Lola Tung (born October 28, 2002) is an American actress, singer and model. She is known for her performance as Isabel "Belly" Conklin in the Amazon Prime Video series The Summer I Turned Pretty, based on the novel of the same name by Jenny Han.[1]

Lola Tung
Born (2002-10-28) October 28, 2002 (age 22)
EducationCarnegie Mellon University
Occupations
  • Actress
  • singer
  • model
Years active2021–present

Early life and education

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Lola Tung was born and raised in New York City. Her mother is of Chinese and Swedish descent and her father is of Eastern European descent.[2] Her maternal grandmother is from Sweden.[3]

During middle school, she participated in productions of Little Shop of Horrors[4] and The Wizard of Oz. She attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, from which she graduated in 2020 with a major in drama.[5][6] Tung participated in a production of Rent with her extracurricular theater group during high school.[4]

In fall 2020, she began studying in the BFA acting program at the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama,[7][8] where she participated in school plays.[9] She completed her first year of college and then took time off to film The Summer I Turned Pretty.[10]

Career

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In her senior year of high school, Tung acted in LaGuardia's virtual senior acting showcase, where her current manager saw her first perform. Months later, during the second semester of Tung's first year at Carnegie Mellon University, the manager reached out to her to begin working together and with an audition.[11] The audition was for the main role of Isabel "Belly" Conklin in The Summer I Turned Pretty, Amazon Prime's television adaptation of Jenny Han's bestselling trilogy.[11] While taking remote college classes, Tung auditioned for the series on Zoom. She later landed the job, which is her first credited acting role.[12][13][14][15] In September 2021, shortly after landing the leading role in The Summer I Turned Pretty, Tung signed with American talent agency, Creative Artists Agency.[16] Before the first season's release, Amazon Prime renewed the series for a second season, which was filmed in summer 2022.[10] In August 2023, the series was renewed for a third season. However, the production was delayed due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.[17]

In November 2023, Tung worked with Cameron Crowe and Tom Kitt as Penny Lane in their developmental residency of Almost Famous at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. Public readings of the workshop took place on November 11, 15, and 18, 2023.[18]

In February 2024, Tung made her Broadway debut as Eurydice in the Tony-winning musical, Hadestown.[19] She replaced Solea Pfeiffer for a limited run (scheduled for February 9 through March 17), starring opposite Jordan Fisher as Orpheus.[20] Later in May 2024, Tung earned her first ever nomination for favorite replacement (female) for 2024 Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards. [21]

Fashion

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After the premiere of the first season of The Summer I Turned Pretty in 2022, Tung became an American Eagle partner, along with her co-stars, Christopher Briney and Gavin Casalegno.[22]

In April 2023, Tung became the face of Coachtopia, a new sub-brand from Coach with a mission to pioneer a more circular future for fashion.[23] She also starred in "Have a Wasty Holiday", Coachtopia's 2023 holiday campaign, which aimed to spread awareness about the waste produced during the holiday season.[24]

Acting credits

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Television

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Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2022–present The Summer I Turned Pretty Isabel "Belly" Conklin Lead role; Amazon Prime Video [25]

Theater

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Year Title Role Venue Notes Ref.
2023 Set Me Free Trina The Town Hall The 24 Hour Plays [26]
2023 Almost Famous Penny Lane Eugene O'Neill Theater Center Workshop readings [18]
2024 Hadestown Eurydice Walter Kerr Theatre Broadway [19]

Film

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Year Title Role Ref.
2025 Untitled I Know What You Did Last Summer fourth film TBA [27]

Audiobooks

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Year Title Voice role Notes Ref.
2022 The Summer I Turned Pretty Isabel "Belly" Conklin Re-recorded audiobooks [13]
2022 It's Not Summer Without You
2022 We'll Always Have Summer

