&34;He was trying his best and everyone makes mistakes.&34; The Summer I Turned Pretty star Gavin Casalegno doesn't think 'selfless' Jeremiah deserves your hate

"He was trying his best and everyone makes mistakes."

The Summer I Turned Pretty star Gavin Casalegno doesn't think 'selfless' Jeremiah deserves your hate

"He was trying his best and everyone makes mistakes."

By Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum is a staff writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2019 and is a published author. Her work has previously appeared in TV Guide Magazine, E! News/E! Online, The Hollywood Reporter, Mashable, Bustle, IGN, DCComics.com, Inverse, The Daily Northwestern, and more.

EW's editorial guidelines

on September 19, 2025 11:15 a.m. ET

Leave a Comment

Gavin Casalegno in 'The Summer I Turned Pretty'. Credit:

**This article contains spoilers for *The Summer I Turned Pretty* season 3 finale, "At Last." **

It seemed like the entire internet jumped on the Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) hate train in the final season of *The Summer I Turned Pretty*. But the character's biggest hater? Casalegno's own sister.

The actor laughs as he admits it's his own blood relative who sends him anti-Jeremiah memes and posts.

"I haven't had social media in three months, and it's been awesome — the only things I see is when my sister roasts me," Casalegno tells *.* "She sent me an airline or something like that did like a dubstep version of [the cacao phone call]. Funny."

Despite staying away from social media while the final season aired, Casalegno couldn't avoid the fact that his character became the internet's No. 1 hated TV boyfriend this summer. It went deeper than fan comments. More and more random brands were getting in on the Jeremiah hate, posting funny photos and videos proudly declaring themselves as Team Conrad.

Gavin Casalegno as Jeremiah on 'The Summer I Turned Pretty'.

Erika Doss/Prime

"I made the most of it," Casalegno says. "I didn't take it too hard."

All jokes aside, the actor doesn't think that Jeremiah deserves as much hate as he's gotten this season. "I think it was unwarranted," Casalegno argues. "If you really look at what he was going through emotionally — obviously I have so many thoughts and a kind of inner monologue in my head as far as why he's making these choices and why he's doing what he's doing."

Some of the biggest Jeremiah critics called him out for accepting his father's offer to pay for his wedding to Belly (Lola Tung) — despite Belly's desire to keep the ceremony intimate and casual. But Casalegno wants those fans to look at the situation from another perspective.

"He really does believe that getting his dad on board to pay for the whole thing will take the stress off of Belly so she doesn't have to work," Casalegno says. "He's kind of sacrificing a lot — and also wanting the approval of his dad, but he's doing a lot for them. But it just was very much mistaken as something else, or irresponsible or whatever else it may be. I think a lot of the choices that Jeremiah made this season were, in a way, selfless — at least how I imagined and played it was much more of a selfless love than thinking about himself."

'The Summer I Turned Pretty' stars Lola Tung and Christopher Briney unpack that steamy finale scene

Yes, 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' filmed fake scenes with Gavin Casalegno in Paris

Of course, every character sees themselves as the hero of their own story. But Casalegno doesn't think that Jeremiah is the villain that fans claim him to be.

"To see the hate that he got was... well, he was trying his best and everyone makes mistakes," the actor says. That's the explanation that he's been giving fans who approach him in public to hate on Jeremiah to his face — and he adds that he's actually been able to change minds.

"Literally someone at the bar yesterday [confronted me]," Casalegno says. "I was like, 'Have you made mistakes?' 'Yes.' 'Are you team you?' 'Yes.' And I was like, 'There's my point right there, we all make mistakes. Haven't you ever messed up before?' She's like, 'You got me there.'"

After Jeremiah's personal growth in the season 3 finale, Casalegno hopes that the hate will die down. It's not like he's still competing for Belly's heart, which is, of course, where most of the fan passion comes from.

Jackie Chung as Laurel and Gavin Casalegno as Jeremiah on 'The Summer I Turned Pretty'.

***Sign up for *'s* free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.***

"I think Jeremiah's at peace with [Belly and Conrad's reunion]," Casalegno says. "I think he has other things that he's living for and passionate for. The phone call between him and Belly was huge — even the lines were like, 'Letting you go.' There was a lot of meaning and weight in that. Jeremiah is now in this point of his life where there's freedom to do what he wants and to figure out who he is and what he's passionate about and really go for it, outside of his love for Belly. I'm excited for him."

And Casalegno, as the actor behind the character, wants to make it clear that he understands and loves the way the season ended with Belly and Conrad getting back together.

"Seeing their chemistry, everything they filmed in Paris was so beautiful and romantic and lovely," he says. "It was so well done, performance wise, and artistic. I think people would've rioted if Jeremiah ended up with Belly."

You can't argue with that, no matter what team you're on.

Original Article on Source

Source: "AOL TV"

Read More

---

Source: Astro Blog

Full Article on Source: Astro Blog

#LALifestyle #USCelebrities