My dream casting would be Lola and Damian in a project together. He is so fantastic on MH, such a superb actor and I think he and Lola would work so well together. Not to mention he is 🔥. Would really love her to dip her toes in another romance project down the road.
What would your dream male co- lead for her be and why?
i feel so bad for david bc his face was down as not everyone was happy about his casting
​
The YA landscape keeps changing. New shows come along, new couples become the latest obsession, and new casts get their moment. But, there’s something pretty special about the fact that Chris Briney and Lola Tung are still pulling over 1 million likes on their Instagram posts.
That kind of engagement says a lot. It’s not just nostalgia. It’s proof that people still care, still miss them, and still want to see them. Their impact didn’t disappear just because of the latest YA craze.
Trends come and go, but some connections have staying power. Seeing both Chris and Lola continue to receive that kind of love is a pretty beautiful reminder that their relevance was never just about being the “new” thing.
1M+ likes for both. Still missed. Still talked about. Still loved. 🤍
The YA world may keep moving forward, but some people leave a mark that doesn’t just fade away with the appearance of the next craze and Chris/ Lola are proof of that.
Looking foreward to the final scene being added to these beautiful collage once the movie comes out ❤️❤️
Love these pics from a gorgeous day out! Looks like Season 2 because Elsie's there in her captain's hat, special mention to Rain who is clearly in her element. ⛵
Adorable bts of the Season one promo shoot
Some Memories Never Stop Feeling Like Home 🖤
There’s something incredibly sentimental about Corbeau playing throughout this entire moment. As Conrad walks through Belly’s Paris apartment, he’s surrounded by pieces of a life he hasn’t been part of ; her photographs, her memories, the little details that tell him just how much she has grown.
Then he finds Junior Mint.
For a moment, the years seem to fade and we’re taken back to the boy who won that stuffed animal for Belly, before either of them could have imagined where life would take them.
Now Conrad is standing in her Paris apartment, holding a piece of their childhood in his hands.
In that moment Belly walks out in the black dress and the look on Conrad’s face is everything. He isn’t just seeing the girl from his memories anymore. He’s seeing the woman she has become—and yet, somehow, you can still feel the history between them in that one look.
That’s what makes Corbeau so beautiful here. The song connects past Belly, present Belly, and everything Conrad has carried between those two versions of her.
He walks through her apartment surrounded by memories of who she was. Then she walks into the room, and he gets to see who she is no****w.
For one quiet, beautiful moment, the past and present exist in the same room.
Maybe that’s what makes Conrad’s look so emotionally powerful—he isn't just seeing Belly. He’s seeing all the versions of her he has ever loved, standing in front of him at once. 🖤
"Shipping" has been a long favoured pastime for fandoms. It's become the primary way that many fans engage with fiction be it TV or literature. It's been what entire marketing strategies have been built upon. Jellies or Bonrads, Hermione and Harry, shipping fictional characters often with characters they are not paired with in the original source material. Why do we ship? And have we always done so. Romeo and Juliet, Tristan and Isolde, Lancelot and Guinevere. Isn't all art and entertainment a means for an escape, a little fantasy?
In recent times , shipping is considered more controversial especially when it involves real life people. Actors, celebrities and public figures who are not together in real life.The word "Shipper!" is often flung around as a slur ( very much on Reddit)
Is being a shipper disrespectful to their partners? Is it because shipping actors who play romantic scene partners and spend long hours on set very often end up falling in love. Is it uncomfortable because it can easily happen?
There is an entire fandom built on shipping a pair of Canadian figure skating partners who were Olympic gold medalists, partnered together since they were children and everyone was convinced they were soulmates . They both went on to marry other people and have families. Yet the shipping persists. What is the psychology behind this? Is it because people want the performance of love and the intimacy to be real? Does it matter if it isn't, why are fans crushed to discover the feelings are platonic ? Maybe even like siblings for athletes who grew up training together everyday since they were little.
We saw a reprise of fan edits and rabid shipping when both returned to host segments during the Winter Olympics this year. I did find the rhetoric online to be lighter though. No one was hotly defending their real life spouses and families , even if they should have.
There was shipping when Television's first couple were not a couple: Mathew Rhys and Keri Russell who were co-stars on the Americans. Fans instantly picked up on their electric chemistry onscreen and off. Both are always laughing, in splits in interviews, and the fandom went wild with Cold War geopolitics and hot and heavy shipping. Again more controversial because Keri had a husband at the time and small children. I never saw much backlash though, and in their case the fandom was fed when a couple of years later Keri was full term pregnant with Mathew's first child.
In the YA category shipping has far reaching impact. It drives entire campaigns, even alters storylines. In The Summer, for a casual observer it was inevitable that Belly would end up with Conrad. But the show was teased till the bitter end that it may not end that way. Giving hope to Team Jeremiah and even Team Belly for people who wanted Belly away from both brothers.
With YA shows there are YA actors who often have partners. They are now online for the world to dissect and observe under a microscope. There is a case for them to keep their social media public and build influencer careers or share in the limelight of their partner's success. Young fans want to follow the girlfriends and even boyfriends ( though rarer) of these actors and in some cases even create fan pages for them!
