The 21-year-old breakout star knows everyone's obsessed with her co-star and she's here to explain why she's all for it.
Warning: Spoilers ahead from the film adaptation of To All the Boys I've Loved Before. To read about behind-the-scenes secrets from the set, read our interview with director Susan Johnson. For scoop on what a potential sequel would explore, read what Johnson and author Jenny Han had to say. For more on Han's thoughts on the adaptation of her books, read our interview.
It's no secret Noah Centineo is everyone's obsession at the moment.
Since To All the Boys I've Loved Before dropped on Netflix over a week ago, the 22-year-old star has become an Internet sensation, thanks to his charismatic, heart-melting performance as lacrosse jock Peter Kavinsky.
“Oh yeah! I’ve read that he is the Internet’s boyfriend. People are ordering Peter Kavinskys on Amazon," To All the Boys leading lady Lana Condor, who plays Lara Jean Song Covey, tells ET in a new interview Tuesday, referencing the slew of Peter-inspired products that have since popped up on the site. "Just the thirst for Noah is just... It’s a desert out there and everyone’s so thirsty for him, and I love it.”
After working closely alongside Centineo last year, Condor said she isn't shocked that the public has a collective fascination with The Fosters star.
“I’m not surprised. The moment I met him, I was like, ‘Yup, that boy’s gonna be a star.’ We all knew as we were shooting the movie that he was just going to break literally 15 million hearts. So I’m not surprised at all," Condor, 21, says. "Of course, I want to protect him but I don’t really have anything to protect him against because it’s all love. People just genuinely, are thoroughly are in love with him."
"I’m honored to be on this journey with him and watch as he’s growing and blowing up. He deserves all the recognition that he’s getting and I think he’s handling it really, really well. He deserves it," she continues, adding that the time was ripe for Centineo -- whose first major role was Dallas in Disney Channel's Austin & Ally -- to reap the rewards of years of hard work. "Noah’s been acting forever. He’s been in the game way longer than I have, so he’s put in the work and he deserves everything that’s coming his way.”
Still though, Condor confesses the passionate response to the coupling of Lara Jean and Peter has "been crazy." "I’ve been seeing the greatest tweets and memes and Instagrams about Noah. People are asking Noah and I to adopt them. It’s crazy!” she says with a laugh.
But how does Condor feel about fans actively wishing she and Centineo are a real-life couple? As she tells it, it's a reaction to their undeniable chemistry on- and off-screen. It doesn't hurt that both Condor and Centineo lean into that part of it on social media, sharing flirty Instagrams and leaving comments on each other's pages. (Both their personal Instagrams skyrocketed after To All the Boys debuted, with Centineo hitting 6 million and Condor nearing 3 million followers in a matter of days.)
“You hope that people will fall in love with your characters and I think they have. It’s been great because I know both Noah and I feel the same way, in the fact that I’m so happy that Noah is on this journey with me and it’s Noah who I have as my partner through all of this because our chemistry is genuine," Condor says, commenting on her tight bond with Centineo and also admitting that she hasn't quite grasped what "stanning" means. "Like, it has been since Day 1 and I’ve never felt chemistry like this ever before with any other actor that I’ve worked with. I think we both know that it’s special and I’m just happy that it’s him that I’m going through all this with. We make a really, really good team. It’s been crazy. People truly want us to get married.”
But don't worry, even Condor gets swept up in Lara Jean and Peter's adorable love story, revealing that just the other day she sat down to To All the Boys alone and found herself completely invested in the couple.
"I watched the movie by myself, and I took myself out of it -- I’m just watching it for Lara Jean and Peter -- and I fell in love with Lara Jean and Peter as well," she says with a giggle. "I was like, ‘Oh my god, their relationship is the best relationship ever!’ So I get it. I totally get the reaction, for sure.”
At the end of the day, Condor still hasn't had time to digest what a whirlwind few weeks it's been since the release of the movie, which has earned a stellar 95 percent Rotten Tomatoes score.
“We all hoped that it would do well but I don’t think any of us thought it be this well-received. This is every actor, studio and production’s dream response. It’s definitely been very surreal. I’m just sitting here with a huge smile on my face because I honestly can’t believe it," Condor admits. "The viewers of the movie and the fans of the book and the movie, it’s just been an outpouring of love, which makes me, as Lana, feel very fortunate and grateful. I honestly don’t know what I did to deserve this. It’s been incredible. The thought that so many millions and millions of people have seen this movie, if I think about it too much, it might freak me out. It’s been wild.”
To All the Boys I've Loved Before is available to stream on Netflix.
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