| Lola Tung | |
| Birth Date: | 28 October 2002 |
| Birth Place: | New York City, U.S. |
| Education: | Carnegie Mellon University |
| Years Active: | 2021–present |
Lola Tung (born October 28, 2002) is an American actress, singer and model. She is known for her performance as Isabel "Belly" Conklin in the Amazon Prime Video series The Summer I Turned Pretty, based on the novel of the same name by Jenny Han.[1]
Lola Tung was born and raised in New York City. Her mother is of Chinese and Swedish descent and her father is of Eastern European descent.[2] Her maternal grandmother is from Sweden.[3]
During middle school, she participated in productions of Little Shop of Horrors[4] and The Wizard of Oz. She attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, from which she graduated in 2020 with a major in drama.[5] [6] Tung participated in a production of Rent with her extracurricular theater group during high school.
In fall 2020, she began studying in the BFA acting program at the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama,[7] [8] where she participated in school plays.[9] She completed her first year of college and then took time off to film The Summer I Turned Pretty.[10]
In her senior year of high school, Tung acted in LaGuardia's virtual senior acting showcase, where her current manager saw her first perform. Months later, during the second semester of Tung's first year at Carnegie Mellon University, the manager reached out to her to begin working together and with an audition.[11] The audition was for the main role of Isabel "Belly" Conklin in The Summer I Turned Pretty, Amazon Prime's television adaptation of Jenny Han's bestselling trilogy. While taking remote college classes, Tung auditioned for the series on Zoom. She later landed the job, which is her first credited acting role.[12] [13] [14] [15] In September 2021, shortly after landing the leading role in The Summer I Turned Pretty, Tung signed with American talent agency, Creative Artists Agency.[16] Before the first season's release, Amazon Prime renewed the series for a second season, which was filmed in summer 2022. In August 2023, the series was renewed for a third season. However, the production was delayed due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.[17]
In November 2023, Tung worked with Cameron Crowe and Tom Kitt as Penny Lane in their developmental residency of Almost Famous at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. Public readings of the workshop took place on November 11, 15, and 18, 2023.
In February 2024, Tung made her Broadway debut as Eurydice in the Tony-winning musical, Hadestown. She replaced Solea Pfeiffer for a limited run (scheduled for February 9 through March 17), starring opposite Jordan Fisher as Orpheus.[18] Later in May 2024, Tung earned her first ever nomination for favorite replacement (female) for 2024 Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards. [19]
After the premiere of the first season of The Summer I Turned Pretty in 2022, Tung became an American Eagle partner, along with her co-stars, Christopher Briney and Gavin Casalegno.[20]
In April 2023, Tung became the face of Coachtopia, a new sub-brand from Coach with a mission to pioneer a more circular future for fashion.[21] She also starred in "Have a Wasty Holiday", Coachtopia
| Year | Title | Role | Venue | Notes | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Set Me Free | Trina | The Town Hall | The 24 Hour Plays | [24] | |
| 2023 | Almost Famous | Penny Lane | Eugene O'Neill Theater Center | Workshop readings | [25] | |
| 2024 | Hadestown | Eurydice | Walter Kerr Theatre | Broadway | [26] |
| Year | Title | Voice role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | The Summer I Turned Pretty | Isabel "Belly" Conklin | Re-recorded audiobooks | |
| 2022 | It's Not Summer Without You | |||
| 2022 | We'll Always Have Summer |