Anne Hathaway Shares Surprising Reason for Accepting Harry Styles Role in ‘Fan Fiction’ Movie

Anne Hathaway had a surprisingly personal reason for appearing in her latest film, “The Idea of ​​You.”

The Oscar winner became visibly emotional at the South by Southwest (SXSW) movie premiere on Saturday when she and her co-star Nicolas Galitzine were greeted with enthusiastic applause when they appeared for a post-screening Q&A session.

“You have no idea what a gift you just gave us with your responsiveness, being so connected to every little nuance of this,” Hathaway said, as seen in a video. clip shared by Variety. “I will never forget this screening. Thank you so much.”

She went on to note, “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. So when Cathy (Schulman) and Gabrielle (Union) so generously offered me the role, I was thrilled to accept.”

“The Idea of ​​You,” premiering May 2 on Amazon Prime Video, follows a divorced mother, Solène (played by Hathaway), who embarks on a surprise romance with a dream pop star, Hayes. Campbell (Galitzine), after an unexpected encounter. at the Coachella Music Festival.

The romantic comedy is based on Robinne Lee’s 2017 novel of the same name. Speech in fashion About three years after the book’s release, Lee acknowledged that Harry Styles was an “initial muse” for Hayes’ character, but said anyone looking for real-life parallels to the protagonists was missing the point.

“It was supposed to be a story about a woman approaching 40 and reclaiming her sexuality and rediscovering herself, just at the time when society traditionally dismisses women as desirable, viable and whole.” the author said.

Of course, that didn’t stop “The Idea of ​​You” of being widely considered “Harry Styles fan fiction,” which may explain why Hathaway’s involvement in the film collected a fair share of eyebrows.

“How do you think the plot of this movie was presented to Anne Hathaway to get her to accept this role?” a person wrote in Xformerly Twitter.

Added another: “Anne Hathaway’s first bad movie, by no means.”

Some of those doubts have already been dispelled. for the first reviews from “The Idea of ​​You,” which have been mostly positive.

“The adaptation of Robinne Lee’s book draws on the power of its protagonists and allows them to sizzle,” Alejandra Martínez of The Wrap. wrotewhile Rafael Motamayor of IndieWire praised him for offering “poignant commentary in a fresh take on the romantic comedy genre.”