Meet August Moon Members: The Fictional Band From ‘The Idea of You’

The internet is swooning over August Moon, let’s meet the members of the semi-fictional boyband.

After boyband fans discovered the trailer for The Idea of You, they were quickly captivated by the story and potential tunes. The film first premiered on March 16, 2024 at SXSW. It will be available to stream via Amazon Prime on May 2, 2024.

The Idea Of You is based on Robinne Lee’s 2017 book. The book and film feature August Moon lead singer Hayes, played by Nicholas Galitzine and Solene, played by Anne Hathaway.

Who is in the band August Moon?

August Moon is made up of five boys. Lead singer, Hayes (portrayed by Nicholas Galitzine) is a well known U.K. actor. He also showed off his musical chops via social media and in the 2021 Amazon Prime Cinderella adaptation alongside Camila Cabello.

The other four members all hail from California and all have a background in both acting and music.

August Moon Members:

• Hayes played by Nicholas Galitzine
• Oliver played by Raymond Cham Jr
• Simon played by Viktor White
• Rory played Dakota Adan
• Adrian played by Jaiden Anthony

Is August Moon based on One Direction?

According to author Robinne Lee, August Moon was somewhat inspired by One Direction. In a 2017 interview, she revealed that she was surfing YouTube when she stumbled across One Direction by accident.

“I came across the face of a boy I’d never seen in a band I’d never paid attention to, and it was so aesthetically perfect it took me by surprise. It was like…art,” she recalled. Lee then spent over an hour Googling who the boy singing (Harry Styles) was.

“In doing so I discovered that he often dated older women,” she continued. “And so the seed was planted.” When her husband returned home from a work trip, she joked that she discovered the perfect guy and was leaving him and their kids. Her husband laughed and mentioned that the storyline would be a great book.

Is Hayes Based on Harry Styles?

Later in a GoodReads Q&A, Lee did note that “Hayes is very different from Harry Styles.”

“I think people who are aware of Harry and/or want to picture Harry will. And that’s completely fair, as the most successful British boy band of the last ten years is One Direction,” she agreed. “And if you’re going to create a twenty-something popstar, you may want to start with a good head of hair and dimples, because why not?”

Lee wanted Hayes to have very specific traits, some of which do align with Styles. However, his speech, cadence, and sense of self is unlike the real life rock star. Additionally, his backstory is nothing like how Styles grew up.

So while the initial inspiration may have been based on One Direction, the character of Hayes isn’t fully based on Harry Styles.