Lana Condor talks concluding 'To All the Boys' trilogy and Asian representation on-screen

The third and final entry in the To All the Boys franchise takes Lara Jean (Lana Condor) around the world as she finishes high school and thinks ahead to college. Condor recently spoke with Yahoo Entertainment about concluding her own dizzying journey on the trilogy and the impact the films have made.

"We were doing this big panel," Condor said of a press stop in Brazil, when she noticed a sign in the audience. "I saw this girl ... and she had this little handwritten letter. And it just said, 'You saved my life.'"

Condor added, "If these movies saved one person's life, that's it, I've done it."

Watch more from Condor in the above interview.

Video Transcript

- It's hard to believe.

[MUSIC - BETTY WHO, "I LOVE YOU ALWAYS FOREVER"]

(SINGING) I'm standing in a timeless dream.

- What all started with a letter, a hot tub, and a diner could turn into this.

KEVIN POLOWY: It has taken less than three years, but you've created, like, what's arguably one of the most successful rom-com trilogies of all time. This is, like-- this is like "The Matrix" of YA love stories. How do you look back at this journey? Like, was it set in stone that you guys were going to do three movies no matter what? Or did you have to wait to see, like, how audiences responded to them first?

LANA CONDOR: I'm constantly shocked. Like, the fact that the third movie coming out is, like, I don't-- I just feel so grateful. Because when we made the first movie, we made it as an independent film. So we didn't know if there would be any distribution, let alone if people would respond to it or even watch it.

And then Netflix picked it up, and that was the major win for us. It was received well. And then we got a second and a third. But contractually, we were not-- you know, we were just-- we just had one. We obviously were hopeful for two and three because we know that it's a trilogy by Jenny Han. Like, it's a novel. But that wasn't a guarantee.

KEVIN POLOWY: How would you say that you've grown, like, as a person and a performer, like, over the course of this series?

LANA CONDOR: As an actress, I have learned so much. It is my first lead. It's also my first lead doing a franchise of three films. So, you know, it's always stressful because everyone's like, well, nothing's ever going to be as good as the first one. It's a lot of pressure to make sure that I show up and hopefully try and make it better every single time.

But I've learned to conserve my energy. Because when you step onto the set, like, the energy that you bring sets the tone for the day for everyone else. And that's something I had to learn.

KEVIN POLOWY: How bittersweet was it to wrap up? I got to imagine the last days on set were emotional.

LANA CONDOR: There's a line in the movie, and it's says, I didn't know that I could feel this sad and this happy at the same time. Because I am really happy with the way that we ended it. I'm happy with Lara Jean and-- [AUDIO OUT] of going out, wanting to live in New York City alone, that takes a very specific type of person to do that. So I'm very proud of her.

KEVIN POLOWY: We've seen comments from so many fans, especially a lot of young female Asian Americans who say, you know, you've helped them made-- you've made them feel seen on screen. What has that sort of feedback meant to you when it comes to representation and that visibility?

LANA CONDOR: It's the most rewarding part of doing these films. And we were in Brazil, and we were doing the press tour for the sequel. And we were in Brazil, and we were doing this big panel, and there's, like, thousands of people there. And we were on stage, Noah and I.

I saw this girl in kind of the front of the crowd, and she had this little handwritten letter, a little note that she was holding up. And it just said, you saved my life. And that moment, like, I will never, ever forget. Like, ever-- all the noise went away, and all I saw was her. And I realized that I need-- if these movies just saved one person's life, like, that's it. That's-- I've done it. I've done it.

KEVIN POLOWY: And you and Noah have made such a great onscreen couple throughout the course of this trilogy. What's been sort of the evolution of your friendship behind the scenes?

LANA CONDOR: I'm forever grateful that I had a partner that was along for the ride, this wild ride that can-- is hard to verbalize. Something that we can talk about and be each other's confidant. But I'm obviously-- I'm saying bye to Peter, but I'm not saying bye to Noah.

And I think I'm interested to see how our relationship grows or changes after these films because we spent, like, literally three years together. Like, every day, all day long, or we're talking about each other, or we're doing all these things together. So now it'll be interesting to see how we grow.