The first two films in the Netflix trilogy “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” pretty much checked every box on the teen rom-com boy-drama bingo card: a boy next door, a boy doomed to be on the losing end of a love triangle and, most important, the boy who helps hatch a fake dating plot that inevitably becomes … not so fake.

So when it came time to film the final installment, actress Lana Condor, who plays Lara Jean, the girl at the center of it all, was just about ready for a change of pace. “It’s called ‘To All the Boys,’” Condor, 23, said in a Zoom interview Monday. “It’s been about the boys. From Day 1. We get it.”

'To All the Boys: Always and Forever,' which begins streaming Friday, sets aside Team Josh and Team John Ambrose and Team Peter in favor of Team Lara Jean, as she finds herself on the brink of some major life decisions with high school graduation approaching. She has come a long way from the hopeless romantic who wrote down her feelings in sweeping love letters rather than acting on them, a habit that set off the antics of the first film when the letters inadvertently made their way to their recipients.

A lot has changed for Condor, too. She became a star overnight with the first installment, in 2018, and post-'To All the Boys,' she’s set to star in and executive produce a new comedy series for Netflix.

But first, after several years of a whirlwind work schedule, she’s focused on settling into her new home in Seattle with her boyfriend, actor Anthony De La Torre, and her dog, Emmy. As she prepares to say goodbye to the character that has defined her career so far, Condor discussed what it means to be one of the few Asian American actresses to headline a romantic comedy and why the Lara Jean of 'Always and Forever' is her favorite. These are edited excerpts from the conversation:

Q: This time last year, you surprised fans at the Paris Theater in New York for a screening of the second film of the trilogy — an experience that seems pretty foreign now. How does it feel looking back?

A: That was really emotional and made me feel just overwhelmed with joy. I’ve put so much of myself into these movies because I love them. And they’ve also changed my life. But looking back, I was running on fumes at that point, because it was shooting the movies back to back and then going on the big press tour. I wish that I had taken it all in and really been present.

Q: What was making this last film like for you?

A: I remember thinking, “How did I get here?” I wanted nothing more than to finish it the way that I would be super proud of Lara Jean. So I was just hell-bent; I was constantly talking to the director and the producers and writers and everyone like, “You guys, we need to show her stepping into the world as a young woman choosing herself for the first time.”

It was a crazy, emotional experience, because the last few years have been the greatest ups and the greatest downs of my life. [She has said she felt burned out after the first film.] I love the movies, the friends I made in the movies, the story — I love the color scheme of our movies, the pinks and the teals. So knowing it’s the last time I’ll be in the bedroom, the last time I’ll be in the school, all these things that I’ve been spending so much time in in the past three years, is emotional. I’m going to miss it a lot.

Q: What was it like filming in Korea?

A: We went during typhoon season. So I was like, "Who thought of this?" But it was amazing. We were just shooting touristy things, so we got to shoot at all locations that we would have gone to as normal tourists. We would meet people on the street and people would walk into the shot as we’re filming and just be like, “Oh hi! I love your movie!” And we’d be like, “You’re in it.”

Q: How did you feel about the way Lara Jean’s story came to an end?

A: Something I’m the most proud of is she never really loses her weird little -isms and quirks, and she never loses or changes her personality. That’s really hard not to do when you’re in high school. Yes, the Lara Jean we see in the third movie is a grown Lara Jean, and she’s different in that she has life experience now, but ultimately the things that make her her, she never let go of.

Q: The movies are based on Jenny Han’s books, and it’s fun spotting her cameos in each film. What has your relationship with her been like for the past few years?

A: She’s like my sister. We’re always on the phone for hours and hours. When we first were talking years ago, she said, “I just want you as Lana and as a young Asian American girl to have the same opportunities that Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss would have or Kristen Stewart as Bella from ‘Twilight.’” And that was before we even knew we would have three movies. I’ve never had anyone say that to me, particularly as an Asian American actress — almost to the point where I was like, "Is that even possible?"

