Actors Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman discuss their new movie version of the hit romance book

Actors Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman are starring in the new film adaptation of Ali Hazelwood's popular novel, The Love Hypothesis, which starts streaming on Prime Video on September 23. Directed by Claire Scanlon, the movie tells the story of Olive Smith, a sweet PhD student, and Dr Adam Carlsen, a grumpy young professor. The two characters end up in a fake, on-campus relationship. The original book helped start the STEMinist romance genre, focusing on women in STEM as main characters. During a virtual roundtable two weeks into the press tour, Lili says playing Olive has been a big honour and that she kept the book in her trailer during filming before letting it live in her subconscious. Before Riverdale, Lili's breakout role, she also starred in Hustlers, Chemical Hearts, Forbidden Fruits, and appeared in a music video for the K-pop group BTS. Tom wears a Notting Hill t-shirt with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant in the interview, paying tribute to the rom-com genre. When Tom's agent first asked if he wanted to do the movie, he loved Adam's journey to reveal his true self. Director Claire Scanlon told Tom she wanted to show how two people from different worlds can start to listen to each other. The book itself started out as a Star Wars Reylo fan-fiction on the internet in 2018 before becoming a novel in 2021. Tom later found out that his wife, actor Daisy Ridley, played Rey alongside Adam Driver's Kylo Ren in the Star Wars movies that inspired the book characters. Lili mentions that many of the funny, awkward moments in the film, like figuring out where to put hands during an awkward hug, came from her and Tom working together during rehearsals.