References

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  1. ^ Radloff, Jessica (2022-06-17). "Meet Lola Tung, Star of Your New Favorite Series, 'The Summer I Turned Pretty'". Glamour. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  2. ^ "It's Not Summer Without Lola Tung". Harper's BAZAAR. 2023-07-12. Retrieved 2023-07-17.
  3. ^ Marine, Brooke (2023-06-27). "Lola Tung Was Meant to Play a Jenny Han Heroine". The Cut. Retrieved 2023-07-17.
  4. ^ a b "Lola Tung Is Never Looking Back". ELLE. 2024-02-09. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
  5. ^ "Alumni and Friends of LaGuardia High School: "Premiering today, June 17 – watch LaG '20 Drama classmates Lola Tung and David Iacono and LaG '18 alumnus Sean Kaufman in the new Amazon Prime series "The Summer I Turned Pretty!"". Facebook. June 17, 2022. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  6. ^ "This Summer Belongs to Lola Tung". InStyle. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  7. ^ "Intended Major of Lola Tung".
  8. ^ Liebman, Lisa (2022-06-16). "Lola Tung Is Ready for Her Close-Up in 'The Summer I Turned Pretty'". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  9. ^ Kuo, Christopher (13 July 2023). "'The Summer I Turned Pretty': Lola Tung on Growing Up Alongside Belly". The New York Times. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  10. ^ a b Owen, Rob (2022-06-17). "TV Talk: CMU student stars in 'Summer I Turned Pretty' on Amazon Prime". TribLIVE.com. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  11. ^ a b Nemiroff, Perri (2022-06-19). "Everything You Need to Know About 'The Summer I Turned Pretty's Breakout Star Lola Tung". Collider. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  12. ^ "The Summer I Turned Pretty's Lola Tung: 5 Things to Know About the Actress". Us Weekly. 2022-06-17. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  13. ^ a b Penn, Farrah (22 June 2022). "13 Behind-The-Scenes "The Summer I Turned Pretty" Tidbits Straight From Jenny Han And Lola Tung". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  14. ^ "Who Is Lola Tung? Everything We Know About 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' Star". J-14. 2022-06-16. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  15. ^ "The Summer Lola Tung Turned Famous". Elite Daily. 16 June 2022. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  16. ^ Petski, Denise (2021-09-28). "'The Summer I Turned Pretty' Star Lola Tung Inks With CAA". Deadline. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  17. ^ McNab, Kaitlyn; Delgado, Sara (2022-05-06). ""TSITP" Season 3 Expected to Start Filming This Spring". Teen Vogue. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  18. ^ a b Dorsey, Kristina. "A new 'Almost Famous': Cameron Crowe and Tom Kitt bring musical to O'Neill in Waterford". www.theday.com. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
  19. ^ a b Lenker, Maureen Lee (9 January 2024). "'The Summer I Turned Pretty' star Lola Tung joins Hadestown on Broadway". Entertainment Weekly.
  20. ^ Maude, Samuel (2024-02-15). "Lola Tung Is Never Looking Back". Elle. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  21. ^ "The Great Gatsby, The Notebook and Back to the Future Lead Nominations for Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards". Broadway.com. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  22. ^ "BRB, Buying Everything From The 'Summer I Turned Pretty' x American Eagle Collab". Cosmopolitan. 2023-06-29. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
  23. ^ "Lola Tung Wanted To Keep This One Dress From "The Summer I Turned Pretty"". Teen Vogue. 2023-04-20. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
  24. ^ "Lola Tung on Holiday Shopping, Sustainability, and the Best Gift She's Ever Received". InStyle. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
  25. ^ Otterson, Joe (28 April 2021). "'Summer I Turned Pretty' Series at Amazon From Jenny Han Sets Four Lead Roles". Variety.
  26. ^ "Broadway Homepage - The 24 Hour Plays". 24hourplays.org. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  27. ^ Kroll, Justin (2024-11-07). "'I Know What You Did Last Summer': Lola Tung, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Austin Nichols And Gabbriette Join New Sequel". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
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