Nicholas Galitzine responds to Harry Styles comparisons as The Idea of You trailer drops
Nicholas Galitzine has responded to comparisons between his The Idea of You character and Harry Styles. (Prime Video/Getty)
Nicholas Galitzine has responded to rumours that his new rom-com with Anne Hathaway is inspired by Harry Styles fan fiction.
The British actor coaxed a president in Red, White & Royal Blue and seduced a king in Mary & George, but in new film The Idea of You, Nicholas Galitzine is moving on to the former Princess of Genovia, Anne Hathaway.
29-year-old rising star Galitzine plays Hayes Campbell, the lead singer of ridiculously handsome boyband August Moon in the Prime Video original film. The Princess Diaries star Hathaway, meanwhile, plays middle-aged mother Solène Marchand, who meets Campbell during a trip to Coachella with her teenage daughter.
Ahead of August Moon’s performance on the mainstage, Solène stumbles upon 24-year-old Hayes in his trailer, and sparks fly instantly. “I met someone tonight and I feel a little inspired,” the tattooed hunk later tells the crowd, as per the movie’s new trailer, as Solène watches on.
Ever since the trailer dropped yesterday (6 March), the internet has been ablaze with comparisons between Galitzine’s character and former One Direction star, Harry Styles, with some suggesting the new flick is essentially Harry Styles fan fiction.
Now, Galitzine has responded to those comparisons.
In a conversation with Buzzfeed, the actor agreed that Hayes is “akin” to Harry, but not a “shoddy impersonation”.
“We tried to create a character that felt maybe akin to Harry in the sense that Harry is a younger man dating an older woman,” he explained.
Though Styles is currently in a relationship with Taylor Russell, who is one year younger than him, he’s previously dated older women.
“It was important to create someone who felt new and original and not a sort of shoddy impersonation of this person that we know really, really well,” Galitzine added.
Though the character of Hayes Campbell might not be an exact Harry Styles parallel, the creators of the film (director Michael Showalter and writer Jennifer Westfeldt) are evidently leaning into the contrast.
The trailer for The Idea of You is soundtracked by August Moon’s track “Dance Before We Walk”, which is written and produced by Carl Falk and Savan Kotecha – the same two people who wrote and produced One Direction’s breakout hit, “That’s What Makes You Beautiful”. Interesting!
Plus, Robinne Lee, who wrote the 2017 novel which The Idea Of You is based on, has previously hinted that Harry Styles at least somewhat inspired the story.
Lee previously told Vogue that the book “was never supposed to be a book about Harry Styles”, rather just “a story about a woman approaching 40 and reclaiming her sexuality and rediscovering herself”.
She has however said that she spent a long time researching One Direction and noticed similarities between Hayes and Harry, and confirmed that Hayes is based on a mix of her “dream” men: Harry Styles, Prince Harry, and Eddie Redmayne.
Elsewhere in the trailer, Hayes seeks out Solène after their original music festival meeting, but the pair are papped by the watchful media.
Solène tries to resist Hayes’ charm, telling him that she’s “too old for him”, but after he plays a sweet tune on the piano, she falls deep.
Thus begins a whirlwind romance for the pair, with Solène whisked away on private jets to private beaches, pulled backstage and on romantic bike rides.
Then, the media get their fill, and she’s branded a “cougar”.
“I didn’t know my being happy would p*ss so many people off,” Solène bemoans.
Whether their love can withstand the beady eyes of the world remains to be seen.
The Idea of You also stars Gossip Girl’s Ella Rubin, Veep’s Reid Scott, Bridesmaid’s Annie Mumolo, and Wizards of Waverly Place’s Perry Mattfeld.
The Idea of You is released on Prime Video on 2 May.
