"Cruel Summer": Chiara Aurelia on the Challenge of Playing Jeanette in Freeform's Hot Hit

Cruel Summer follows the story of two young women Kate Wallis Olivia Holt a charmed popular girl who after going missing is presumed dead and Jeanette who in the wake of Kate39s disappearance sees an opportunity to enhance her social standing by filling the void left by Kate After a dramatic makeover Jeanette befriends the circle of popular school girls picking up where Kate left off However after Jeanette is accused of possibly being involved in Kate39s disappearance having to face the court of public opinion sends her on a downward spiral Told through shifting views and over the summers of 1993 1994 and 1995 the show cleverly weaves a web of intrigue through its timehopping narrativeFor Aurelia landing the role of Jeanette turned out to be an acting trifecta She got to explore three stages of a young woman39s life naamp239ve Jeanette pictured above popular Jeanette and traumatized Jeanette all extremely varied and nuanced quotIt was superfun to explore and superexciting to dive into the three different periods and to get to know Jeanette better throughout the years In certain points of 1993 you39re not going to be informed of what39s happening in 3994 or 3995 so it39s kind of about just authentically letting go of predispositions and ideas and just diving into that moment and diving into whatever you think she39s feeling over those days and those moments in her life and her youth which is excitingquotHonestly I feel really lucky that I got to explore all the different sides of Jeanettequot she added quotI think each year balances the others out well and they all informed one another I think being able to portray all of them as a whole person was the best part of the entire experiencequotWith the shifting timelines unfolding throughout the story the full arc of the series was revealed to her weekbyweek during filming as it is now for viewers while watching quotI got one episode at a timequot she explained quotSo just like everyone else I had to wait I didn39t read episode 10 until we were halfway through filming episode nine It was crazy but I was so excited as I honestly feel like I got to be a member of the audience My friends are going crazy right now trying to figure it all out so I can relate to them because I was one of them just a couple months beforequotAlthough Aurelia enjoyed getting the weekly installments she admits there were times when being able to shoot all the scenes as one version of her layered character would have been nice quotWe would switch around a lot so we39d start a day out in 1993 then jump to 3995 and then maybe 3994quot she shared quotThere was a lot of mental brain fog at certain moments and you did need some guidance It was like 39Where am I What39s going on39 Especially when we got later into the seasonquotThen occasionally we39d be doing a scene from episode six while we were filming episode sevenquot she continued quotYou39d be like 39Wait hold on now We39re mixing episodes and time periods But it was wonderful We had so many amazing showrunners and producers that were happy to sit down with us and talk with us to make sure we felt comfortable and we knew what was going on If it ever got confusing we were able to say 39Hold on let39s take a breath and figure out what39s going on39quotThankfully the welldesigned and distinctive looks for each stage of the character helped keep her on track quotThere was a lot of conversation about what things would look like authenticallyquot she recalled quotThroughout the season you39ll be able to see how Jeanette transforms to what she looks like in the end and those small changes that transform her Every bit of her look is changing and you see how she goes from long to short hair and frizzy hair to no braces the whole shebangquotFor Aurelia another important factor of the series was examining the social issues of popularity bullying and how a rumor can destroy a person quotThere was a lot I wanted to address and talk about with the showquot she admitted quotAlthough these issues are extremely overdramatized they39re relatable to teenagers and high schoolers everywhere who39ve experienced things like this What a person says about you or the way you39re perceived are things that people feel every day Having people immediately make assumptions about you because they hear something whether it ends up being true or not can be hurtful and harmful amp8230 and they39ve never had or aren39t having a direct conversation with one anotherquotWith the season39s first ten episodes almost done fans will be pleased to know that Cruel Summer could expand beyond 1995 quotThere39s always a chance for morequot Aurelia laughed in closing quotI think it just depends on how much the audience wants to see and how excited people are by the potential future of Cruel SummerquotNew episodes of Cruel Summer are telecast Tuesdays at 10 pm on Freeform They stream the next day on HuluClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and 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"Cruel Summer": Chiara Aurelia on the Challenge of Playing Jeanette in Freeform's Hot Hit

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Steve Gidlow

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"Cruel Summer": Chiara Aurelia on the Challenge of Playing Jeanette in Freeform's Hot Hit

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