The closing night of the SXSW saw the premiere of Anne Hathaway’s highly anticipated The Idea of You, and the reaction from the audience moved The Dark Knight Rises Star to tears. Starring Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine in the lead, the film is adapted from Robinne Lee’s novel of the same name, which follows Soléne unexpectedly falling in love with the lead of a Boy Band member.
Reflecting upon her character and the story, Hathaway explained why the movie was so important to the actress, and how she saw pieces of herself in the character.
Anne Hathaway Was Deeply Moved by The Idea of You
While Hollywood is no stranger to telling coming-of-age stories, Anne Hathaway argued there should be more stories dedicated to human beings blooming at other ages as well. So when the offer of The Idea of You arrived at her doorstep, it’s reasonable to see why the actress jumped on to the opportunity, as doing the film was extremely important to her.
The story, which follows Soléne, who is initially scared of an adventure following her troubled past, moved the actress, as she could see bits of herself in the character. She told People:
“In the beginning of the film, the character…she’s really scared of going on that adventure because she’s had such a rough experience with her ex-husband. And so to me, I was incredibly moved by the opportunity to tell the story of a woman blooming, I don’t know why we don’t have more stories about human beings blooming at any age. We’re always coming of age, all the time,”
Prior to its debut at the SXSW, the film, per Deadline‘s report, created history after accumulating over 125M views across all social media platforms, the most for an original streaming movie. And it seems, the film has lived up to its hype, as the roaring applause at its premiere brought Hathway to tears.
Anne Hathaway Was Overwhelmed by the Audience’s Response to the Rom-Com
Working on the adaptation was a special experience for the Oscar winner, with the actress stressing that she couldn’t have landed a better partner than Nicholas Galitzine, who plays the Boy Band lead. Upon witnessing the crowd’s reaction to this film at the SXSW, Hathaway was moved to tears, as the actress expressed that she could never forget this experience.
Overwhelmed by emotions, she said:
“I can’t talk. You have no idea the gift that you’ve just given us with your responsiveness, by being so connected to every little nuance in this. I will never forget this screening.”
With first reactions to the film deeming it great, which was expected following how much heart Hathaway put into the role, fans are immensely excited about the rom-com.
The Idea of You will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on May 2, 2024.
