‘The Idea Of You’ Author On Why She Regrets Saying Harry Styles Inspired Lead Character: “It’s Being Used As Clickbait”

Robinne Lee, the author of The Idea of You, regrets initially stating that the story was inspired by Harry Styles.

In a new interview, Lee explains why the fictional British boy band member, Hayes Campbell, was not just inspired by the former One Direction member after many have compared it to writing fan fiction.

“I don’t consider it fan fiction at all,” Lee said in an interview with EW. “Harry was one of multiple people who went into creating Hayes Campbell — he was the only one in a British boy band that was current at the time, I guess, and so that’s what people have latched onto. It’s unfortunate because it’s being used as clickbait, and when I’m writing for Hayes, I’m not picturing Harry Styles.”

Lee said that the fictional character, played by Nicholas Galitzine in the Prime Video film, is a combination of many real-life people.

“He’s very much like JFK Jr. when he was dating Daryl Hannah, and they were hanging out in the Hamptons — that was definitely the Hamptons Hayes,” she said. “And then there’s some Michael Hutchence sexiness when he was dating Helena Christensen. And I was obsessed with Duran Duran when I was young, so there’s a lot of Simon, and there’s a lot of John, and there’s a lot of actual Duran Duran Easter eggs throughout the entire book.”

Lee’s debut novel dropped in 2017 and was adapted by Michael Showalter and Jennifer Westfeldt for a film starring Anne Hathaway as a 40-year-old woman who falls in love with a boy band member, played by Galitzine.

The author said that Styles resonated with people when she said he inspired the character as he was still popular at the time, adding, “”Some of the other guys are still in bands and alive and out there on tour, but they don’t get named ever. And that’s fine with me. You create your character and you make him what you want to make him. He feels very real to me, and I think Harry’s just what people gravitated to. But he’s not Harry in my head when I’m writing for him. He is not Harry and he’s not living Harry’s life. He’s very much his own person to me.”