In some seriously meta casting, Daisy Ridley's real life husband will play the male lead in a movie adaptation of a book that started out as a Reylo fan fiction

The Rise of Skywalker
(Image credit: Lucasfilm)

The Love Hypothesis movie has found its male lead, and it's a seriously meta casting.

Per Deadline, Tom Bateman has been cast as Dr. Adam Carlsen in the upcoming big-screen adaptation of Ali Hazelwood's novel.

Now, you might be wondering why this is so noteworthy. Well, The Love Hypothesis isn't just a romance novel. It actually started life as a Reylo fanfiction – Reylo, of course, referring to the couple name of Adam Driver's Kylo Ren and Daisy Ridley's Rey from the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

Bateman is actually none other than Daisy Ridley's real-life husband. So, he's playing the love interest of a fictional character inspired by Ridley's most iconic fictional character. Our heads are spinning.

Hazelwood's The Love Hypothesis is a bestseller that follows Olive – played by Lili Reinhart in the movie – who is a Ph.D. candidate in need of a fake relationship. She kicks one off with a professor named Adam (get it?), who will be played by Bateman. As you might expect, things don't stay fake for too long.

Ridley even shared the casting to her Instagram story, though she hasn't said anything about the situation just yet.

Claire Scanlon directs, and Sarah Rothschild penned the script. Amazon MGM Studios is behind the adaptation.

As for Star Wars, next up for the saga is The Mandalorian & Grogu, which releases next May. Ridley's Rey is also due to return in another movie, though updates are scarce on that project. Who knows, it might launch another bestseller?

You can keep up to date with the galaxy far, far away with our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows.

Molly Edwards
Deputy Entertainment Editor

I'm the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.

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