The Summer I Turned Pretty Stars Reveal The Taylor/Steven Scene That Makes Creator Jenny Han Cry — Watch Video
Warning: The following contains spoilers for The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 2, Episode 5. Proceed at your own risk!
Belly and Jeremiah weren't the only pair growing closer during the latest episode of The Summer I Turned Pretty.
While searching the Cousins country club for blankets for an impromptu, after-hours slumber party with their friends on the property, Taylor and Steven found themselves in the ballroom that hosted last season's debutante ball. Taylor turned her nose up at the idea of a cotillion, but Steven saw through her façade and invited her to slow dance to "Moon River." Once in Steven's arms, Taylor was silent — but the way she wrapped her arms around his neck and placed her head on his chest spoke volumes.
The sweet moment is "one of my favorite scenes," Rain Spencer, who plays Taylor, tells TVLine in the above video interview. "[Creator/showrunner] Jenny [Han] always says that that scene makes her cry."
In the quietly poignant embrace, "I think there is a point of surrender [for Taylor]," Spencer says. "I think it's the first time you see one of her walls break down, and she's like, 'OK, maybe I can be true to myself, even if it's without words, just in this moment.' I think Steven sees Taylor, because they grew up together, really for who she is and not just what she wants everyone to see. So that's why that scene is so beautiful to me. He's like, 'I know that you like all of this. Who are you lying to right now? You want to do this stuff.'"
When Taylor finally accepts that Steven truly knows her, "that's both terrifying and so relieving," Spencer describes.
When it came time to dive deeper into Taylor and Steven's relationship for Season 2, Spencer and Sean Kaufman, who portrays Steven, didn't have as much source material to work with as their costars. The pair's romantic storyline does not feature as largely into Han's books, on which the Prime Video drama is based. But Spencer was able to get a better understanding of Taylor and Steven's history through conversations with Han.
"I think that Taylor's feelings for Steven aren't new," Spencer shares. "They're something that she's had, growing up, and, like, her whole life. She's always loved him. So I think it's really, really cool to get the opportunity to, like, peel back some of her layers and kind of see what it really is for her."
For Steven, the second season presents something of an epiphany moment when its comes to Taylor. After going about things the wrong way last summer, kissing Taylor while he was dating Shayla, "he realizes he messed up, like big time," Kaufman says, "and there's a reason, I think, he chases [after Taylor] so hard, because he knows he effed up so badly before. He knows he has to really prove it to Taylor," even though she now has a musician boyfriend, Milo.
In the name of love, "I think he does some questionable stuff that I don't condone," Kaufman adds with a laugh. "I think realizes what he wants."
But considering Steven and Taylor are Belly's brother and best friend, respectively, could things get awkward for the pair? Press PLAY above to hear what Spencer and Kaufman had to say about that and more!
Note: This interview took place before SAG-AFTRA officially announced a strike on July 13.