In a true Star Wars multiverse moment, Tom Bateman, the husband of Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley, has been cast as the lead in the adaptation of The Love Hypothesis, a book by Ali Hazlewood that started out as Star Wars fan fiction.
The book was originally published as Head Over Feet about the 'Reylo' ship between Rey and Kylo Ren. It follows a PhD candidate and professor at Stanford University who pretend to be in a relationship.
Ridley reacted to the news via her Instagram Story by sharing a screenshot of an article about the casting. While fans have called it a 'full circle moment'.
Who is Tom Bateman?
Tom Batemen is a British actor best known for his role as Guiliana de' Medici in the historical fantasy series, Da Vinci's Demons and as Bouc in Murder on the Orient Express.
Bateman is from Oxford and has 12 siblings.
How old is Tom Bateman?
He is going 36 years old.
How long has Tom Bateman been married to Daisy Ridley?
Bateman has been in a relationship with Daisy Ridley, known for her futuristic outfits, since 2017 after the pair met on the set of Murder on the Orient Express. In January 2023, during an interview at the Sundance Film Festival, Ridley confirmed that they had married.
Who will Tom Bateman play in The Love Hypothesis?
Bareman will play Dr Adam Carlsen, who is based on Kylo Ren, in the upcoming adaptation. Carlsen is a professor who finds himself in a whirlwind fake relationship with PhD candidate Olive Smith, who is played by Lili Reinhart, because Smith is trying to convince her friend that her love life is thriving.
In the original Star Wars, Rey and Kylo are enemies who later discover they share a connection called a 'force dyad', which inspires Kylo to come to Rey's aid in battle in the 2019 film Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Speaking about the adaptation Hazelwood said, 'Traditional publishing is getting more and more interested in fanfiction and in embracing it. And maybe they're doing well because of money and marketing and stuff like that, but I'm just really happy that this is happening and that fanfiction is gaining legitimacy because it always had legitimacy.'
Fans appear to be incredibly excited about the casting news too. 'Fanfiction version of (Daisy Ridley's) space husband being her real-life husband. Amazon MGM, I was not familiar with your game,' reads on post on X. 'Tom Bateman, who is actually Daisy Ridley's husband, starring in a book that was based off a Reylo fanfic of a film his wife is a part of?!?!' reads another. A third user wrote, 'Getting Daisy’s husband Tom Bateman to play a character based off of Adam/Ben Solo, based off of a Reylo fanfic is sending me into orbit I love this so much.'
When does The Love Hypothesis come out?
The film is being made by Amazon MGM but a release date has not yet been confirmed.
Nikki Peach is a writer at Grazia UK, working across entertainment, TV and news. She has also written for the i, i-D and the New Statesman Media Group and covers all things pop culture for Grazia (treating high and lowbrow with equal respect).