NEW YORK, May 2 – Oscar-winning actress Anne Hathaway says she wanted to star in the romantic film, The Idea of You because she hadn’t yet played a woman in her 40s falling in love.
“It became so personal to me,” Hathaway, who turned 40 during the movie’s production, said at a recent virtual press conference. She said she sees this story as a “meta-exploration” of women dating at this stage of their lives.
“I had received a lot of romantic scripts in my 20s and, then in my 30s, I was kind of so focused on my family life and motherhood and trying to find whatever my path was going to be being an actress while having this rich personal life,” said Hathaway, who is the married mother of two 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren.
“I didn’t notice I hadn’t been sent a romantic script in a long time,” the Les Miserables, The Bride Wars, The Devil Wears Prada and Ella Enchanted actress said.
“So, when this found its way to me — and I am so honored to have been the first choice for this [because] it was such a beautiful character in such an amazing world — part of me asked, ‘Where have these stories gone? Why do they stop?’ I saw the path to the answers in the script.”
Written by Jennifer Westfeldt and Michael Showalter, who directed the adaptation of Robinne Lee’s novel by the same name, the film premieres Thursday on Prime Video.
It follows Solène (Hathaway), a 40-year-old single mom who begins an unexpected romance with 24-year-old Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine), lead singer of the hottest boy band on the planet, after a chance meeting at the Coachella Music Festival.
Mary & George, Bottoms, and Red, White & Blue actor Galitzine, 29, said he was most interested in tapping into the “human side of Hayes” as opposed to the charismatic pop star he also was supposed to be.
“I had such a wonderful partner. I think Annie and I felt the chemistry and the connection between us immediately and that simpatico,” he said. “I was just filmed with a sense of excitement coming into work every single day, and that is not always the case.”
Hathaway credited the director and writers with helping to create the illusion that she and Galitzine were falling in love on screen.
“Whatever we had that was a raw spark was shaped by Michael and the entire production team,” she said. “This is a team medium. … We just had so much working in our favor.”
The movie did pose some challenges, however, Galitzine acknowledged.
“The dancing and the performing, especially, were tricky because that was something that I hadn’t done before,” the actor said. “You always want more hours in the day to be able to hone those s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s.”
The Chair and The Girl from Plainville alum Ella Rubin, 22, said it was easy to pretend to be Solene’s daughter, Izzy because Hathaway was so nurturing toward her.
“The bond, for me, at least, felt natural and easy, despite my nervousness, because she is just such an inquisitive person in the most warm way possible,” Rubin said.
“Just to get the privilege to know each other and talk and spend time together, I think just being around her, a bond just naturally forms with someone so willing to hear you and trying to see you. I just felt a connection.”
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Veep actor Reid Scott said he took on the role of Dan — Solene’s ex-husband and Izzy’s father — knowing audience members would be rooting for Solene and Hayes.
He said he embraced the character, who is not quite a villain and had fun giving him more dimension. “There has to be this obstacle to this love story,” Scott said about the romantic triangle of Dan, Solene, and Hayes.
“But, just like in real life, everyone is more colorful than whatever you’re getting on one given moment,” he added.
“You have to like something about him because he is a bit of a reflection of Annie’s character, and you would never believe that someone as warm and loving as Solene could ever fall for him if he was just purely an ass.
“At some point, they must have connected. There must have been something that brought them together.”
