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In the first moment of physical contact between Anne Hathway and Nicholas Galitzine in “The Idea of You,” a light touch of hands, the crowd at the film’s world premiere at SXSW was completely lost. When the actors kissed, the gasps, screams and applause were deafening.
Hathaway was overcome with emotion as she took the stage for a post-screening Q&A at the Paramount Theater in Austin.
“I can’t speak,” she told the audience through tears. “I love you!” a fan shouted and Hathaway responded: “I love you so much. You have no idea what a gift you just gave us with your responsiveness, being so connected to every little nuance of this. I will never forget this screening.”
“For some reason, we talk about coming-of-age stories as something that happens to you in the early part of your life, and I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’m still flourishing,” she continued. “So when Cathy (Schulman) and Gabrielle (Union) so generously offered me the role, I was thrilled to accept.”
“The Idea of You” follows Solène (Hathaway), a 40-year-old woman who falls for 24-year-old boy band singer Hayes (Galitzine) after taking her teenage daughter (Ella Rubin) to Coachella. .
According to Galitzine, the chemistry between him and Hathway was instantly “spiritual” during the audition process.
“These rooms can be extremely intimidating and unnatural, but something almost spiritual happened there, so I felt this immediate connection with Annie,” he said. “We had a friendly and shared sense of humor. It was so easy. I remember walking out of that room thinking, ‘Regardless of what happens with this, I’m so proud of the special thing that happened there.’ They called me the next day: ‘We want you to be part of this movie.’”
The film was directed by Michael Showalter, known for “The Big Sick,” “Hello, My Name Is Doris” and “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.”
“We definitely wanted to put off the kiss as long as possible,” Showalter said of Solène and Hayes’ first physical meeting. “A big part of this movie is earning it. You really want to feel like these two people have shared and gone together to where, once that kiss happens, they deserve it and there’s nothing left to say.”
Gabrielle Union explained that she became involved as a producer after reading the book on which “The Idea of You” is based, written by her friend and “Deliver Us from Eva” co-star, Robinne Lee. She optioned the film to Schulman’s Welle Entertainment on Lee’s behalf and shared that she resonated with Solène’s struggles with the public perception of her relationship.
“I live it every day. People question our family; They question our love,” Union said of her marriage to Dwayne Wade. “They wonder: ‘What you deserve?'”
“You deserve it all!” a fan shouted from the balcony.