Christopher Briney Says ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Isn’t Realistic

Look away, The Summer I Turned Pretty fans — star Christopher Briney is poking fun at the show’s popular love triangle.

“It’s all unreal expectations. It’s all ridiculous,” Briney, 25, said about the drama on the show in an interview with InStyle, published on Wednesday, January 10.

The actor went on to weigh in on his character Conrad Fisher’s story lines, including his college plans. “You’re not going to go to Stanford,” he joked.“You’re not going to go to a beach town every summer and fall in love with your mom’s friend’s f—king whatever. It’s not going to happen. It’s stupid. That’s not how life works.”

The Summer I Turned Pretty, which debuted in June 2022, is based on a book series of the same name by showrunner Jenny Han. The show focuses on Belly (Lola Tung) who gets caught up in a love triangle with brothers Conrad and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno).

Season 2 ended with Belly choosing Jeremiah after a failed relationship with Conrad. The Summer I Turned Pretty has already been renewed for a third season and will presumably take inspiration from the final book in the trilogy: We’ll Always Have Summer.

Despite having some notes on the story lines, Briney is still a romance fan at heart. He praised the simplicity of early 2000s cinema during his interview with InStyle, noting, “They really don’t [make them like they used to]. It was different. Netflix, you gotta step it up, bro. I’m just sayin.”

When it comes to being labeled a heartthrob, he continued not to mince words.

“That’s ridiculous,” he added. “I consider myself a stupid f—king idiot. I have that written on my mirror.”

In addition to his breakout role on the Netflix show, Briney stars in the highly-anticipated Mean Girls musical movie, playing the role of Aaron Samuels after Jonathan Bennett originated the role in the OG 2004 film.

“Nobody likes straight remakes. It’s not a direct adaptation either, which I appreciate,” Briney said on Thursday. “It keeps the same heart, but it exists on its own.”

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While reflecting on how Mean Girls became a pop culture phenomenon, Briney admitted he had concerns about joining the project.

“It’s really terrifying. People have such strong opinions. And they should. People should have opinions,” he added. “I respect and appreciate opinions, but it’s hard when you try really hard on something to just be cool, to let it go.”