For the past three seasons on The Summer I Turned Pretty, Belly (Lola Tung) has been back and forth in a love triangle with brothers Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno). She first falls in love with brooding older brother Conrad, but at the end of season 2, Belly finally makes her Big Choice, picking the charismatic bisexual Jeremiah to be her “last love.” While that relationship has become rocky in season 3 with a chaotic wedding to boot, Belly is lucky to have her fiercely loyal best friend Taylor (Rain Spencer) on her side.
Playing Taylor on The Summer I Turned Pretty has marked Rain Spencer's first major role.
At the beginning of the Prime Video series, created by Jenny Han, Spencer’s Taylor is a popular girl who is ride or die for Belly and one of the few on “Team Jellyfish” from the get-go. Her performance is at first big and posturing—playing the cool girl who wants to be cool about everything. But her longtime crush on Belly’s brother, Steven (Sean Kaufman) begins to break those walls down, showing Taylor’s vulnerability as the two embark in a constant game of will-they-won’t-they that, frankly, rivals Belly’s love triangle.
In the show’s final season, audiences get to see another side to Taylor as she helps her mother, Lucinda (Kristen Conolly) deal with messy financial troubles and as Taylor’s relationship with Steven evolves into something unexpected: just friends. Speaking with Marie Claire over Zoom mid-way through the season, the 25-year-old actress analyzes Taylor parenting her mother, her fierce bond with Tung, and what she’s learned from playing Taylor.
Marie Claire: How are you feeling about Taylor's arc this season?
Rain Spencer: I feel grateful to be here. A lot of Taylor’s story this season is not in the books, so it's been really fun to see what Jenny comes up with. I have to understand where Taylor comes from in order to play the character, and I can't afford to judge her because I have to portray her. It really is a lot about her protecting herself and that manifesting in different ways. Whether she gets weirdly angry or defensive or snarky or sassy, whatever way it's coming out is because she is so sensitive.
MC: This season especially, she's just taking care of everyone around her so deeply at the expense of herself. I'm very curious about if and when that comes to a head, because of everything that's happening with Taylor’s mom, but also everything that’s happening with Steven as well.
RS: It's one big ‘don't leave me, don’t go away.’ She's picky about who she lets into her life. For that reason, she's got this big fear that people are going to leave. I don't think she's conscious of the patterns that are happening. When you're in it, you can't see it. But from an outside perspective and from someone who's studied her, it's a fear of abandonment. She's abandoning herself in order to not be abandoned, but that just means she's not taking care of herself and not doing the things that she loves and wants to do. That in and of itself is very depleting and it's just giving your power away all the time.
Steven (Sean Kaufman) and Taylor (Rain Spencer) have an on-again, off-again relationship in season 3.
MC: We are learning so much about her this season by getting to know her relationship with her mother better. How is it working with Kristen and exploring that dynamic?
RS: Kristen is so funny and easy to work with and just genuinely a joy to be around. So I felt really lucky to have her come on as my mom. As far as the characters, that is a challenging dynamic: to parent your parent. It is interesting to dive into a dynamic that isn't always seen. It's so true for some people and maybe makes someone feel less alone. I've said before, Lucinda is also a human and is trying her best; our parents don't know what they're doing either. I think holding onto resentment is poison and there's room for grace. I'm going to change my perspective and learn how to love you in this other way because I'm an adult now. I think Taylor's learning how to do that.
MC: That seems to be what she’s trying to do with Steven as well. Taylor’s clearly still in love with him, but she’s trying to respect his boundaries.
RS: It's funny about episode six, with the lemon squares scene, Steven says he just wants to be friends. Obviously, she's not super happy about that, but I think Taylor genuinely is willing to give him that. Later, when she's on the couch stalking Denise on Instagram, her mom comes over and her mom instantly goes into ‘What a great tactic to get him back!’ I don't think Taylor was thinking about it like that. Now it becomes this thing of how much do I take from my mom versus learning something different?
Spencer says, "The moments that are my favorite are the moments where [Taylor is] breaking down some of her walls. I love that Steven is the catalyst for that."
MC: There have been so many crazy theories about literally everyone on the show. There’s one about Taylor where fans think she’ll end up with Jeremiah or that the wedding at the end of the season is Taylor and Steven’s. I even saw one where there’s a theory that Taylor is pregnant. Do you follow these theories about your character?
RS: I love watching people come up with theories. I haven't seen all of them, but the ones that I've seen, I think it's just so fun that people are this passionate. We're really lucky to have such an amazing fan base that really cares and is into the details. Also, the memes are hilarious.
MC: The music on the show is so incredible. Do you have a favorite Taylor Swift needle drop throughout the seasons or a general needle drop?
RS: Jenny is so good at these needle drops. Just as a fan watching the show, I'm affected. Some of my favorite songs are not out yet. They're later in the season, so I can't talk about them yet. Jenny is just so talented, I mean, she's the creator of this entire world and she does it so beautifully.
She's abandoning herself in order to not be abandoned, but that just means she's not taking care of herself and not doing the things that she loves and wants to do.
MC: How’s it been bonding and working with Lola for the past three seasons? For me, they are the love story of the show.
RS: Taylor and Belly are the love story. That's right. Print! With Lola, it's been so beautiful because it was my second project, her first project, but my first TV show and her first TV show. It's been really special to grow up with her and experience this crazy wonderful transition of our careers. The show has completely changed both of our lives. And it's special to have someone as kind and beautiful and sweet and funny. I absolutely adore her and she's such a good friend. She'll forever be in my life.
"It's been really special to grow up with her and experience this crazy wonderful transition of our careers," Spencer says of working with Lola Tung.
MC: Do you have a favorite Taylor moment throughout the series?
RS: That's a hard question. There are moments that I really love that are out and some that are not yet that I'm really excited for and her arc. The moments that are my favorite are the moments where, like I said earlier, she's breaking down some of her walls. I love that Steven is the catalyst for that. Most of the time, he's the one that's like, ‘It's safe. You can come out. I love you. You can be weird and dance in front of me. You don't have to be this perfect thing.’ The moments where he brings that out of her. It's also really fun with certain moments of Taylor where she's just full of confidence in her walk and her posture, and she's going to tell somebody off or she is about to get loud and mean. It is so opposite of my personality. It's really fun to pretend to be this queen bee.
MC: We're over halfway through the final season. Can you tease a little bit about what we can expect from this back half to the finale or the series finale about Taylor?
RS: I can just say that she is still on this journey herself. Just personally, some of my favorite stuff for everyone from the whole series is coming up.
MC: Since Taylor was such a big role for you, what do you feel like you've learned from playing this character?
RS: Before Taylor, I did not wear a bikini. I didn't wear any form-fitting clothes. I was wearing baggy everything. I didn't brush my hair really. And I didn't know how to wear makeup. So that's Rain before Taylor. When you play a character like Taylor, I knew that she was going to have to exude this confidence and this certain posture. And like I mentioned earlier, this sway in her hips and this just pure confidence, even though that's not how she's feeling on the inside. By learning that feeling in my body, I learned what it felt like to be confident. I now have that stored in my body because of Taylor and I can be confident on the inside and on the outside.