Exclusive Interview
‘The Love Hypothesis’ Director Reveals Hidden Reylo & ‘Star Wars’ Easter Eggs
What To Know
- The Love Hypothesis film incorporates subtle Star Wars references and Easter eggs in its soundtrack and score.
- Director Claire Scanlon revealed that homages to John Williams were used to pay tribute to the novel’s fanfiction origin.
- Gracie Abrams’ song “Mess It Up” was included as a hidden nod to her father.
As director Claire Scanlon told Swooon, “Music can make or break [a movie].” In the case of The Love Hypothesis, music didn’t just “make” the book-to-screen adaptation; it brought the novel’s fanfiction origin to life in a way the script couldn’t.
Readers of Ali Hazelwood‘s The Love Hypothesis know the chemistry-forward rom-com was originally written as fanfiction inspired by Star Wars characters Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). While Scanlon and the rest of the team wanted to give a nod to the origin of The Love Hypothesis when bringing it to the big screen, they quickly ran into the issue of copyright with the existing IP. Looking back at the early script, Scanlon explained, “I think there was something funny about Star Wars, that we were like, we probably can’t say that because of copyright infringement.”
Instead, the IYKYK Star Wars nods found a different home, worked into one of Scanlon’s favorite parts of the movie, the adaptation’s soundtrack and score. “When used pithily,” Scanlon explained, “I think the perfect song, for instance, ‘Messy,’ the Reneé Rapp song in our trailer, or Gracie Abrams‘ ‘Mess It Up,’ [at the beginning of the film], serves as a launching pad.”
Of course, Olive and Adam’s love story wasn’t Scanlon’s first big hit. She explained, “I come from editing, so music is something that’s always on my mind.” Having worked on “A.A.R.M.,” the penultimate episode of The Office, Scanlon revealed that she decided to use Snow Patrol’s “Open Your Eyes,” joking, “I think Snow Patrol has now made more money than I did on The Office.” That’s the power of a memorable musical moment.
A song can also serve as an Easter egg. As many fans of Gracie Abrams know, she is the daughter of director J.J. Abrams. Papa Abrams co-wrote and directed the first two films in the modern Star Wars trilogy, which means that he had a hand in creating Rey and Kylo Ren, the characters Olive (Lili Reinhart) and Adam (Tom Bateman) were based on.
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“Actually,” she confessed, “it was fans who gave us that idea. I can’t even claim that. We saw it on TikTok. It was like, someone wrote, ‘They better put a Gracie Abram song in this,’ and we’re like, ‘Noted.'”
However, Scanlon made it clear that a score is necessary to make soundtrack moments like “Mess It Up” pop. In developing The Love Hypothesis, Scanlon teamed with Oscar-nominated composer Laura Karpman, whom she previously worked with on Set It Up. To represent Olive and Adam’s “intelligence and cleverness” as scientists, Karpman used sounds from beakers and other lab elements in her music.
For The Love Hypothesis score, the duo decided to pay homage to John Williams, especially during Adam’s scenes. “There are two times we hear it. One is when he walks into the coffee shop, and one is when he’s gonna go get Tom (Arty Froushan) when he walks down the hall. Those are our two Darth Vader and Kylo Ren homages. Just a whole homage to Star Wars.”
Did you catch these undercover Star Wars references? Let us know in the comments below!
The Love Hypothesis, Streaming Now, Prime Video
