Everything You Need to Know About Cruel Summer, the Best New Mystery on TV

Olivia Holt and Chiara Aurelia fill us in on the '90s-set Freeform series.

Everything You Need to Know About Cruel Summer, the Best New Mystery on TV

I know what you're thinking: You need more Cruel Summer. And who could blame you? After premiering the first two episodes on Tuesday, April 20, Freeform should have the next big hit on its hands with the twisty, psychological mystery starring Chiara Aurelia and Olivia Holt. 

From executive producers Jessica Biel and Michelle Purple—as well as former Grey's Anatomy and Scandal producer, Tia Napolitano—Cruel Summer follows two teens (Aurelia's Jeanette Turner and Holt's Kate Wallis) over three summers in 1993, 1994, and 1995. 

When their story begins, Jeanette is your typical dork while Kate is living her best Cher Horowitz life. But the latter goes missing, and a year later Jeanette has taken her place as the popular girl with a hot boyfriend. Literally—Jeanette is dating Kate's former boyfriend. If this wasn't enough intrigue for you, we later learn that—spoiler—Kate was abused and locked in a basement…and she blames Jeanette for not coming to her rescue. (There's also an evil vice principal who seems like the one to blame, but who knows—that's half the mystery.)

Lauded by Variety as “a haunting, intriguing story in three parts” and The Hollywood Reporter as “a fresh, multilayered take on the teen crime genre,” Cruel Summer is the kind of throwback series that captures the pain and awkwardness of your teen years (with some excellent '90s references). And thanks to an outstanding supporting cast (Sarah Drew, Andrea Anders, Harley Quinn Smith, Froy Guttierez, Allius Barnes, and others), it becomes a well-rounded, soap-y thriller grounded in enough reality to make it believable. 

“You get to follow a group of complex characters through some extremely development years in their lives that, at the same time, keeps you on the edge of your seat,” Aurelia tells Glamour. “I think we're all a little good and a little bad.” 

That's for sure. And perhaps even more intriguing is the transformation that went on behind the scenes as the actors took on such different roles over the course of the 10-episode first season. Here, Aurelia and Holt fill us in on what that process was like, and why the season finale was such a shock to them. Read on.

What was the most thrilling part about taking on these roles? 

Chiara Aurelia ("Jeanette"): When I initially read the script, there was such a wonderful opportunity as a young woman today to get the chance to explore some drastically different times in this girl's life, and build some memories and experiences that have led to the person that she is in ‘93, ‘94, and ‘95.

Olivia Holt ("Kate"): Kate goes on a journey and has so many layers. At the beginning, we see what looks like a perfect life. She is this put together sophisticated person, but underneath she has a lot of layers. She’s not just one-note, and the journey she goes on is a traumatic one. To see her evolution from ‘93 into the rebellious stage in ‘95, you get a lot of satisfaction into who she is becoming because she’s finally getting a grip on that person. She’s solidifying what her life is going to look like and how she’s going to take control over the things that happened to her. She’s more opinionated.

Olivia, when we first see Kate, she has some Cher/Clueless vibes going on. Is that something you noticed?

Olivia: I love that reference so much, [especially] for Kate in ‘93 with her style. I love Clueless. It’s iconic. But yeah, she kind of goes from a Cher to a Tai, and it’s interesting to watch that evolution happen. I want to say the tone of the show is a lot like The Undoing, just with the darkness and mystery of it. Everyone is so mysterious. And each episode you find out more about them, which completely shocks you. 

Chiara, how did you relate personally to Jeanette? 

Chiara: I related to her in a lot of different ways. A small part of myself would represent each year for her, between the childlike wonder and excitement in ‘93 and then being on top of the world and the popularity and the boyfriend in ‘94, and then the depression and sadness in ‘95. I think all three of those years perfectly balanced each other out and allowed such a great complex human to be created.

All three years are so distinct, yet you filmed some of the years in the same day, right?

Chiara: Right. We would start a day sometimes in ‘95 and then jump to ‘94, ‘93 and then go to ‘95 again. It just depended on the day of the week.

How easy or difficult was it to constantly change your hairstyle between scenes? Which years did you wear a wig, and what style is closest to yours?

Chiara: My hair is normally long and straight. 1993 and ‘95 were both wigs, and ‘94 was my hair. But done very well! [Laughs] There was some time that definitely went into the transformations, but the hair and makeup team and I were really close so we’d make those transitions between years super fun. It was great to step into Jeanette’s shoes and be transformed into this character in a matter of minutes.

Olivia, how about your look?

Olivia: It’s interesting because all the years pretty much took the same amount of time, but in ‘93 and ‘94 I do wear extensions. My hair is much, much longer [on the show] but my makeup is a lot softer to make me look younger in ‘93. In ‘94 she just doesn’t wear makeup, but her hair is still long. And then in ‘95, she does the chop, but her makeup is a lot heavier. It’s my hair in ‘95, but the makeup is more extreme. We went back and forth every single day, jumping around in different years.

What was the most emotionally taxing year for you to play? 

