Rom-coms were about more than bringing two people together. The best ones made you care about who those people were, what they lost, what they wanted, and why falling in love mattered to them. For audiences who grew up watching romance and big love stories in the 1990s and early 2000s, emotional connection was often the focus. That kind of romance is coming back to the screen, and American actor and Riverdale alumnus Lili Reinhart is part of that change.
his upcoming film The Love Hypothesis, adapted from the popular novel by Ali Hazlewood, tells the story of Olive Smith, a brilliant scientist who finds herself trapped in a fake-dating arrangement with Adam Carlson (Tom Bateman). On paper, it sounds like a familiar romantic comedy setup. But Lillee saw an opportunity to make the story more emotional and character-driven instead of relying on the usual rom-com formula.
Hindustan Times got an early glimpse of the film last week during the Obsessed Retreat: Class of ’26, set against the backdrop of the Bavarian Alps outside Munich in Germany. During the roundtable conversation, Lilley was remarkably candid about taking on the role of executive producer on this beloved book adaptation.
Protecting Olive by making her yours
Lily was closely involved in shaping Olive even before the cameras started rolling. She had about a year to work on the script with the team, and she wanted to ensure that the character sounded natural when she spoke, rather than simply regurgitating lines from the page.
“Yeah, I definitely had notes,” she explained. “I got the script. I was fortunate and we had a whole year to think about it before filming. And so I basically had ideas about Olive. I said, ‘I’m an actor and I’m going to do something where, hopefully, the director or producer is going to choose me for some reason because of what I can bring to the character. And a lot of times what I can bring is just my own perspective.’ So even if it’s like one line I need to move it in such a way that it comes out of my mouth naturally like it’s written on the page. I just need to massage it a little so that I can feel it completely in my body before it comes out.
She wanted the words to feel like Olive was actually saying something, rather than an actor simply saying something. She added, “It’s a thing that I have, where it would just feel like fake acting – it would feel like bad acting to me – if the words weren’t fitting perfectly well into my body. But it was a collaborative process, and I was able to implement the person I thought Olive was from the book. You can only do so much when it’s a book-to-film adaptation. You can’t squeeze everything in. But I really did as much as possible.” “And tried to save as many of those fan-favorite moments as possible.”
The women who shape Olive’s story
The film may revolve around Olive and Adam, but her friendship with Anh is at the center of her journey. His relationship with his late mother also plays a major role in shaping who he is and why he chose to work on pancreatic cancer research.
When asked who plays a role like Anh in her life, Lily immediately mentioned her mother. “I mean, I always have to give my mom credit. My mom is actually my best friend. She’s the person who bears the brunt of who I am. She’s the person, if I’m feeling anxious, she says, ‘Give it to me.’ And that’s a lot,” she reflected. “My mom does it very gracefully, but she also does it with everybody in her life… I just see my mom being the person who gives the most to her family. So my mom is the one [Anh] Of my life.”
The same idea of love behind many of Olive’s biggest decisions is what Reinhart sees at the center of the film. Olive’s work, her friendship with Anh, and ultimately her relationship with Adam are all connected to the people she cares about.
Reinhart concluded, “I think Olive’s love for her mother is what drives her to move forward… a very specific thing she’s doing is researching pancreatic cancer for her mother who passed away, and so I think love is a driving force for her throughout the movie.” “And then the love that’s in his heart [Anh] Leads him to fake dating, where he actually meets his love. So it’s almost like, you know, a chain effect where she meets her best friend, then she meets Adam and then she falls in love,” she said.
Lili Reinhart’s Biggest Green Flag
Adam may have a lot of fans debating his green and red flags, but Lily has a much simpler idea of what makes someone a green flag. For them, it depends on how a person makes others feel, especially in a room where they can easily choose to ignore those around them.
“An underrated green flag? I just think about my boyfriend (actor and writer Jack Martin). He’s the biggest green flag I’ve ever had,” she said warmly. “I think there are some people where whatever room they walk into, they walk in and everyone goes, ‘That guy’s great.’ He is a very special person. Riverdale’s KJ Apa is also that person. There’s just an energy that someone can have where they really try to make everyone in the room feel like they’re being watched. And I think someone who knows the name of every crew member, my boyfriend does that, I’ve seen KJ do that. It’s this engagement and energy of these types of people that I think is the biggest green signal so far.”
Entering 30 with a different mindset
Lily has recently entered a different phase of her life. Turning 30 has caused her to rethink some of the labels she placed on herself in her 20s, especially when it comes to her mental health. She says she’s making a conscious effort to focus more on joy and not let difficult emotions define her.
“I have been working exclusively on happiness in the last year of my life,” she shared. “I, in my 20s, really sat comfortably in those labels and started identifying myself as those things. I comfortably said, ‘Okay, I’m depressed.’ And sometimes, I think mentally, it will be used as a scapegoat to not feel better, because life is hard. And so when things seemed too difficult, I would just sweep it under the rug with all these big words and not really do the deep work.
She realized that she didn’t want these labels to define her. Instead, she wanted to acknowledge what she was going through, without it changing how she saw herself.
“I had to make a decision that I really didn’t want that for myself. And I may be someone who experiences depression and anxiety, but I shouldn’t be like that. And I really had to make a conscious decision to make that shift in my mind and then work in that direction and try to look at things in an optimistic way, because the automatic roadmap in my mind was negative,” she said.
That change has made Lili Reinhart more aware of the little things that bring her joy. One of them is cooking with her partner on Sunday night, a simple routine that allows her to put her phone away and be present.
“Well, food is a big dopamine release for me. I’ve actually found I really like cooking a lot,” she revealed. “Cooking with my partner on Sunday nights has actually become a beautiful little ritual for us, because I love doing something without my phone for two hours, or doing something like preparing a meal, doing something we know the recipe for. We don’t have to watch anything. We’re not watching TikTok. There’s no movie in the background. We’re listening to music and cooking. And I think that’s really become something to look forward to.”
about love concept
Claire Scanlon, who directed the Netflix rom-com Set It Up, is at the helm of the film. The screenplay is written by Sarah Rothschild, who also wrote The Sleepover, with Elizabeth Cantillon serving as producer. Ali Hazlewood’s story first began as Reylo fan fiction inspired by Star Wars and evolved into a novel that became a bestseller after its release in 2021 by Berkley. The book also helped establish Ali’s distinctive style of mixing romance with academia, STEM, and plenty of workplace tension. The film will premiere globally on September 23 on Prime Video.