Q: Was that representation aspect top of mind for you when making the movies? Did it add any extra pressure?&nbsp;

A: I read the book immediately before the audition, and that’s when I was like, "OK, this I have to have." Because this is an Asian American girl falling in love and this is something we need to see.

But when we were making the movies, it almost was like I was just being Lana. Because ultimately, it’s about a young girl falling in love and showing that anyone can fall in love. So I think that it was in my mind, but it also wasn’t. Because I don’t walk around in life like, Asian Lana going to the store, Asian Lana going to pick up food, Asian Lana walking my dog.

Q: We’ve reached the end of what Jenny Han has written for Lara Jean. But do you see a scenario in which we might see more of this story unfold, or in which you might play this character again?

A: I think never say never. (But) the third is all I know. To me, that’s the ending. But I would really like to see Lara Jean and Peter in their mid- to late 20s. Like they’ve gone through college, and I want to see what they’re like in the workspace. I have this dream that Lara Jean is working in some realm of literature, I don’t know, in New York, writing, living her life. Because I personally have this feeling that they’re going to try to make it work in college, but they’re going to have to grow separately to be fully ready to come together.

But I know for a fact that they’re going to get married; they’re going to live happily ever after. I just think they might need to grow as individuals first. And then I’d love to see them meeting each other again — she’s like at a cafe writing an article for a newspaper she’s working for, and he happens to be there, and they meet again in a new way where they’re older and developed. That would be so cool. If it happens, you heard it here first.

The first two films in the Netflix trilogy “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” pretty much checked every box on the teen rom-com boy-drama bingo card: a boy next door, a boy doomed to be on the losing end of a love triangle and, most important, the boy who helps hatch a fake dating plot that inevitably becomes … not so fake.

