Sean Kaufman Apologizes To TSITP Fans For Steven's Reaction To Jeremiah
"I was so ready for fists to be thrown."
Even Sean Kaufman is a bit disappointed by Steven’s recent actions — or, inactions. In the ninth episode of The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, Belly’s big brother finally learned that her former fiancé Jeremiah cheated on her during his spring break in Cabo. But surprisingly, aside from a bit of angry yelling, Steven seemed to get over the damning revelation pretty quickly. The tepid response from Belly’s usually very protective brother baffled fans on social media, and Kaufman admitted that he, too, was expecting a lot more from Steven in that moment.
“I remember reading the scripts and getting to this point, and as Sean, I was a thousand percent expecting a full crashout,” Kaufman told Teen Vogue. “I was so ready for fists to be thrown and a fight to ensue and all this stuff.”
The actor whole-heartedly endorsed the idea of his character not only starting a brawl with Jeremiah, but also Conrad. “Let's start throwing some fists! Gavin [Casalegno] got a good right hook in. I'm like, just gimme both of 'em lined up, just bam,” Kaufman said. “ Just one time! They deserve it. Both of them, I don't care.”
Kaufman went on to apologize to the fandom for Steven’s lukewarm reaction to the cheating news, explaining that at the time, his character’s mind was more focused on his situationship with Taylor than the drama between Belly and the Fisher boys.
“I am sorry to fans that were expecting a little more, but I think he always has Taylor at the forefront [of his mind],” Kaufman said. “There was this looming [conversation] with Taylor, and it was important for me to remember reading [the script] that these people are not the main characters in Steven's life. Taylor is, and that's everything to him.”
He continued: “So when this thing happens to his best friend and his sister, he's like, ‘This sounds so f*cking messy, and he hurt my sister, and I'm really upset and pissed, but the first thing on my mind is going to be the woman that I love and solving whatever the f*ck this is.’”
