From fake relationships to enemies to lovers, these popular tropes make the rom-com the cultural phenomenon that it is, even if they have been seen a million times before.
However, there is something else that adds a layer of relatability to these often quite cringey romantic comedies, the realness of it all.
Although a significant amount of these romance films are dramatised to create a good story arc, just sometimes there are actually true aspects behind the story.
So, let’s take a look at a few rom-coms that have been inspired by real life events and people.
Nobody Wants This
Starting strong with the newest rom-com to garner bucket loads of attention: Nobody Wants This.
The romantic comedy follows sex and relationship podcaster, Joanne (Kristin Bell) and rabbi, Noah (Adam Brody) as they unexpectedly fall for each other. The funny series focuses on the two extremely different personalities and how they try and try to make their relationship work despite the overwhelming negativity and opinions they receive from their family and friends.
The creator of the show, Erin Foster reveals that the series is inspired by her marriage to Simon Tikhman. Foster told Netflix’s Tudum that “failing at dating and failing at relationships” herself is where her comedy for the show came from. Foster’s life experiences are portrayed through Joanne who often chronicles her dating disasters on her podcast with her sister.
Funnily enough Foster also has a podcast with her sister Sara in real life. Oh, and she also converted to Judaism like her husband.
The Big Sick
The Big Sick tells the love story of Emily and Kumail, a therapist and a stand-up comedian whose relationship is put on the line when Emily is diagnosed with a disease and put into an induced coma.
The film is based on the true events of Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon’s relationship.
Shortly after the couple began dating, Emily was diagnosed with adult-onset Still’s disease, which ultimately gave Kumail the confidence to overcome his Pakistani family’s traditions to marry the woman he loves. Many of the scenes in the film are closely related to the events in the couple’s relationship.
Kumail even plays his own character in the film, while Emily is portrayed by Zoe Kazan.
The Vow
The Vow is another film that is loosely based on true events. The film tells the tale of Paige (Rachel McAdams) and Leo (Channing Tatum) whose romance and marriage are destroyed when Paige is diagnosed with Retrograde Amnesia after a car accident. Leo is forced to help his wife try and regain her memories and fall in love with him all over again.
The fable includes many elements of the heartbreaking relationship between Kim and Krickitt Carpenter. Just like Paige in the film, Krickitt develops amnesia following an accident. Krickitt does not recall meeting or marrying her husband, Kim, but eventually, she fell back in love with him and the couple later renewed their vows.
The Carpenters later had two children together but ultimately divorced after Krickitt discovered her husband had cheated on her. The couple relayed their relationship in their book: The Vow.
The Notebook
Nicholas Spark’s debut novel, The Notebook, is maybe one of the most well-loved in the romance genre. The film follows Noah (Ryan Gosling) and Allie (Rachel McAdam) who fall in love, but financial and social differences constantly stand in their way.
Sparks revealed in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that the story was inspired by his ex-wife’s grandparents. Just like in the film, the couple fall in love and break up before later reuniting again. The concept of Noah recounting the memories of their past relationship to Allie (who has developed Alzheimer’s) from a notebook, was taken from the elderly couple where the husband used photos to help his wife recall their past together.
The Idea of You
Now although this film is credited as a work of fiction and is indeed not inspired by true events, the inspiration behind Hayes Campbell has rendered quite a lot of chatter.
The Idea of You follows Soléne, a 40-year-old divorced mother who falls in love with a boyband singer who is 16 years her junior. The film received praise for normalising relationships between older women and younger men which are often stereotyped and judged in society.
Although the fantastic work the film does at bringing light to this romantic relationship many viewers were more intrigued by the inspiration behind Campbell. It was widely speculated that the character was based on another very real boyband member, Harry Styles.
Robine Lee, who is the author of the novel the film is based on told Entertainment Tonight: “A lot of people want to believe it is based on Harry Styles. There is a little Harry Styles in there”.
She went on to say that Hayes Campbell was more inspired by her own past relationships with the name ‘Hayes’ even coming from her husband, Eric Hayes.