The first two movies in the Netflix trilogy ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’ ticked pretty much every box on the teen rom-com boy drama bingo card: a boy next door, a boy doomed to be on the losing end of a love triangle and, most importantly, the boy who helps hatch a fake dating plot that inevitably … doesn’t get that fake.
So when it came time to film the final episode, Lana Condor, who plays Lara Jean, the girl at the center of everything, was almost ready for a change of pace: “It’s called ‘To All the Boys,’” the De 23-year-old actress said in a Zoom interview on Monday. “Her been about the boys. From day 1. We get it. “
“To All the Boys: Always and Forever,” which begins streaming Friday, Team Josh and Team put John Ambrose and Team Peter aside in favor of Team Lara Jean as she’s on the brink of some major life decisions with graduation from high school. is approaching. She’s come a long way from the hopeless romantic who wrote down her feelings in love letters instead of acting on them, a habit that sparked the first film’s antics when the letters accidentally came to the recipients.
A lot has changed for Condor too. She starred overnight with the first episode, in 2018, and after ‘To All the Boys’ she will star and produce a new comedy series for Netflix.
But first, after several years of a whirlwind work schedule, she focuses on settling into her new Seattle home with her boyfriend, the actor Anthony De La Torre, and her dog, Emmy. As she prepares to say goodbye to the character that has shaped her career so far, Condor discussed what it means to be one of the few Asian-American actresses to star in a romantic comedy and why she’s called the Lara. Jean from ‘Always and Forever’ is. favourite. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
Last year this time, you surprised fans at the Paris Theater in New York for a screening of the second film in the trilogy – an experience that now seems pretty strange. How does it feel to look back?
That was really emotional and I just felt overwhelmed with joy. I’ve put so much of myself into these movies because I love them. And they also changed my life. But looking back, I was running on fumes at the time, because it was shooting the movies one after the other and then went on the big press trip. I wish I had recorded it all and actually been there.
What was it like for you making this last movie?
I remember thinking, “How did I get here?” I wanted nothing more than to finish it as I would be super proud of Lara Jean. So I was just crazy; I was constantly talking to the director and the producers and writers and everyone was saying, “Guys, we need to show her that she’s entering the world as a young woman choosing herself for the first time.”
It was a crazy emotional experience because the last few years have been the biggest ups and downs of my life. [She has said she felt burned out after the first film.] I like the movies, the friends I’ve made in the movies, the story – I like the color scheme of our movies, the pink and the teal. So knowing that this is the last time I’m in the bedroom, the last time I’m in school, all of these things I’ve spent so much time in for the past three years is emotional. I’m going to miss it very much.
What was it like filming in Korea?
We went during typhoon season. So I thought, who thought of this? But it was astonishing. We were just shooting touristy stuff so we got to shoot at all the locations we would have gone as normal tourists. We met people on the street and people walked into the screen while we were filming and just said, “Oh hi! I love your movie!” And we’d say, “You’re in it.”
How did you feel about the way Lara Jean’s story ended?
One thing I’m most proud of is that she never really loses her weird little isms and quirks, and she never loses or changes her personality. That’s really hard not to do when you’re in high school. Yes, the Lara Jean we see in the third movie is an adult Lara Jean, and she’s different because she has life experience now, but in the end the things that make her her, she never let go.
Were you allowed to keep the clothes?
Was I allowed to keep the clothes? No. Did I steal the clothes? Yes. We spent hours and hours on each outfit to make it perfect, because from the first movie we saw girls actually go and buy the outfits.
In the third movie, they have this bowling jersey we’re mimicking from “The Big Lebowski,” so I have it. I have the hat box, which is not a piece of clothing, but I wouldn’t leave the set without it. I have this blue silk jacket she’s wearing during a scene with Peter [in Part 1] when she talks about people leaving, “The more people you let into your life, the more people can walk out.” I love that. I brought jeans, which is not exciting, but it is very difficult to find a good pair of jeans.
The movies are based on Jenny Han’s books, and it’s nice to see her cameos in every movie – how was your relationship with her over the years?
She’s like my sister. We are always on the phone for hours. Years ago when we were talking for the first time she said, “I just want you as Lana and as a young Asian-American girl to have the same opportunities that Jennifer Lawrence would have as Katniss or Kristen Stewart as Bella from ‘Twilight’ . ” that was before we knew we would have three movies. I’ve never had anyone say that to me, especially as an Asian-American actress – almost to the point where I thought, is that even possible?
Was that representative aspect most important to you in making the films? Did it apply extra pressure?
I read the book just before the audition, and then I thought, okay, I need this. Because this is an Asian American girl falling in love and this is something we have to see.
But when we made the movies, it was almost like I was just Lana. Because in the end it is about a young girl who falls in love and shows that anyone can fall in love. So I think it was on my mind, but it wasn’t. Because I don’t walk around in life like Asian Lana going to the store, Asian Lana going to get food, Asian Lana walking my dog.
We’ve reached the end of what Jenny Han wrote for Lara Jean. But do you see a scenario where we might see more of this story unfold, or where you could play this character again?
I think never say never. [But] the third is all I know. That’s the end for me. But I would love to see Lara Jean and Peter in their mid to late twenties. As if they went through college and I want to see what they are like in the workspace. I have this dream that Lara Jean works in some world of literature, I don’t know, in New York, writing, living her life. Because I personally feel like they will try to make it work in college but they will have to grow separately to be fully ready to come together.
But I’m sure they are getting married; they will live happily ever after. I just think maybe they should grow as individuals first. And then I’d like to see them meet again – she’s like in a cafe writing an article for a newspaper she works for, and he just happens to be there, and they meet again in a new way where they’re older and developed. That would be so cool. If it happens, you heard it here first.