The first two films in the Netflix trilogy “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” pretty much checked every box on the teen rom-com boy-drama bingo card: a boy next door, a boy doomed to be on the losing end of a love triangle and, most important, the boy who helps hatch a fake dating plot that inevitably becomes … not so fake. So when it came time to film the final installment, actress Lana Condor, who plays Lara Jean, the girl at the center of it all, was just about ready for a change of pace. “It’s called ‘To All the Boys,’” Condor, 23, said in a Zoom interview Monday. “It’s been about the boys. From Day 1. We get it.” 'To All the Boys: Always and Forever,' which begins streaming Friday, sets aside Team Josh and Team John Ambrose and Team Peter in favor of Team Lara Jean, as she finds herself on the brink of some major life decisions with high school graduation approaching. She has come a long way from the hopeless romantic who wrote down her feelings in sweeping love letters rather than acting on them, a habit that set off the antics of the first film when the letters inadvertently made their way to their recipients. A lot has changed for Condor, too. She became a star overnight with the first installment, in 2018, and post-'To All the Boys,' she’s set to star in and executive produce a new comedy series for Netflix. But first, after several years of a whirlwind work schedule, she’s focused on settling into her new home in Seattle with her boyfriend, actor Anthony De La Torre, and her dog, Emmy. As she prepares to say goodbye to the character that has defined her career so far, Condor discussed what it means to be one of the few Asian American actresses to headline a romantic comedy and why the Lara Jean of 'Always and Forever' is her favorite. These are edited excerpts from the conversation: Q: This time last year, you surprised fans at the Paris Theater in New York for a screening of the second film of the trilogy — an experience that seems pretty foreign now. How does it feel looking back? A: That was really emotional and made me feel just overwhelmed with joy. I’ve put so much of myself into these movies because I love them. And they’ve also changed my life. But looking back, I was running on fumes at that point, because it was shooting the movies back to back and then going on the big press tour. I wish that I had taken it all in and really been present. Q: What was making this last film like for you? A: I remember thinking, “How did I get here?” I wanted nothing more than to finish it the way that I would be super proud of Lara Jean. So I was just hell-bent; I was constantly talking to the director and the producers and writers and everyone like, “You guys, we need to show her stepping into the world as a young woman choosing herself for the first time.” It was a crazy, emotional experience, because the last few years have been the greatest ups and the greatest downs of my life. [She has said she felt burned out after the first film.] I love the movies, the friends I made in the movies, the story — I love the color scheme of our movies, the pinks and the teals. So knowing it’s the last time I’ll be in the bedroom, the last time I’ll be in the school, all these things that I’ve been spending so much time in in the past three years, is emotional. I’m going to miss it a lot. Q: What was it like filming in Korea? A: We went during typhoon season. So I was like, "Who thought of this?" But it was amazing. We were just shooting touristy things, so we got to shoot at all locations that we would have gone to as normal tourists. We would meet people on the street and people would walk into the shot as we’re filming and just be like, “Oh hi! I love your movie!” And we’d be like, “You’re in it.” Q: How did you feel about the way Lara Jean’s story came to an end? A: Something I’m the most proud of is she never really loses her weird little -isms and quirks, and she never loses or changes her personality. That’s really hard not to do when you’re in high school. Yes, the Lara Jean we see in the third movie is a grown Lara Jean, and she’s different in that she has life experience now, but ultimately the things that make her her, she never let go of. Q: The movies are based on Jenny Han’s books, and it’s fun spotting her cameos in each film. What has your relationship with her been like for the past few years? A: She’s like my sister. We’re always on the phone for hours and hours. When we first were talking years ago, she said, “I just want you as Lana and as a young Asian American girl to have the same opportunities that Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss would have or Kristen Stewart as Bella from ‘Twilight.’” And that was before we even knew we would have three movies. I’ve never had anyone say that to me, particularly as an Asian American actress — almost to the point where I was like, "Is that even possible?" Q: Was that representation aspect top of mind for you when making the movies? Did it add any extra pressure? A: I read the book immediately before the audition, and that’s when I was like, "OK, this I have to have." Because this is an Asian American girl falling in love and this is something we need to see. But when we were making the movies, it almost was like I was just being Lana. Because ultimately, it’s about a young girl falling in love and showing that anyone can fall in love. So I think that it was in my mind, but it also wasn’t. Because I don’t walk around in life like, Asian Lana going to the store, Asian Lana going to pick up food, Asian Lana walking my dog. Q: We’ve reached the end of what Jenny Han has written for Lara Jean. But do you see a scenario in which we might see more of this story unfold, or in which you might play this character again? A: I think never say never. (But) the third is all I know. To me, that’s the ending. But I would really like to see Lara Jean and Peter in their mid- to late 20s. Like they’ve gone through college, and I want to see what they’re like in the workspace. I have this dream that Lara Jean is working in some realm of literature, I don’t know, in New York, writing, living her life. Because I personally have this feeling that they’re going to try to make it work in college, but they’re going to have to grow separately to be fully ready to come together. But I know for a fact that they’re going to get married; they’re going to live happily ever after. I just think they might need to grow as individuals first. And then I’d love to see them meeting each other again — she’s like at a cafe writing an article for a newspaper she’s working for, and he happens to be there, and they meet again in a new way where they’re older and developed. That would be so cool. If it happens, you heard it here first.

Lana Condor says goodbye to 'To All the Boys'

Judit Polgar might be the one woman in the world who knows how Beth, the heroine of the hit Netflix series 'The Queen’s Gambit,' really feels. Like Beth, Polgar, who is from Hungary, stood out during her career because she regularly beat the world’s top players, including Garry Kasparov, in 2002, when he was ranked No&nbsp;1.

Polgar, the only woman to ever be ranked in the Top 10 or to play for the overall world championship, retired from competitive chess in 2014. Watching the series, which she described as an “incredible performance,” gave her a sense of déjà vu, particularly in the later episodes.

But there was one respect in which she could not identify with Beth’s experience: how the male competitors treated her.

“They were too nice to her,” Polgar said. When Polgar was proving herself and rising in the world rankings, the men often made disparaging comments about her ability and sometimes jokes, which they thought were funny but were actually hurtful, she said.

And no one ever resigned to her, as Shapkin did to Beth in Episode 7 by gallantly holding her hand near his lips.

