Anna Cathcart, Minyeong Choi, Gia Kim, Sang Heon Lee and Anthony Keyvan talk to ET about Kitty's complicated love life in season 1.
Spoiler alert! Do not proceed if you have not watched XO, Kitty.
XO, Kitty isn't your typical coming-of-age romantic comedy. Netflix's To All the Boys I've Loved Before spinoff series focuses on Lara Jean's younger sister, Kitty Song Covey (Anna Cathcart), as she goes on her own journey of self-discovery and love as she moves to Seoul, South Korea, to reunite with her long-distance boyfriend, Dae (Minyeong Choi). Though it appeared Kitty would be caught in the middle of a love triangle, the YA series ended up being far more complex than that.
When the youngest Covey arrived in Seoul to attend Korean Independent School of Seoul (appropriately known as KISS), expecting a romantic reunion with Dae -- the boy she initially met in the third movie in the To All the Boys franchise -- Kitty found herself on the outside looking in when she came face to face with popular mean girl Yuri (Gia Kim). Though Yuri first came into the picture as Dae's girlfriend, it was quickly revealed to be a cover lie as she was actually secretly dating a girl named Juliana (Regan Aliyah).
That would turn out to be a crucial turning point for Kitty, who, midway through the season -- as she's navigating the rocky waters with Dae -- that she may be developing feelings for Yuri, whom she didn't exactly get along with in the beginning. The revelation is quite a shocker to Kitty, who wrestles with her growing feelings for Yuri, even coming close to telling her how she feels.
To add to the complication, rich playboy Min Ho (Sang Heon Lee) is put into the romantic mix. In the final episode of the season, he surprises Kitty on her flight home after she gets expelled from KISS and following a breakup with Dae, confessing that he may be falling in love with her. Quite a cliffhanger to leave off on.
"I think Kitty, something that I love about her is that she does everything with her full heart and she does what feels right for her -- not because someone else is pushing her into it or because she thinks it's expected or she should," Cathcart tells ET's Deidre Behar when asked which of the three characters currently in play would make most sense romantically for Kitty. "So I think whoever Kitty feels right is the ship I support. I want her to do what she wants to do. And I also think she doesn't need a person."
"I love her at the end of the season. She is on her own herself and so many doors have just been opened and crashed down in front of that, that the world is kind of constantly turning -- the ups and downs don't stop once they start and she's kind of alone at the end," the 19-year-old actress explains. "But she feels very proud of herself and I'm very proud of her that she's giving herself space to figure that out and to not force anything or rush anything and be honest with what she wants."
Cathcart's co-stars were equally open to exploring where Kitty's interests take her, whether that's with Dae, Yuri or Min Ho.
"I will say, I was open to whatever Kitty wants," Choi says. "What I really liked about the romance with Yuri was, not because Yuri fits well to Kitty, it was because that Kitty is discovering a whole different world for her. And she was not afraid of it. Well, she was but she admits it and then faces it and I really cheered for her."
Lee, for his part, was intrigued by Kitty's relationship with Dae because it felt like "innocent love." "And that's what made it so special and made it so heartwarming and everything," the actor says. "But at the same time, I also can't blame Min Ho's feelings towards Kitty." Choi agreed: "You can't blame him."
Lee noted that because of the confluence of events that led to the finale, Min Ho's confession on the airplane came at a moment when he chose to take a chance. "I think once everything was a bit more settled down, everything like knows everyone's relationship, he's like, 'OK, you know what, I'm gonna shoot my shot now. Forget my friends because they didn't really care about me. So let's go for it,'" he says. "I think that's why I support Min Ho as well."
And Lee has a fellow co-star in his corner. Anthony Keyvan, who plays "Q," put his eggs in Min Ho's basket. "I would have to say Min Ho," the actor picks. "I want to see them attempt [a relationship] at least, explore that -- navigate those feelings a little bit. I think that would be a really interesting dynamic to play on."
Kim called Kitty's growing romantic feelings for Yuri "unexpected." "It's like, OK, boyfriend potential and then there's like, whoa, OK, Kitty's finding out something new about herself and it just adds another layer to it," the actress recalls.
As for what the cast is hoping for now that the first season of XO, Kitty is out? A season 2!
"My first reaction's like, there must be a season 2. There must be a continuing story about this. Like, it can't end like this," Lee says.
Adds Kim: "We were watching that ending scene... all together for the first time and we're like, in five minutes, 10 different things happen for Kitty and all three different [love interests]."
"Kitty was like, 'Bye Dae. Yo, Min Ho, woah!" Choi quips.
"I want to see her continue to follow her heart and do what feels right and push herself," Cathcart says of her hopes for a potential sophomore season. "I think Kitty pushes a lot of other people in her life and that' in a loving way always, but she definitely does it for other characters if she wants people to go out of their comfort zone and do their best. But I think sometimes she puts it on other people or at least some of herself and for her to really do what scares her, I think is really fun to see, which we do see in this season."
Choi and Kim shared they'd like more emphasis on their characters' parents and families in a new season, while Keyvan said he'd like to learn more about "Q's" background and family life. "He was one of the only characters we didn't see in season 1 of his personal life a little bit, so I'd like to explore that, especially him being a queer character and how he was brought up and how he's coming to terms with all of that kind of stuff. I would love to take a peek into his past a little bit," he says.
"There's so many possibilities and there's so many ways that it could go that I'm dying to see what that vision could look like or what the future could look like," Cathcart notes. "But I think no matter what, if [Kitty] stays true to herself, it'll be good."
XO, Kitty is streaming now on Netflix.
RELATED CONTENT:
