We Went on a Coffee Date With ‘The Love Hypothesis’ Star Tom Bateman

You’re playing a character with a dark exterior and you’ve also starred in thriller and darker films. Do you feel like there’s a misconception about you?

23 Sep 2026, 13:00 · Cosmopolitan

It’s not every day that your date has 100 people outside ready to meet him at a coffee shop. Then again, it’s not every day that Tom Bateman goes on a date, period, especially as he gears up for the big release of The Love Hypothesis, the movie adaptation of the beloved book of the same name by Ali Hazelwood, which was released on September 23 on Prime Video.

Plenty of people have talked about the big link between him, his wife (Daisy Ridley), and the film, so we’re going to skip that here. But it did truly feel like Tom fell straight out of the book when he was announced as Dr. Adam Carlsen, the sulky no-nonsense Stanford University professor who is known to his students by a variety of names, including Dr. Evil. You would think there would be some part of that brooding personality in him, but he is the complete opposite of his character even though he’s very much judging the Tiramisu Latte that I got in honor of Adam’s sweets obsessive love interest, Olive Smith, played by Lili Reinhart.

He grabs his go-to order, “A double espresso with a little bit of honey. It’s just my main thing,” and sits down right across from me. While we’re certainly not fake-dating like Adam and Olive are in the film, that doesn’t stop the girls from outside the window pointing and freaking out over the interaction. However, nothing fazes Tom as he immediately gets ready to serve some lattes and much-needed caffeine the day after the movie’s NYC premiere. Normally, an actor would choose to sleep in after such a big night. Instead, he is all smiles as one by one his new fans chat, ask for photos, and squeal as they leave as if they were on a speed dating round of their own with the actor.

Cosmopolitan chatted with the actor about moving into rom-coms, the fear and vulnerability of falling in love, and how his wife prepared him for this new kind of fandom.

It's all smoke and mirrors. One of the many reasons I love what I do is that I can step into other people’s shoes. I remember being told at drama school by the principal, If you’re very lucky, you’ll get to work as an actor and what you’ll get asked to do is pretty much play yourself for a long time. And then, as your career progresses, hopefully, you’ll get to be allowed to take further and further steps away from yourself. And I’m very fortunate that’s happening. People take a bit more of a chance on you.

The hardest thing in the world is to play yourself. Going a bit far away, that’s where the fun lies.

Adam’s walls do come down as he gets closer to Olive. What was it like to play him as he discovers a new side to himself?

It was the reason I wanted to do the job. When I was building him as a character, I went to who he is at the end and I realized that that’s who he really is. All of the layers that he puts on top, for reasons that we find out, are to defend himself, keep himself safe, keep his heart safe. Sometimes intentionally, sometimes unintentionally, those layers sort of peel back.

What was really interesting for me is it’s not just one straight line of him slowly getting to that place. He lowers some barriers between him and Olive, and then they come up again. And so that’s very human, right? You get hurt, and you go, This is why I had those barriers in the first place. Then having to make the decision to, even though you’ve just been hurt, lower those barriers again. It was the fascinating thing that made him so real to me. We all keep our hearts safe because it’s scary not to.

Dave Allocca / StarPix

Rom-coms tend to be geared more toward women, but what do you hope that men in particular take away from Adam’s journey in the movie?

It’s perhaps an unfair cliché that they’re targeted toward women. I think they’re great films and the truth of the matter is they’re almost always character-based—the good ones, at least.

But I would hope that people take away what I have learned from Adam in his journey, which is, even though it’s scary, do keep your heart open all the time. We live in a world where men, particularly, are trapped within a sort of self-made prison of defense. What it is to be a man is whatever you choose. It’s having the courage to be yourself and this is what Adam goes through. This journey continually questioning who you are and why you behave the way you behave, and constantly think: Can I be better here? Can I improve myself? Can I be a better person, a kinder person, a more stable person, a more honest person?

A lot of men in my life, and I speak for myself, too, were not taught to communicate particularly well, even with each other. The conversations I have with my female friends tend to be far more open. Even if it’s just saying, “I don’t know why, but I’m feeling sad today.” It’s a brave thing to admit to yourself and to other people. But only from that place of honesty of how you’re truly feeling can you move through it. You can’t just hide behind it. The only way is through.