“There were opponents who refused to shake hands,” she recalled. “There was one who hit his head on the board after he lost.”

Not every woman has had negative experiences. Irina Krush, who won her eighth US&nbsp;Women’s Championship last month, said she felt as if the chess community and men in particular were supportive of her when she was an up-and-coming player. She said of the series, “The spirit of what they are showing conforms to my experience.”

Whether what happens to Beth is typical or not, the popularity of 'The Queen’s Gambit' has inspired anew a debate about inequality and sexism in chess and what, if anything, can be done about them.

Though chess would seem like one area where men and women should be able to compete on equal footing, historically, few women have been able to do so. Among the more than 1,700 regular grandmasters worldwide, only 37, including Polgar and Krush, are women. Currently, only one woman, Hou Yifan of China, ranks in the Top 100, at No&nbsp;88, and she has been playing infrequently, even before the pandemic.

The superiority of men in the game is so well established that the best female players have freely acknowledged it. In a recent issue of Mint, in an article titled 'Why Women Lose at Chess,' Koneru Humpy, an Indian player currently ranked No&nbsp;3 among women, said men are just better players. “It’s proven,” she said. “You have to accept it.”

The dearth of women at the top of the game is one reason that there are separate tournaments for women, including a world championship; the World Chess Federation even created titles for women, such as women grandmaster.

Having such institutionalized, second-class status might seem like a bad idea, but not according to Anastasiya Karlovich, a grandmaster who was the press officer for the World Chess Federation for several years. She said the women’s titles permit more female players to earn a living as professionals, thereby increasing their participation in the game.

Karlovich said the Netflix show has helped her indirectly: It has made the parents of her chess students look at her differently.

“They have more respect for me. They understand better the life of a player,” she said.

While some men have speculated that the reason there are so few top female players is because they are not wired for it — Kasparov once said that it is not in their nature — women think the overriding reason is cultural expectations and bias.

Krush said the cultural cleaving between boys and girls happens at a young age. Scrolling through lists of the top players in the United States who are 7, 8 and 9, Krush pointed out that there are only a handful of girls in the Top 10.

That creates and reinforces another problem that discourages women’s participation: too few social contacts. Jennifer Shahade, a two-time U.S. women’s champion who has written two books about women in chess ('Chess Bitch' and 'Play Like a Girl!') and is the women’s program director at the US Chess Federation, said teenage girls tend to stop playing chess because there are so few of them and they want the social support. That Beth is a loner is likely an important reason she does not quit playing in tournaments.

Of 74,000 members in total, the US Chess Federation said it has about 10,500 female members. Shahade wants to increase that number, as well as their participation. To that end, she and the federation started an online chess club in April to keep female players engaged during the pandemic. In the last few weeks, there have been between 80 and 140 participants, with quite a few older players. The last meeting also had a special guest: Kasparov, who has become a big booster of women’s chess since his retirement from competition in 2005. He was also a consultant on the Netflix series.

To keep the momentum going, Shahade is launching a new online group called the “Madwoman’s Book Club.” The title refers to a pejorative name used for the queen in the 15th and 16th centuries after it became the most powerful piece on the board. The first meeting, this Friday, already has 100 people signed up.

The subject of the discussion should come as no surprise: 'The Queen’s Gambit'&nbsp;by Walter Tevis, the book on which the Netflix series is based. 
&nbsp;

Judit Polgar might be the one woman in the world who knows how Beth, the heroine of the hit Netflix series 'The Queen’s Gambit,' really feels. Like Beth, Polgar, who is from Hungary, stood out during her career because she regularly beat the world’s top players, including Garry Kasparov, in 2002, when he was ranked No 1.

