The Summer I Turned Pretty's Creator Addressed Jeremiah's Sexuality On The Show

The Summer I Turned Pretty on Prime Video is a pretty faithful TV adaptation of Jenny Han’s novel of the same name. Just like in the book, the series follows Isabel “Belly” Conklin as she navigates a summer of crushes, kisses, and love triangles at Cousins Beach. But there was one major change for one of the main characters: Jeremiah Fisher is an “equal opportunity flirt,” and viewers get to see him getting romantic with both guys and girls. In a recent interview, Han explained why she decided to change Jeremiah’s sexuality in The Summer I Turned Pretty series.

In The Summer I Turned Pretty, Belly (Lola Tung) finds herself at the center of a love triangle between two brothers/family friends she’s known her whole life: Jeremiah and Conrad Fisher, played by Christopher Briney and Gavin Casalegno, respectively. In the book, which was published in 2009, Jeremiah is straight. But in the TV series adaptation, Jeremiah is openly and proudly sexually fluid.

Han created and acted as co-showrunner on the TV series, and she was the one who ultimately changed Jeremiah’s sexuality, a decision she said is organic to the character. “My approach to this adaptation was: How would I tell the story in 2022? What would that look like? And how would that change things?” she told TVLine. “I think perhaps if I was writing the novel today, I may have made that choice because I think that he’s always been a character, to me, that is really at ease with himself, really comfortable in his own skin, and open-minded and open to exploration. I do think that’s more reflective of today and young people today and the way they view sexuality being much more of a spectrum.”

During the first season of the show, Jeremiah doesn’t explicitly put a label on his sexuality, and Han explained that he’s still in a place of exploration. “I would say [he’s] sexually fluid,” she said. “He is a young person who’s figuring out where he falls in all that and hasn’t experienced a lot of love yet. It’s still kind of early on in that journey.”

Since The Summer I Turned Pretty has already been renewed for a second season, audiences will get to see more of Jeremiah’s journey as he explores his sexuality in another season. As for his relationship with Belly, there’s likely a lot more ~exploration~ to come in Season 2 in that area, as well.

Season 1 of The Summer I Turned Pretty is now streaming on Prime Video.