Did Lola Tung Actually Cut Her Hair For The Summer I Turned Pretty Finale?

If you’re anything like me, you had one pressing question after The Summer I Turned Pretty series finale: Did Lola Tung actually cut her hair?

And if searching that very query brought you here, the answer is... yes and no. Belly’s chic birthday bob was the perfect way to represent her stepping into a new chapter. But if you follow Tung on social media, you know the actor never quite parted with her long tresses IRL. As it turns out, a French stylist and some behind-the-scenes magic helped create the big moment.

Belly’s Bob Era

To recap: Belly cut her hair before her birthday in Paris. As she told the stylist in the penultimate episode of TSITP, “I’m ready for something new this summer.”

It was a moment fans hoped for since Jeremiah told Belly in the Season 3 premiere, “Don’t ever cut your hair, OK?” As one viewer wrote on X (formerly Twitter) in July, “i will be smiling SO big when belly cuts her hair.” And of course, fans of Jenny Han’s books know a haircut is part of Belly’s lore post-Jeremiah. (In We’ll Always Have Summer, she studies abroad in Spain — not France.) Conrad writes and says it makes her look younger, in a nice way.

What’s In A Haircut?

Onto the logistics. As Han told Vogue in a new interview, only the front of Tung’s hair was actually cut. The rest of the bob effect was achieved with a U-part wig. But Han was still “super nervous” about having Tung’s hair cut, so she did her own test drive with a professional in Paris. “I have very thick hair, so if [the hairstylist] can do my hair, then he can do her hair,” she said.

Fortunately, it worked out, and Tung’s (semi) haircut helped lend an air of sweet rediscovery to Belly and Conrad’s reunion. “I like your hair,” he tells her in the finale with total heart-eyes.

“It feels very poetic to me that she’s looking to something new and wanting something new for the summer, and something old is coming back her way,” Han said.

Indeed, Tung was excited for her character’s transformation, which she saw as a “physical representation” of Belly’s growth.

“Hair can hold weight and memories and meaning, and I think this moment was the perfect time for her to cut hers,” she told Vogue. “Even earlier in the season, it is something that comes up with Jeremiah. He tells her to never cut her hair. I think her making this decision feels freeing, like a fresh start.”

Fortunately, the Sept. 17 finale was exactly that — a chance for Belly to lean into a new era equipped with that delightful post-haircut feeling. All the more practical for running through Paris to tell your childhood sweetheart you’re in love with him, too.