The Idea Of You Movie Changing Hayes Campbell's Age Avoided A More Divisive Detail From The Book

Summary Aging up Hayes Campbell for The Idea of You movie makes his romance with Solène more digestible for viewers.

Hayes Campbell's character age change was influenced by actor Nicholas Galitzine's real-life age.

The novel's controversial 20-year age gap between Solène and Hayes is a little less pronounced in the film adaptation.

Based on Robinne Lee's novel of the same name, The Idea of You makes a few key changes to the source material, including the age of musician and love interest Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine). Allegedly based on Harry Styles fanfiction, The Idea of You sees divorced gallery owner Solène Marchand (Anne Hathaway) accompany her daughter, Izzy (Ella Rubin), to Coachella. At the desert-set music festival, the 40-year-old Solène has a chance meeting with Hayes, the lead singer of the "so seventh grade" boy band August Moon. Intrigued by Solène's down-to-earth energy, Hayes finds her LA gallery.

Solène's affair with Hayes propels the gallery owner on a journey of self-acceptance and reinvention.

After a not-quite-date leads to a passionate kiss, Hayes invites Solène to New York — and then on August Moon's European tour over the summer. Caught up in the whirlwind romance, Solène agrees to join Hayes. In many ways, The Idea of You's age-gap romance is secondary to Solène's late-in-life coming-of-age story. Married at a young age, Solène never had the chance to truly discover herself, and her affair with Hayes propels the gallery owner on a journey of self-acceptance and reinvention. That said, one Hayes change makes the movie more digestible.

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Hayes Campbell Was Divisively Only 20 Years Old In The Idea Of You's Book

The Novel's Age-Gap Romance Was Extra Controversial

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The Idea of You changes the book in some pretty significant ways, from the film's Coachella setting to the cheating scandal of Solène's ex-husband, Daniel (Reid Scott). One of the biggest shifts is Hayes' age. The movie's Solène is a 39-year-old woman who's about to navigate an unwanted 40th birthday party, while Hayes Campbell is a 24-year-old pop star. In Lee's novel, Solène is still 39-going-on-40, but Hayes Campbell is just 20 years old. The couple's age gap is still a point of contention, but it's much more pronounced in the book.

With Hayes being much closer to his teenage years in the book, it was difficult for many readers to accept the romance between the August Moon singer and Solène.

Not only is the two-decade age gap in the novel more substantial, but it was also more controversial. With Hayes being much closer to his teenage years in the book, it was difficult for many readers to accept the romance between the August Moon singer and ​​​​​​​Solène. While 24 is still extremely young, the shift seems more palatable for movie-goers. Plus, a 20-year-old Hayes wouldn't have been able to drink in American bars, creating plot hurdles. That said, the alterations made to The Idea of You's cast of characters were done for the film's overall betterment.

Related Every August Moon Song In The Idea Of You, Ranked Worst To Best The Idea of You's fictional boy band August Moon, led by Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine), performs several songs including "Taste" and "Closer."

Why The Idea Of You Movie Changed Hayes Campbell's Age

Actor Nicholas Galitzine Impacted The Change To Hayes' Character

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Interestingly, The Idea of You movie's Hayes Campbell age change stemmed from actor Nicholas Galitzine's real-life age. Currently, breakout star Galitzine is 29-years-old — roughly a decade older than the Hayes Campbell of the book. For that reason, the film's team thought it was more believable for Galitzine to play a 24-year-old character. While it's not clear why the film didn't have Galitzine just play a character who's his current age, generally aging up Hayes Campbell was clearly the right move, especially given The Idea of You's ending.

The Idea of You is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.