tears. Jeremiah, unaware of the turmoil, spent the night passed out from drinking, leaving Belly to seek comfort from her best friend Taylor (Rain Spencer).
Season 3 continues with weekly episodes leading up to the series finale on September 17.