When it came time to film a key musical scene in “The Summer I Turned Pretty” Season 2, star Chris Briney found relief in knowing that his character Conrad Fisher didn’t have to be a good singer, but the actor isn’t sure he ever wants to watch the scene himself.
In the third episode of Season 2, Belly (Lola Tung) flashes back to Susannah Fisher’s (Rachel Blanchard) funeral, specifically to the part where Conrad plays a song on the guitar that his mother always asked him to play.
“Figuring out what that moment was — Conrad’s not a singer. I didn’t want him to have this angelic voice,” he told TheWrap in an interview conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike. “I haven’t seen it so I actually don’t know what it sounds or looks like and I really don’t think I ever want to. It’s tough. It’s a harsh moment.”
Briney’s performance as Conrad brings Tung’s Belly to tears as she recalls her vow to not leave his side after the funeral.
“He’s doing it for his mom, and I think that alone lets it be beautiful,” Briney continued. “He doesn’t have to kill it. He’s not shredding.”
Briney took guitar lessons from a local teacher in Wilmington, North Carolina, and the production schedule allowed him to space out the funeral scene from the scene that occurs right after, where he and Belly get in a fight in front of all the funeral attendees.
“Thankfully it was spread out. I think we shot the stuff in the house three weeks after or before we shot the stuff in the church. So there [was] time to collect yourself, work on some other stuff and do some more fun things,” he added.
The funeral flashback stayed with Tung, whose character was brought to tears by an emotional performance from Conrad on the acoustic guitar.
“I just remember filming the funeral scene and sitting in this church with so many people who were just completely silent,” she said. “And it was this heaviness over the day that, I mean, was fitting for the scene, but it just like really gets to you sometimes.”
The first three episodes of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” are now streaming on Prime Video. The rest of the episodes will release weekly on Fridays.