Does shipping hurt them? Can it become disrespectful and often trolling? And does it challenge their identity as the significant other of a celebrity.
How harmful is shipping and is social media the reason it's not as lighthearted as it used to be.
What does persistent shipping say about the people who ship? is there an epidemic of loneliness? Are people living vicariously through these characters, real or imagined?
⚓
​
There’s something so powerful about putting these two moments side by side because they feel like two different chapters of the same love story
“I thought you knew.”
Those words carry so much of the uncertainty that defined their earlier relationship. There’s love there, but also the assumption that love can be understood without being spoken. The hope that the other person can read between the lines and recognize the looks, silences, and the little gestures, and yet somehow know what’s being left unsaid.
But that kind of love can also leave so much room for misunderstanding as was the case in that scene. Conrad assumed Belly knew how much he loved her without ever truly saying the actual words
“I need you to know.”
That one word — need — changes everything.
This isn’t about hoping someone understands anymore. It’s about choosing to be vulnerable enough to tell them. It’s about taking something that has lived inside you and finally putting it into words.
I think that’s what makes this parallel so beautiful.
The first moment is about being understood without speaking. The second is about speaking because being understood matters.
There’s also something really beautiful about the physical parallel in these shots. In both, there’s this closeness and quiet intimacy, but the emotional meaning is different in each.
Both Chris and Lola’s performance makes that evolution hit even harder. The bottom scene unlike the first doesn’t need a huge reaction. The emotion is in the stillness — in the way Belly closes her eyes, in the small expression on both their faces.
It’s such a subtle reminder that growing up doesn’t necessarily mean feeling less deeply. Sometimes it means finally learning how to communicate what you feel.
From “I thought you knew” to “I need you to know.”
From assuming love could speak for itself to realizing that sometimes love needs to find its voice. 🤍
Sometimes we get so caught up in the story that we forget to appreciate the actor bringing it all to life. So here’s some Chris Briney appreciation, specifically through some of Conrad’s most memorable moments. 🫶
From the way he watches Belly at the debutante ball, to the quiet tension, the fireplace scene, the surfboard accident, that heartbreaking goodbye in the Season 2 finale and of course the long awaited Paris reunion, Chris has consistently found ways to make Conrad’s emotions feel bigger than his words.
What I especially love about his performance is how much he does without saying anything. The pauses, the looks, the little changes in his expression, you can often tell exactly what Conrad is feeling before he ever says it.
And that’s what makes his scenes so rewatchable.
What is YOUR all-time favorite Conrad scene or Chris Briney acting moment on TSITP?
Chris and Lola are known for taking longish social media breaks. Chris in particular has been taking quite a few lately and we've noticed rarely updates his projects. Didn't post for Hacks or even repost the cute story Jean Smart made where she tagged him. Nothing for CTTS or even the in production picture for The Summer ( Lola also didn't share it ). He hasn't shared sponsored or charity events that he's attended recently either. Since January there have only been personal "dumps" of a mix of throwbacks and recent, mainly of his roommates and girlfriend.
A few days ago he broke his social media hiatus stretching from May to post another personal dump of pics of himself and his girlfriend . The next day he posted a set of behind the scenes pictures from The Julia Set.
Fans are excited to receive such a surfeit of Chris after a long dry spell and we are happy with what we can get. Still some fans are perplexed and question if it's really him managing his account.
We noticed that his personal dump being the first one after months received the windfall of fan attention and is now at nearly 1 million likes whereas his upcoming movie which would have benefited from the same level of attention is at a relatively low 190k.
The Julia Set which premieres at TIFF next month is a small indie in the market for a distributor , his co-star Chase Infiniti is an executive producer on the project. It's an all-hands-on-deck situation, promoting a movie and I am sure they appreciate Chris posting. We wonder why someone needed to pip them to the post by sharing all those personal pics first ( tags included)
Arguably in the greater scheme of things social media seems trivial , but is it really? Especially when you have 5.5 million followers .
🤳
I know someone already mentioned Lola for the MCU, but honestly, I’d love to see her as either of these two—with Psylocke being my absolute top pick!
With the X-Men set to make their grand entrance into the MCU, we’re all eagerly waiting to see who gets cast for the core team. While a lot of big names were already announced, two of Marvel’s most prominent Asian mutants—Jubilee and Psylocke (Psylocke/Kwannon)—haven't had any official casting announcements yet!
Honestly, Lola Tung would be an absolute dream cast for either of these roles.
As Jubilee: She has the perfect energy, charisma, and screen presence to bring Jubilee’s vibrant, 90s-cool vibe to life. She can easily handle the humor, heart, and youthful optimism that makes Jubilee such a fan favorite.
As Psylocke: Lola has the talent, range, and presence to step into a darker, more intense, and action-heavy role like Psylocke, bringing real depth and style to the character.
The catch though is she needs to train Martial Arts and combat sports which i think is possible given Lola is into sports too.
Given her star trajectory and how incredible her team is at picking high-profile, quality projects, securing a spot in the MCU X-Men lineup just feels like the natural next steps.
What do you guys think? Which of these two would you want to see her play, or would you rather want Lola to stay out of superhero theme movies/films?
📷 Jenny Han Instagram