Benito, a new character introduced in Season 3, Episode 9 of Prime Video’s The Summer I Turned Pretty, appears after protagonist Belly arrives in Paris and loses her backpack. The character helps prompt Belly’s decision to stay in the city to “find herself,” sharing drinks and conversations with her and other new acquaintances that encourage a different path than the one she had planned to follow home.
In the episode titled "Last Call," Belly tracks her stolen bag with an AirTag to a private club and is initially denied entry. She intervenes when a woman she later meets as Gemma is bothered outside the venue, and the two quickly become friends. Gemma introduces Belly — who uses the alias “Isabel” — to her girlfriend Max and friends Celine and Benito. After Belly retrieves her backpack, the group spends time together, and Benito is shown laughing with Belly, taking photographs of her and playing darts alongside her in footage visible in the season’s trailers.
The character Benito also appears in Jenny Han’s novel We’ll Always Have Summer, the third book in the trilogy that inspired the series, though in the book he is a more peripheral presence. In the novel, Benito is mentioned in letters Conrad writes to Belly while she is abroad. In one letter, Conrad writes: “Speaking of news, [Laur] told me you met some Spanish guy named Benito, and he rides around on a scooter. Really, Belly? A guy named Benito with a scooter? He probably wears leather pants and has a long stringy ponytail. I don’t even want to know. Don’t tell me. He probably looks like a model and weighs 100 pounds and writes you poetry in Spanish.” In a subsequent letter, Conrad adds, “I heard you aren’t hanging out with that guy Benito anymore. Don’t say I didn’t warn you…” The series expands on that brief mention by placing Belly in a Parisian social circle where Benito is a more tangible presence.
Benito is portrayed on screen by Fernando Cattori, a Mexico City-born actor and director. Cattori’s onscreen credits date to 2024, when he appeared as Gerardo in Untamed Royals and starred as Carlos Joven in Contigo en el Futuro (With You in the Future), which premiered on Prime Video. His resume also includes roles in Príncipes Salvajes (Untamed Royals) for Netflix, Ceremonia, which premiered at the Guadalajara International Film Festival, and La Liberación (The Liberation) for Prime Video.
Beyond acting, Cattori has worked as a director and was nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2024 for the musical short film Nacimos Llorando (We Were Born Crying). He created Recuérdame Viviendo (Remember Me Alive), an advertising campaign for Cerveza Victoria that was widely viewed in Mexico. His work has appeared in publications and platforms including Directors Library, OnePoint Four, Nowness, Vogue, GQ and the Young Directors Awards. Cattori trained in acting at the New York Film Academy, Yale School of Drama and CasaAzul, and holds a degree in communications from Universidad Iberoamericana. He is developing his first feature film.
The series adaptation has expanded several minor or off-page characters from Han’s books into onscreen roles. Benito’s introduction follows other new additions in Season 3, including Anika, Redbird, Agnes and others who were not prominent in the original trilogy. New episodes of The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 are released on Wednesdays on Prime Video.