The Summer I Turned Pretty fans knew that a new season would mean a slew of new characters, but I’m not sure anyone predicted we’d be meeting a whole new cast with just three episodes left in the series.
So far in The Summer I Turned Pretty‘s third and final season, viewers met Belly’s college pal Anika (Sofia Bryant), Jeremiah’s frat bro Redbird (Tanner Zagarino) and ex Blake (Carson Blyskal), Conrad’s go-to Stanford gal Agnes (Zoé De Grand’Maison), Taylor’s mom Lucinda (Kristen Connolly), Steven’s colleague Denise (Isabella Briggs), and Adam’s secretary Kayleigh (Emma Ishta). But in Season 3, Episode 9, “Last Call,” when Belly heads to Paris, we met four new characters, including Gemma, played by Corinna Brown.
So who is Gemma on The Summer I Turned Pretty? Was Gemma in TSITP books? And what do we know about Corinna Brown, the actor who plays Gemma?
Here’s what to know about TSITP Season 3’s new character, whether or not Gemma was in Jenny Han’s third book (We’ll Always Have Summer), and why Corinna Brown looks so familiar.
As noted, Gemma is introduced in TSITP Season 3, Episode 9, after Belly arrives in Paris. Ahead of her flight home, Belly’s backpack gets stolen, and when she tracks her AirTag around the city in hopes of retrieving her bag, she winds up at a club that requires a password for entry. Since Belly doesn’t know the password, she gets turned away, but when she sees Gemma being bothered by a man outside, she steps in to assist, and the two become fast friends.
Gemma not only helps Belly get inside the club, but she introduces “Isabel” to her girlfriend, Max (Jahz Armando), and their friends Celine (Isaline Prevost Radeff) and Benito (Fernando Cattori). Once Belly retrieves her backpack, she and her new pals grab drinks together and swap stories. After learning about the brother love triangle and the called off wedding, Gemma and friends encourage Belly to stay in Paris and find herself, which is exactly what she decides to do before episode’s end. So we haven’t seen the last of Belly’s Parisian adventures or her friendship with Gemma.
Now that we’ve established Gemma’s role on the show, you’re likely wondering if Gemma is in TSITP books and if the text offers any additional context or intel into her character. The answer? No! Like several other characters in the series, Gemma appears to be solely crafted for the show. So even fans of the books have no idea what Han has in store for Gemma’s character in Season 3. In the books, Belly studied abroad in Spain, not Paris. And though a boy named Benito was briefly mentioned in letters that Conrad sent Belly while she was abroad, Gemma’s character is new.
As noted, Gemma on TSITP is played by Corinna Brown, a 26-year-old actor from London. Per IMDb, Brown kickstarted her on-screen career in 2012 and has 10 TV and film credits prior to her role on TSITP Season 3, including Tara Jones on Netflix’s Heartstopper.
Per Prime Video’s press release, “She made her television debut in the BBC Three TV-movie My Murder. Brown trained at East 15 Acting School in London, and her theater credits include Noughts & Crosses, Coppelia, Sleeping Beauty and Macbeth.”
While we wait to see more of Brown on TSITP, you can follow her on Instagram at @itzz_cori, where she currently has 578,000 followers.
New episodes of The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 premiere Wednesdays on Prime Video.