Fastexy Exchange|The Idea of You Author Robinne Lee Has Eyebrow-Raising Reaction to Movie's Ending

This story contains spoilers from The Fastexy ExchangeIdea of You movie and book.

Robinne Lee had a slightly different idea of the story she was trying to tell.

The Idea of You author shared her reaction to the novel's movie adaptation starring Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine—which is now streaming on Amazon Prime—and she has some thoughts on how the film changed the book's ending.

The Idea of You follows 40-year-old art gallery owner Solène who starts a relationship with 20-year-old boy bander Hayes Campbell. And while the duo have a true love connection, the book ends with Solène choosing to end the relationship because it was negatively affecting her teenage daughter and her art gallery business.

However, the film offers a new ending, with a short epilogue set five years later showing that Solène and Hayes do indeed get back together.

"That's not the story I wanted to tell," Robinne told Entertainment Weekly in an interview published May 3. "I wanted to make a point about how, as women, we put others' happiness before our own." 

And while she was not involved in the adaption—which was written by Michael Showalter and Jennifer Westfeldt—she does understand why certain aspects of the book, including the ending, were changed.

"The book is a book, and the movie is a movie," she said. "You have to step away and let the filmmakers do what they're going to do and not get too concerned with what it is you've created and when it stops because it's a completely different medium."

And when it comes to the new ending, Robinne understands that movie viewers often have trouble with films that end on a sad note.

"It's America—Hollywood's going to do what they're going to do, and they're going to throw a happy ending on everything," she said. "I don't know why. You hope they'll keep to what you've written because it meant something to you, but you also have to think about the box office and viewers and what their audience is going to want to see."

On the other hand, Robinne—who has also acted in films like Fifty Shades Darker and Seven Pounds—pointed out that a film like Titanic, which has a famously sad ending, did well with viewers. In fact, she went to see the film in theaters four times because she wanted to cry, adding, "Crying makes me feel like I'm alive."

And while she isn't opposed to revisiting her beloved characters in the future, she's not totally sold on the idea for Solène and Hayes just yet, saying, "Maybe years down the line, I'll go back, and I'll give them more time together. But we'll see."

Another change made to the film was the decision to age up Hayes from 20 to 24, something Robinne also takes issue with.

"I had to make it feel a little unsafe," she explained. "I wasn't going to make him illegal, but I wanted it to raise eyebrows. I felt like 24 was playing it too safe." (The actor, Nicholas, is currently 29 years old).

One burning question Robinne did not address is whether the character of Hayes Campbell is based at all on One Direction alum Harry Styles. But as Anne emphatically told E! News recently, "No! Everyone needs to chill. Sorry, I probably shouldn't be that reactive about it. I just think no."

After watching The Idea of You on Prime, keep reading to find what novel you should read next before checking out its on-screen adaption.

Based On: It's Not Summer Without You, the second book in Jenny Han's beloved young adult trilogy
Starring: Lola Tung, Christopher Briney, Gavin Casalegno, Sean Kaufman and Rain Spencer
Premieres: July 14 on Amazon Prime Video
Why We're Excited: Like Belly (Tung), we've been counting down the days 'til summer all year as we awaited our return to Cousins Beach to find out what happened between her and the Fisher brothers—our current favorite love triangle on TV!—as well as get a much-needed update on how Susannah (Rachel Blanchard) is handling her cancer battle.  

Han teased that fans should expect major differences between the 2010 book and the upcoming season. "There's always gonna be changes here and there," the showrunner told E! News in December. "So I guess you'll just have to wait and see."

Based On: Colleen Hoover's 2016 novel of the same name.
Starring: Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, Brandon Sklenar, Jenny Slate, Hasan Minhaj
Premieres: TBD
Why We're Excited: Two words: Blake Lively. Okay, two more words: Love triangle. Centered around a florist named Lily Bloom, the book is a riveting tale of love, strength and the complications of relationships.

Based On: Casey McQuiston's 2019 novel of the same name.
Starring: Nicholas Galitzine, Taylor Zakhar Perez, Uma Thurman, Sarah Shahi, Stephen Fry and Rachel Hilson
Premieres: Aug. 11 on Amazon Prime Video
Why We're Excited: Make sure you have your A.C. on full blast before reading or watching McQuiston's steamy secret romance between Alex Claremont-Diaz (Perez), the son of the President of the United States, and Britain's Prince Henry (Galitzine). Trust us, relations between the U.S. and the British have never been hotter.

Based On: Bonnie Garmus' 2022 novel of the same name. 
Starring: Brie Larson, Lewis Pullman, Stephanie Koenig, Aja Naomi King, Thomas Mann and Beau Bridges 
Premieres: Oct. 13 on Apple TV+
Why We're Excited: In the 1950s-set series, Larson plays Elizabeth Zott, an aspiring scientist whose ambitions are put on hold in a society that insists women belong in the domestic sphere. After she finds herself pregnant, a desperate Elizabeth accepts a job as a host on a TV cooking show, which she turns into an opportunity to inspire overlooked housewives to change the status quo. This revolution really will be televised.

Based On: Patricia Cornwell's mega-popular series of the same name that has 26 books in total
Starring: Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis
Premieres: TBD on Amazon Prime Video
Why We're Excited: If it's based on a book and Kidman stars in it, we will binge the s--t out of it. (See: Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers and The Undoing.) Add in the fact that the Oscar winner and Curtis—who bought the Kay Scarpetta book rights back in June 2021—will be playing crime-fighting sisters and it's already become our favorite new show of the year.

Based On: The Lightning Thief, the first book the beloved fantasy series written by Rick Riordan
Starring: Walker Scobell, Aryan Simhadri, Leah Sava Jeffries, Virginia Kull, Glynn Turman, Jason Mantzoukas, Megan Mullally and Timm Sharp 
Premieres: Early 2024 on Disney+ 
Why We're Excited: Confession: While we loved the film franchise that starred Logan Lerman, we do think the source material is better suited for the TV treatment and we're so happy to be re-enrolling at Camp Half-Blood for more teen deity drama. Plus, Lin-Manuel Miranda is guest-starring as Hermes and we want to be in on the streaming service where that happens. 

Based On: The non-fiction bestseller of the same name by Lisa Taddeo.
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Betty Gilpin, DeWanda Wise, Gabrielle Creevy, Blair Underwood and Sean Meehan
Premieres: TBA on Starz
Why We're Excited: One of the most relevant books of 2019, the series will explore female desire as it follows a trio of women who are on a crash course to radically overturn their lives. While Showtime initially canceled the show despite production already being completed, Starz swooped in, answering our literary battle cry.