“You’re not ready for Redbird.”
That’s what Prime Video promised The Summer I Turned Pretty fans ahead of its highly-anticipated third and final season, and we can’t wait to see why.
TSITP Season 3 finds Belly (Lola Tung) at the end of her junior year of college, and since she, Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno), Conrad (Christopher Briney), Taylor (Rain Spencer), and Steven (Sean Kaufman) spent years at school since we last saw them in Season 2’s finale, they’ve naturally made new friends.
In addition to lots of fan-favorite returning stars, The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 is set to welcome new series regulars Isabella Briggs and Kristen Connolly, along with several recurring cast members, including Lily Donoghue, Zoé de Grand’Maison, Emma Ishta, Sofia Bryant, and Tanner Zagarino, who plays an the aforementioned Redbird.
Who is Redbird on The Summer I Turned Pretty? And what do we know about Tanner Zagarino, the actor who plays Redbird? Here’s what to know about Jeremiah’s new college pal.
Ahead of The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 premiere, Casalegno and Zagarino sat down to introduce the new star and his character to fans in an Instagram video. When asked to shared Redbird and Jeremiah’s origin story, Zagarino said, “I came into your life when we went to college and joined the fraternity together. Redbird brings to Jeremiah a lot more fun and just like, ‘Dude, be a kid! Let’s let loose. Let’s not think so much. Let’s get a little weird.'”
Redbird appears in several scenes throughout Season 3’s two-episode premiere, and we learn that he’s a fun-loving Hacky Sack/video game playing guy who owns at least one pair of overalls. When asked “Who is Redbird to you?” Zagarino told Casalegno, “Redbird to me kind of goes to the beat of his own drum. He doesn’t dress like anyone. He’s got a mustache.”
And when asked if he was Team Belly, Team Conrad, or Team Jeremiah, Zagarino proceeded to crush his co-star’s dreams by saying, “OK, Redbird’s Team Jeremiah of course. Me personally, I think I’m probably Team Conrad. That’s how I feel. And I love you. It doesn’t mean I don’t love you.”
Since Redbird is played by Tanner Zagarino, let’s learn more about the fresh Season 3 star, shall we? Zagarino is a 26-year-old actor and writer who has nine IMDb credits prior to his role on TSITP.
Since 2013, he’s starred in TV series and moves including 9-1-1: Lone Star, The Price We Pay, Pool Boy Nightmare, Aftermath, The Real Bros of Simi Valley: The Movie, and my personal favorite, Shrinking. (He once saved Jason Segel’s character from choking on a grape, so without him, one of my most beloved shows would have lost it’s main man! Thank you for your service, Dill Pickle.) In 2020, Zagarino also wrote and starred in a short titled Vinny Mancuso’s Rules for Good Business.
While we wait to see more of Zagarino on our screens as Redbird, you can stay up-to-date with the actor outside of TSITP by following him on Instagram at @tannerzagarino, where he had 358,000 followers on the morning of Season 3’s premiere.
New episodes of The Summer I Turned Pretty premiere Wednesdays on Prime Video.