Did you have moments while playing Adam that reminded you of your own life where you were going through the same thing?

I’m not original in saying this: Acting is free therapy. Particularly when something is really well written and we get to sort of be the mouthpiece for it. You can’t help but look at parallels in your life, because my job when I’m playing Adam is to look at those differences within us and try to connect those dots and bring it to something that might be relative to my life. What’s interesting is when me, Tom, in real life didn't overcome that, and Adam did. Art is life warmed up. You get to learn from it.

Dave Allocca / StarPix

This book and now film has had such a passionate fandom behind it, which is a bit new for you. How did you navigate that?

I wasn’t aware of it, but people keep asking, “Did you feel pressure? Were you nervous?” Naively enough, I wasn’t. I just felt excited. Sometimes you can work really hard on something and no one really sees it and that’s no one’s fault other than just what catches fire and what doesn’t. With something like this, it’s such a privilege to know that even before we turned over on the first scene, there was a fan base waiting for it.

Did your wife offer any advice?

I’ve watched Daisy from when we first met and got together. I had a front-row seat to that crazy storm that she stood in the center of, and she did it with such grace and open-hearted honesty, which is so hard. It made me respect her even more.

She did say to me, “Look, just try. It’s really hard, but be yourself.” I shy away from it in many ways. I don’t like social media. It scares me. But she’s like, “Keep your own heart safe, but they're waiting for you with love and joy.”

It’s a lot of strangers looking to you for something. But I try to look at it more that they’re so excited by this project and to meet you, and it really is a privilege. Like, look out the window. These people have been queuing up for hours just to touch this thing that they love. It’s a great privilege to be in.

I’m sure you’ve been hearing so many stories from fans about how this story has impacted them.

I went to see Harry Styles in London a while ago, and he said this amazing thing, which I think is true of almost any artist. He said, “This is you. This atmosphere that is created. It’s not me. It’s bigger than me because I get to stand here and be the thing.”

There’s a sort of magic in the air. It creates such a bubble of love and enthusiasm and excitement around it. You get it from Star Wars. You get it from Harry Styles. And then this book has it. What’s hilarious is signing this book like I’m an author.

Well, you are on the cover!

We’re signing these things, and people are going, “Oh my god, I love it so much!” And part of me occasionally will feel like a fraud. But it’s so much bigger than us. But hey, I’ll stand here and be the flashing beacon of their imagination. It’s a great privilege.

I have not seen a single negative thing around this. It’s just positive love, enthusiasm, people inspired by these great people and this great love story. That’s what we all need in our lives.

Dave Allocca / StarPix

Okay, we’re almost out of time but...since we’re on one right now, what’s your vibe on coffee dates?

A coffee is pretty standard. It’s kind of a sign of the times a bit more now. I feel like maybe a bit before my time or our time, it was cocktails and dinner and stuff. I feel like a coffee is a sort of safe bet. You’re not committing to hours and hours and hours. But if it’s sort of going well, you can just keep on going.

Three classic rom-coms you’re obsessed with?

I will always say The Apartment. One of the greatest films! Then Moonstruck. Nicolas Cage and Cher, I love it so much. And do you know what? I’m only saying it because it’s a top-tier thing, but we just recently rewatched The Proposal with Sandra Bullock. It’s just prime top-shelf romantic comedy stuff.

What’s something you’d be totally lost without?

You know what, the only thing I can think of is Daisy.

What’s your favorite sweet treat?

Pistachio ice cream. If it’s on the menu, I’m having it!

Dream date?

Mobile phones have been turned off and left at home. Out in nature, just exploring the world together with no nonsense around it. Just that and good food.

And what are you manifesting right now?

I’m also a writer and there are these scripts I finished that look like they might happen next year. I’m manifesting them out into the world because every film is a miracle. It’s a baby, and I know that I’ve made a film before that I’ve written, Daisy and I produced, and I loved that journey so much. So I’m manifesting more of that.