[This interview was conducted prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike authorization.]
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 2, Episodes 1-6.]
The Summer I Turned Pretty may focus on the love triangle between Belly (Lola Tung), Conrad (Christopher Briney), and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno), but the latest episode, “Love Fest,” saw a few wins for fan-favorite Cam Cameron (David Iacono), who connects with Fisher cousin, Skye (Elsie Fisher).
While his character may not have been part of Jenny Han’s book series beyond the first installment, his character was brought back and fleshed out in a way that allows Iacono to shine in a different way than he did in Season 1. Cam Cameron returned in Episode 4 when Belly and the gang hit up the boardwalk in Cousins Beach; he had a summer job at the arcade. He’s since tagged along on the ongoing effort to help Jeremiah and Conrad get by as they deal with the potential loss of their family’s beach house following the death of their mother, Susannah.
The actor spoke to TV Insider ahead of the SAG-AFTRA strike to discuss his return to the franchise, Cam Cameron’s more personal backstory, and his growing bond with Skye.
(Credit: Prime Video)
Cam’s story doesn’t continue beyond the first book. How did it feel to get the call that you’d be back for Season 2, and what kind of discussions did you have with Jenny Han about the direction his story would take in Season 2?
David Iacono: Cam’s not in the book, so I wasn’t expecting [to return]. I don’t think that they were completely finished with the writing when she let me know she was confident enough that they had figured out a way to include Cam in the second season without deviating too far from the storyline. She wanted me to be as much a part of the process as she could. She kind of pitched a couple of ideas here and there of where they were thinking of going with it at that point. And she was very open to if I had any ideas. So I let her know. It was definitely collaborative, which I was very appreciative of.
Were there any ideas or pitches of yours included in the final cut of Cam’s story this season?
There was one idea out there that Cam was gonna be like a construction worker. That was a fun idea. I just remember wanting Cam to [be] able to start understanding who he was on his own and not through the lens of when he liked somebody. It’s more spontaneous, and it’s a result of him being on his own turf, stuck in this weird little rut in his hometown and his relationship with his mom gets involved and it’s a whole thing. I think they achieved that for sure. It was a bold thing to do as well, to bank on the fact that people love Cam so much to put him in the second installation of the series that he wasn’t in initially. I think they did a really good job.
In Episode 5, you guys filmed on an actual boardwalk. Did that environment make it a little more challenging compared to Season 1’s filming?
By the time the second season came, people knew that we were filming in Wilmington. I don’t really think many people outside of the production knew we were filming the first season. So, I’m sure it happened once or a couple of times where people came up to us during the first season, but the second season was definitely a whole different ball game — Especially the stuff in public, like at the Boardwalk. I remember we couldn’t really do too much outside of what we were there to do. But I think Rain [Spencer] actually was telling [us] during lunch one day they were able to get a bunch of tokens for the arcade and play a bunch of games. So where they could make it work they did. But it definitely was a little bit harder this time around.
What was it like getting to develop a connection with Elsie’s character Skye, who is an original character to the TV series?
I think without Skye, Cam doesn’t really make much sense to be in the second season, to be honest. Logically, it makes sense, but I think you’d kind of just stick out like a sore thumb, you know what I mean? You have Taylor and Steven stuff going on this season. Obviously, Belly, Jeremiah, and Conrad have their whole thing. So the fact that Skye is around, I think they have great company together. They’re also pretty similar in a lot of ways. Elsie and I have spoken about it a couple of times. It’s like they are the outcasts of the group, but they have company in one another, and their relationship kind of blossoms in a very organic, beautiful way.
I think we all lucked out in being able to be a part of a cast that Elsie was introduced to because I was already a big fan. I mean, I loved Eighth Grade when it came out years ago, and Bo Burnham was kind of my favorite comedian of all time, at least one of them. When I found out that Elsie was a part of the show, I was over the moon. She turned out to be a really great addition to the group and their sense of humor was very akin to the jokes that we were making and stuff. And she’s one of my very good friends now, so I’m very lucky.
Skye really encourages Cam to follow his dream internship on the whaleboat discussed in this episode. Do you think he follows their advice?
Yeah, I think he does. And a beautiful thing about the conversation in Cam’s bedroom is the advice that Skye gives him to go do this thing because you need to kind of prioritize yourself a little bit more, which is kind of the advice that Skye needs themself. I think that’s such a real thing. A lot of times in real life when someone close to you is giving you advice, they need it for themselves. So you kind of both benefit from that conversation. Cam and Skye are so similar in their current positions. Their relationships with their moms are both very complicated and come from a very loving place but have to do with actualizing your own self-identity as you get older. So, I’d very much like to believe that Cam takes Skye’s advice.
(Credit: Prime Video)
Skye and Cam share a kiss in this episode. Would you like to see them pursue a romance down the line?
I currently have no idea what the plan is for the next season, if there is a next season, but I kind of don’t mind if this was their whole story together. I think it would be a nice little breath of fresh air. I think it’s kind of very refreshing to have these two people that just randomly met and kind of love each other’s character and they’re getting along very well, they have this kiss and they learn from each other, and I don’t mind if that’s the end of it… [compared to] how intense and how high the stakes are when it comes to Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah.
I think that is still a very beautiful, valid story that happens in a lot of people’s lives. And, you know, there’s something so serendipitous about it. They’re just passing ships that interacted briefly and learned a lot from each other and got along. I don’t even know if they ever have to really be romantic with one another again. So, I don’t know. I think it could go in any direction.
There’s a big debate over who is Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah, but there’s also fans who declare themselves Team Cam Cameron. How does it feel to know your character is so beloved?
It’s so fun that he’s very much the underdog of the situation. He made his way in there somehow because he’s just charming and he’s awkward, but he’s confident in his awkwardness, and he’s got a lot of personality and a lot of heart and a lot of passion about the ocean. So on that alone, he kind of made his way in there to that discussion, and it’s really cool.
The Summer I Turned Pretty, Season 2, Fridays, Prime Video
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
