Originally published online in 2018 as Head over Feet, a Star Warsfan fiction work about the "Reylo" ship between Rey and Kylo Ren,[3][4] the main characters were renamed Olive and Adam (the latter after Adam Driver) on the novel's physical publication, with all explicit Star Wars references cut, and the characters on the novel's cover illustration designed after Driver and Daisy Ridley.[5][6]
Synopsis
The Love Hypothesis follows the main character Olive as she pretends to date her professor, Adam, to convince her friend Anh that her dating life is going well. Olive and Adam try to convince everyone around them they are in love. While convincing everyone, they forget that their feelings are supposed to be fake.[2]
Characters
Olive Smith – A third-year biology PhD student at Stanford University who researches pancreatic cancer, the disease her mother died from. She fakes a relationship with Dr. Adam Carlsen to convince Anh she is over her ex-boyfriend, Jeremy. She is based on Rey. Olive is 26 in the story.
Dr. Adam Carlsen – A young professor who is described by his students as harsh and hypercritical. The university froze his research funds because they are worried that he is thinking of leaving to a different university. Adam agreed to fake a relationship with Olive to make the science department believe he plans to stay at Stanford. He is based on Ben Solo and named after his actor, Adam Driver. Adam is 34 in the story.
Anh Pham – Olive's best friend, pushes Olive to try new things with Adam without knowing their relationship is fake. Likes Jeremy, Olive's ex-boyfriend. She is based on Rose Tico.
Malcolm – Olive's roommate, who ends up dating Dr. Rodriguez. He is based on Finn.
Dr. Tom Benton – An associate professor at Harvard University and Adam's friend. He offers Olive a spot at his lab when hearing about her research, but later threatens and sexually harasses Olive and steals her research. In the end, he is fired from Harvard.
Dr. Holden Rodriguez – Adam's friend, who ends up dating Malcolm. He is based on Poe Dameron.
Jeremy Langley – Olive's ex-boyfriend. He is based on Armitage Hux.
In October 2022, it was announced that a film adaptation of the novel is in development from Bisous Pictures.[14][15][16] In July 2025, it was announced that Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman had been cast in the film.[17][18] Bateman is the real-life husband of Daisy Ridley, the inspiration for the lead female character in the book, but will play the character inspired by, and named for Ridley's co-star in the Star Wars films, Adam Driver. In August 2025, it was announced that Rachel Marsh was cast as Anh Pham, Jaboukie Young-White was cast as Malcolm, Nicholas Duvernay was cast as Jeremy Langley, and Arty Froushan was cast as Tom Benton.[19][20] The film will be directed by Claire Scanlon and the script will be written by Sarah Rothschild.[19][20]
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