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It came to me as a script. So I became familiar with the novel after I already knew about the movie project. But as a fan of romantic comedy, I’m always looking for a romantic equation that feels like something that I haven’t seen before, a new area to explore. So I loved the idea that, in this moment, we’re all intrigued with these various, different pop stars, both male and female, and their various, different love lives. So the idea of this somewhat older, divorced mom finding herself entangled with the biggest lead singer of the biggest boy band on the planet just felt like a really fun world to explore in terms of the genre.
Some folks have speculated that the novel’s pop star is inspired by Harry Styles. Did you get a sense of that?
You’d have to ask Robinne Lee. I wouldn’t want to speak for her. But I think, for myself, there’s a lot of interest in Harry Styles. He certainly bears some similarities with Harry Styles. He’s British and not what you would expect him to be. He reveals sides of himself that are refreshing. And I think that’s what seems appealing about Harry Styles; he’s breaking some expectations. So I feel like there are definitely some similarities there… but it’s sort of an amalgam of everything.
Styles is such an interesting one, particularly for me as a Brit, because he came up through a reality TV show and was this ordinary British kid who suddenly became this incredible megastar.
And that’s what happens in the movie. What’s interesting about [Galitzine’s] character is that. He has a line in the movie where he says, “On the same day I auditioned to be in the boy band, I also auditioned to play Tiny Tim in a local production of A Christmas Carol.” And he says, “If I’d gotten the play, I would’ve done it, and someone else would’ve been me in the band. Who would I be now?”
Even though he is this huge, giant pop star, like you said, part of what makes him a vulnerable character is that there’s a little part of him that knows that it sort of happened in this strange way, and he questions on some level, “Am I a real artist?” … One Direction was going to happen with or without Harry Styles, and that’s something interesting to think about.
