How Harry Styles inspired new R-rated romcom starring Anne Hathaway

A new R-rated romcom starring Anne Hathaway was inspired by Harry Styles.

No, really.

The film is not the first to be inspired by the popstar and singer, with the After series having been inspired by Harry Style fan fiction.

It may be surprising, but it really shouldn’t – as the One Direction singer is one of the most prolific topics of fan fiction around.

On popular fan fiction site ArchiveofOurOwn – there are over 50,000 different stories under the ‘Harry Styles’ tag, some of which totalling 100s of 1000s of words.

Styles inspired the film. (Getty Images)

This has led to a number of books being published over the years – many of which were inspired by the Dunkirk star.

The new Anne Hathaway romcom The Idea of You, is one of these very stories.

Based on a book of the same name released in 2017 by Robinne Lee, the story sees a 40-year-old single mother start a whirlwind romance with a 24-year-old boy band singer.

The film has opened to rave reviews, with an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes – and praise for the portrayal of the age gap between the characters.

In an interview with Vogue, Robinne Lee said she made the 24-year-old main character into her ‘dream guy’. She said he was 'like Prince Harry, meets Harry [Styles]'.

She went on to say the inspiration from the book came from an inspiration that sounds eerily familiar.

She was ‘up late surfing music videos on YouTube’ and 'came across the face of a boy I’d never seen in a band I’d never paid attention to.'

“It was like…art.”

Vogue said that a ‘thorough Googling session, led her to the discover that he often dated older women, and so the seed was planted.’

(Amazon MGM Studios)

If you think that sounds a bit like One Direction and Harry Styles – you would be correct.

Despite this though, Lee and later Anne Hathaway have been adamant this story is much more than that.

Lee said in that interview: “This was never supposed to be a book about Harry Styles.

“It was supposed to be a story about a woman approaching 40 and reclaiming her sexuality and rediscovering herself, just at the point that society traditionally writes women off as desirable and viable and whole.”

Anne Hathaway said of the film’s age gap: “It’s kind of fun to be in a film where we talk about it, where we don’t dance around it, but we actually embrace her point of view on it.

“It’s funny, it’s OK if 40 is old, it’s OK if 40 isn’t old, it’s OK whatever it is, because it’s personal.”