Chiara: There were aspects of all the years that could be emotionally difficult at times. The obvious answer is ‘95 because it could be dark and difficult at times, but that’s also what made it exciting and super fun as an actor. Also, balancing that out with a little bit of ‘93 and ‘94 was kind of the perfect concoction.

Olivia: 1994 without a doubt. It’s a heavy issue (abuse, kidnapping, etc.) that we’re discussing and not one I think is discussed enough in our culture. It’s important for everyone to know just how important this issue is, and how traumatic the experience is and the environment in itself. The basement set was not a fun set to shoot in. Even just the energy on set, on days where the call sheet said interior: basement set, everyone said, “Oh." You just felt it. There was a completely different energy there. Those were probably the most emotional, taxing days for me.

You only recently finished filming the season. At what point did you find out what happens in the end? 

Chiara: Two weeks ago. [Laughs] Maybe three weeks. I was so shocked and surprised. We all had expectations and questions, but the whole show was super twisty and exciting. You can’t guess anything.

Olivia: We had no idea what the finale was going to be as we were shooting the first season. As we were starting to film the finale, I got the script. Insane.

How hard was that not to know, especially as you're playing these characters?

Olivia: It was a little challenging in some parts, but because of the communication we had with the incredible leadership on this show, it was a little bit easier to film those scenes because of the information we got. And because of that, we all had our own theories throughout the duration of filming. Why wouldn't we? [Laughs] The entire cast was like, “So what do you think happens?!” Some of us were right and some of us were wrong. I was totally wrong. But it was fun! We weren’t filming in chronological order, so there are little bits of information we had to know in order to film specific scenes. But as far as the big finale ending, we did not know. 

Chiara: Selfishly, there was definitely an aspect of wanting to know what was going to happen, but in terms of having the proper information to stay focused in my character and know what was going on, the creatives were so on top of it. They kept it really exciting and interesting, and I felt like I was really engaged and always knew what was going on and was really grounded in the story. So the information that I felt like I needed to know, I was always made aware of.

So once viewers have watched the first two episodes, should they just give up trying to guess what happens? Personally, I have so many theories now.

Chiara: Give it up! But obviously the exciting part is definitely trying to figure out what’s happening and making assumptions and guesses. Maybe someone will figure it out before the end, but I think the great part about our show is to expect the unexpected. When you think you finally figured something out, you might be wrong.

Olivia: It’s inevitable that you’re going to try and figure it out. You can’t watch a show like this and not have an opinion or a theory, but I think that’s what makes it so unique and fun. You're like, “OK, who’s the victim? Who’s the villain? Who did what? Who do I believe?” I think it’s gonna change as you watch the season. You’re not going to have the same opinion throughout the show. It’s forever changing until the ending.

Executive producer Jessica Biel grew up in the ‘90s, so did she give you any insight about what it was like during that time? 

Olivia: I feel like Jessica will forever make fun of me for not knowing what a Walkman was. [Laughs] She will always say, “How? How did you not know?!” She was just so incredible and involved and really brought her creative energy to the show. She brought a little bit of her own taste of stuff, whether it was the wardrobe, or certain props on the show, or even in set dressing, like Kate’s bedroom or Jeanette’s bedroom. She had little tidbits of her life in there, which makes it very relatable for a lot of people that lived in that time.

Chiara: Jessica and the cast all developed a close relationship, and she’s so sweet. She taught us a lot about being young women in this industry as well as a person and an actress. She and [executive producers] Michelle Purple and [showrunner] Tia Napolitano kept us really grounded in the time period.

What did they say? That it was less pressure and a simpler time? 

Chiara: There was an aspect of that, but as the series shows, without social media, you’re very focused on the small amounts of drama going on in this town. It’s so different without phones and technology. I personally enjoyed not having my phone much on set. It was really nice to enjoy a different time period.

What was it like to work with Sarah Drew and play her daughter?

Chiara: I’m a huge Grey’s Anatomy fan, so I love Sarah Drew. Tia texted me and was like, “Out of curiosity, who are your favorite women on Grey’s Anatomy?” and I knew immediately. I jumped out of my skin when she confirmed it was Sarah. And Sarah exceeded all my expectations. She’s a kind, fabulous, amazing person, as well as April Klepner. I feel really fortunate to be able to do this show with her.

And Olivia, tell me about working with Andrea Anders, who plays your mom, Joy.

Olivia: Chiara and I talk about it so much—like, we have the coolest moms! They are so, so great to work with. We learned so much from the two of them and will forever worship them. I was so excited when I found out Andrea was going to play my mom. I love our relationship and journey through the show. It’s a really unique and complicated one, and I think there’s a lot of mother/daughter relationships like theirs out there. What she did with the character of Joy is so incredible. I want to work with her all the time.

Cruel Summer airs every Tuesday on Freeform, and the following day on Hulu. 

Jessica Radloff is the Glamour West Coast editor. You can follow her on Instagram at @jessicaradloff14. And for more with the cast, see below for her panel with the cast at this year's SXSW.

This story originally appeared on: Glamour - Author:Jessica Radloff