Judit Polgar might be the one woman in the world who knows how Beth, the heroine of the hit Netflix series 'The Queen’s Gambit,' really feels. Like Beth, Polgar, who is from Hungary, stood out during her career because she regularly beat the world’s top players, including Garry Kasparov, in 2002, when he was ranked No 1. Polgar, the only woman to ever be ranked in the Top 10 or to play for the overall world championship, retired from competitive chess in 2014. Watching the series, which she described as an “incredible performance,” gave her a sense of déjà vu, particularly in the later episodes. But there was one respect in which she could not identify with Beth’s experience: how the male competitors treated her. “They were too nice to her,” Polgar said. When Polgar was proving herself and rising in the world rankings, the men often made disparaging comments about her ability and sometimes jokes, which they thought were funny but were actually hurtful, she said. And no one ever resigned to her, as Shapkin did to Beth in Episode 7 by gallantly holding her hand near his lips. “There were opponents who refused to shake hands,” she recalled. “There was one who hit his head on the board after he lost.” Not every woman has had negative experiences. Irina Krush, who won her eighth US Women’s Championship last month, said she felt as if the chess community and men in particular were supportive of her when she was an up-and-coming player. She said of the series, “The spirit of what they are showing conforms to my experience.” Whether what happens to Beth is typical or not, the popularity of 'The Queen’s Gambit' has inspired anew a debate about inequality and sexism in chess and what, if anything, can be done about them. Though chess would seem like one area where men and women should be able to compete on equal footing, historically, few women have been able to do so. Among the more than 1,700 regular grandmasters worldwide, only 37, including Polgar and Krush, are women. Currently, only one woman, Hou Yifan of China, ranks in the Top 100, at No 88, and she has been playing infrequently, even before the pandemic. The superiority of men in the game is so well established that the best female players have freely acknowledged it. In a recent issue of Mint, in an article titled 'Why Women Lose at Chess,' Koneru Humpy, an Indian player currently ranked No 3 among women, said men are just better players. “It’s proven,” she said. “You have to accept it.” The dearth of women at the top of the game is one reason that there are separate tournaments for women, including a world championship; the World Chess Federation even created titles for women, such as women grandmaster. Having such institutionalized, second-class status might seem like a bad idea, but not according to Anastasiya Karlovich, a grandmaster who was the press officer for the World Chess Federation for several years. She said the women’s titles permit more female players to earn a living as professionals, thereby increasing their participation in the game. Karlovich said the Netflix show has helped her indirectly: It has made the parents of her chess students look at her differently. “They have more respect for me. They understand better the life of a player,” she said. While some men have speculated that the reason there are so few top female players is because they are not wired for it — Kasparov once said that it is not in their nature — women think the overriding reason is cultural expectations and bias. Krush said the cultural cleaving between boys and girls happens at a young age. Scrolling through lists of the top players in the United States who are 7, 8 and 9, Krush pointed out that there are only a handful of girls in the Top 10. That creates and reinforces another problem that discourages women’s participation: too few social contacts. Jennifer Shahade, a two-time U.S. women’s champion who has written two books about women in chess ('Chess Bitch' and 'Play Like a Girl!') and is the women’s program director at the US Chess Federation, said teenage girls tend to stop playing chess because there are so few of them and they want the social support. That Beth is a loner is likely an important reason she does not quit playing in tournaments. Of 74,000 members in total, the US Chess Federation said it has about 10,500 female members. Shahade wants to increase that number, as well as their participation. To that end, she and the federation started an online chess club in April to keep female players engaged during the pandemic. In the last few weeks, there have been between 80 and 140 participants, with quite a few older players. The last meeting also had a special guest: Kasparov, who has become a big booster of women’s chess since his retirement from competition in 2005. He was also a consultant on the Netflix series. To keep the momentum going, Shahade is launching a new online group called the “Madwoman’s Book Club.” The title refers to a pejorative name used for the queen in the 15th and 16th centuries after it became the most powerful piece on the board. The first meeting, this Friday, already has 100 people signed up. The subject of the discussion should come as no surprise: 'The Queen’s Gambit' by Walter Tevis, the book on which the Netflix series is based.

How 'The Queen's Gambit' started a new debate about sexism in chess

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Lana Condor says goodbye to 'To All the Boys'

How 'The Queen's Gambit' started a new debate about sexism in chess