At the middle of the thriller. Lexi Underwood is making waves as Isabella LaRue in season 2 of Freeform’s anthology collection Cruel Summer.
The present turned a fan favourite when it debuted in April 2021 because of its sudden plot twists and distinctive narrative construction. Following a present shakeup, Cruel Summer was an anthology collection, whereas nonetheless utilizing completely different timelines to discover a thriller on the heart of the story.
Season 1 adopted Kate Wallis (Olivia Holt), who was kidnapped and later rescued, and Jeanette Turner (Chiara Aurelia), who was accused of realizing the whereabouts of the lacking lady all through the ’90s. Meanwhile, Season 2 explores the ups and downs of a friendship between Megan Landry (Sadie Stanley) and newcomer Isabella (Underwood) with Y2K as a backdrop.
Ahead of the present’s season 2 premiere, Underwood opened up how Cruel Summer was in a position to stick with what made it a community hit within the first place.
“Number one, what I love about season 2 is that tonally, it’s the same, we follow the same format but new characters, new mystery, and it’s, of course, set in Y2K. So I think that it’s just a complete — you can’t even compare it to season 1,” the actress instructed Nerds of Color in June 2023 about Isabella, who leads to a love triangle with Megan and Luke (Griffin Gluck). “Something that’s so beautiful about this season specifically is that we’re really exploring the female friendships.”
The Maryland native continued: “In season 1, the girls, their characters, they were kind of like two worlds apart, but in this season, the girls, they’re together constantly, they’re going through all these hardships together. And so, being able to really navigate and talk about female friendships and the importance of them and what it truly means — like what the actual definition of a ride-or-die means and how you show up with that — I think that that’s something that I feel like a lot of fans will be intrigued by this season.”
Meanwhile, the inventive crew hinted that viewers would see how the anthology collection connects seasons 1 and a pair of.
“We took into big consideration [that] people really loved the cast in season 1 and were connected to them,” govt producer Michelle Purple instructed TVLine that very same month. “We actually opened up a room and discussed, ‘What does it look like to continue both these girls’ stories or one of these girl’s stories?’”
Purple went on to say that there shall be a second that brings collectively the collection, including, “We’re playing in the same world in the sense of it’s just a few years later. So there’s a tie to season 1, but we’re not going to tell you [what it is]! You guys have to find it!”
Jessica Biel, who can also be an govt producer on Cruel Summer, confirmed her pleasure for the brand new story traces being explored in season 2. “Season 2’s friendship is much deeper and much more connected between the two girls,” she instructed the outlet. “We really wanted to explore … loyalty and what happens when two young women are extremely close and then something drives a wedge between them.”
Sign up for Us Weekly’s free, every day e-newsletter and by no means miss breaking information or unique tales about your favourite celebrities, TV reveals and extra!
Scroll down for all the pieces to know concerning the actress bringing Isabella to life:
Discussion about this post