If I had a nickel for every time Harry Styles fanfiction got turned into a movie, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice. Ok, so The Idea of You is not actually about any of the former One Direction dudes according to actress and author Robinne Lee (she/her). (But if you wanna imagine it is, I’m not judging.) It is, however, about a 20-something boy band member who falls for a middle-aged single mom named Solène. The book (and now, film!) portrays a wild, whirlwind romance that’ll leave you wanting more long after it’s over. Is it because fictional Hayes Campbell is super hot? Maybe. Or, maybe it’s because you can see yourself in Solène—currently or perhaps down the line.

That was certainly true for Robinne when she set out to write her debut novel. “When I came up with the idea for this book, I had been acting in the business for about 20 years,” she says. “At this time, I was beginning to see a shift in the roles that were made available to me, the roles my agent was able to get appointments for, and they were fewer and farther between. In my 20s, I would go from audition to audition, extremely tired by the end of each day. And even in my 30s there were lulls from having a baby, but it was still pretty busy.  But as soon as I hit 40, it was crickets. When I would get auditions, though, the descriptions would say things like, ‘Attractive, but has seen better days,’ or, ‘Was once a beauty, but is now exhausted.’ It was demoralizing. Like, this is how Hollywood views women after a certain age. So, I really wanted to rail against that. I wanted to write something about a woman coming into her own, but also a sexual reawakening at 40 because I wanted Hollywood to know that we don’t just shrivel up at a certain age. We don’t have a sell-by date.”

Which is exactly why Anne Hathaway was the perfect casting for Solène, because she knew all too well about Robinne’s experience in the entertainment industry. Yeah, thee Anne Hathaway, the one who looks miraculously younger in every photo we see of her, wasn’t getting romantic scripts sent her way because she had one too many birthdays. As Robinne says, “For women, it’s a double standard. My book came out in 2017, when a new president in France was elected. In the media, there was so much written about Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte because they had a 24-year age gap, with her being older. Yet, nothing was written about Donald and Melania Trump, and they are almost the same age difference! I didn’t hear anyone ask, ‘What’s he doing with this younger woman?’ or, ‘I can’t believe she’s with him.’ But we went on and on and on about Emmanuel and Brigitte. So for me, it was important to call it what it is and call people out for shaming women who are happy in their relationships with a younger man.”

Although the age gap between my partner and I isn’t as wide as the ones mentioned above, I remember being shamed for dating a younger guy in college. (Jokes on you, bullies. We’re married now!) What they couldn’t comprehend then is what I’ve always been confident about: My husband found me extremely desirable then, and finds me even more desirable with each passing day together. Which is what makes Hayes’ longing for Solène that much more realistic if you ask me. “Just as women are coming into their power, culture is telling us we’re no longer attractive or enticing or valuable,” Robinne says. “With this love story, I thought I could show that’s not the case. That a much younger, hotter, and famous man could help reinforce the idea that a 40-year-old mom was still a very beautiful, desirable, fully-formed human being.”

With authors and producers like Robinne in the room, I have no doubt that these kinda love stories can become on-screen realities (or bestselling books to drool over with your book club) in the future. “Now that there are more women involved when decisions are being made, I like to think that we will give other women a fair shake when it comes to romantic roles, and let them have the opportunity to play characters that are complex and multi-layered. Like being incredible moms, but also sexy. Or, being powerful women that are emotional. I mean, you need to keep what people are expecting of a rom-com, but it’s nice to change the formula a little.” And if fanfiction-turned-films need to be the new norm to keep adorable rom-coms rolling, I’m all for it.

Time for a rewatch 🍿,
Chloe Trout, associate managing editor