The Idea of You Star Nicholas Galitzine Says 'I Distance Myself' from Harry Styles Comparison (Exclusive)

Published on May 2, 2024 09:15AM EDT

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Nicholas Galitzine says his fictional musician character Hayes Campbell in The Idea of You has nothing to do with Harry Styles.

The new romance stars the Red, White & Royal Blue actor, 29, as a pop star from a boy band called August Moon who falls in love with Anne Hathaway's Solène, a 40-something divorcée, after a chance meeting at Coachella.

Many fans have compared Hayes to Styles, the 30-year-old former One Direction singer, even since the Idea of You book was published back in 2017. (Author Robinne Lee has previously indicated that Styles inspired some of the character when she wrote it.)

Galitzine tells PEOPLE, "I like to distance myself from that comparison because I think Hayes is his own character and has his own struggles and wants and tastes, even in who he is as a musician."

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"We took tons of different references," adds the actor. "I think the boy band as a whole was an amalgam of a lot of different artists and groups. I'd love people to come to watch the movie with an open mind and embrace Hayes and August Moon, and maybe become fans of August Moon individually as well. I mean, there's some really, really catchy songs in the movie."

Who did inspire his take on the role? Galitzine says they looked at the Backstreet Boys from the time when they "first came out" for "the sort of hysteria around them." And for choreography, they took a page from the popular K-pop band BTS.

"I think the training that BTS went through was far more intense than what I was allowed to go through for three weeks before we started shooting," jokes Galitzine, adding, "But they have this ability to seem entirely nonchalant and chill in the way they hit their choreography. It's almost like not so try-hard, effortlessly cool. We were trying to embody a little bit of that."

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Galitzine says there was "so much thought that went into fame and its effect on love and relationships" for the movie as well. And it was a fun experience making the project, which features several original songs performed by Galitzine.

"It was a very fun set, this one. It was very joyous," he says. "It would just be a lot of laughs every day."

The Idea of You is streaming on Prime Video May 2.