Tessa Young

Tessa starts college with her boyfriend Noah, and her mother, Carol, never far away. Her roommate, Steph, drags her to parties, where she meets Hardin. They clash constantly, but a kiss at the lake changes everything. Tessa breaks up with Noah, stands up to her mother and moves in with Hardin.

The happiness doesn't last. Molly shows her a video from the first party: Hardin went after her because of a bet. Tessa cuts off him and the group, lands an internship at Vance Publishing and, at the end of the semester, reads an essay in which Hardin says he loves her. She goes to meet him at the lake.

At her internship, Tessa impresses the publisher's owner, Christian Vance, and gains a kind coworker, Trevor. On a trip to Seattle, she drunk-dials Hardin, and they see each other again. To please his mother, Trish, she pretends they're still together and ends up enjoying the act.

When she learns Carol hid her father's return, Tessa goes back to Hardin. Jealousy ruins New Year's, and she's hurt in a car accident. Soon after, she gets a job offer in Seattle and finds out the homeless man hanging around is her father, Richard.

Tessa brings her father home and tries to reconnect with him. The move to Seattle turns into her biggest fight with Hardin, who wanted to go to London. She moves anyway, goes days without speaking to him and only forgives him after he reads her journal and apologizes.

A doctor's visit brings hard news: she may not be able to have children. In London, at Trish's wedding, Tessa is by Hardin's side when he finds out Christian Vance is his biological father.

Back in the US, Tessa finds her father dead of an overdose. Hardin shows up for the funeral, but she realizes they need distance. She quits Vance, moves to New York with Landon and asks Hardin not to follow. She works at a restaurant with Nora and tries to start over.

Months later, Hardin comes to New York, and they grow close again. Then Tessa finds the manuscript After, in which he tells the story of their life. She ends it, but she can't stay away: she sneaks into one of his book signings.

After more than two years without seeing Hardin, Tessa is maid of honor at Landon and Nora's wedding and walks down the aisle with him, the best man. Hardin's speech moves her. Outside, they apologize, admit they're a mess and decide to be together. Hardin proposes. Years later, they have a daughter, and Tessa is pregnant again.

In Anna Todd's books, Tessa narrates most of the story, which began as fanfiction on Wattpad. Julia Goldani Telles was announced for the role but left before filming. Josephine Langford played Tessa in all 5 movies.