Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman on ‘The Love Hypothesis,’ Pizza and More

Welcome back to the Pizza Interview, a series from New York Times Cooking where the Q&A has a catch: Our guests have to make pizza.

Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman have some theories about pizzas.

To Mr. Bateman, pizza toppings “say a lot about a person,” he says.

But — Ms. Reinhart counters — “You can contain multitudes and enjoy just a cheese pizza.”

Their theories also go beyond the kitchen, with the actors starring as scientists in the new romantic comedy, “The Love Hypothesis.” Based on the best-selling book of the same name, the film follows Olive (Reinhart), a doctoral candidate, as she navigates a fake dating scheme with an intimidating professor, Adam Carlsen (Bateman).

Below or on YouTube, watch as Ms. Reinhart and Mr. Bateman top their pizzas while discussing their eating habits, their love of cooking and more.

Here are excerpts from the interview and the outtakes, which have been edited and condensed.

Have you ever made a pizza before?

LILI REINHART When I was a kid, I went to some restaurant where they would give you a piece of dough, and you could make a little pizza at the table. Did you ever have that?

TOM BATEMAN No, I didn’t, but it sounds like a better time, doesn’t it? Who needs an iPad when you got pizza?

REINHART And then they would cook it for you, and it would suck. It’d be terrible.

BATEMAN I’ve cooked pizzas before. When we were growing up, my mum would make pizzas quite often. But my wife, amazingly, she hosted a birthday for her mum not too long ago. And her mum decided she wanted pizza for like, 15 or 20 of her friends. Daisy [Ridley] made these amazing pizzas, like 4 or 5 days proofing in the fridge and stuff.

Do you like to cook?

REINHART I enjoy being in the kitchen. I like doing something with my hands that doesn’t involve my phone. I’m not an amazing cook, but I like the experience of chopping things up and being hands on with something but I need instructions. And I need someone who knows what they’re doing, also with me in the kitchen.

BATEMAN I love cooking so much. In fact, I think I spend 80 to 90 percent of my time in the kitchen at home. That’s just our favorite room, and we both love cooking so, so much. I do like having a recipe to follow, but what I love is when you learn a new recipe and you get it down so you don’t even need to look at the instructions anymore. And then sort of mix it up. But I love cooking so much. I think it’s my happy place. If I wasn’t an actor, I think I would have loved to try to become a chef.

What’s your favorite pizza place?

BATEMAN Oh, wow. In London, it’s called Homeslice. There’s a couple of them, but there’s one in Neal’s Yard. It’s just a beautiful pizza place. Their dough is incredible. The atmosphere too. You can either get a slice or you can get a whole one. And the way they serve wine is amazing, they just give you this giant bottle of wine, and you pay for what you drink.

REINHART I like Joe’s Pizza in New York, it’s a thin slice. I like a place called the Parlour in Canada. It’s a chain. And then from where I grew up, I believe the pizza that I liked was from a place called Danny Boy’s. They also had the best garlic bread ever.

BATEMAN Do you guys have Pizza Express in the states? Pizza Express is amazing back home in the U.K. Their garlic dough balls are sort of more famous than the pizzas.

If you were to show each other around your hometowns, where would you go eat?

BATEMAN I wanted to take Lil to, it’s called Park Chinois in Mayfair. Amazing Chinese food. And then they’ve got a more chill one which is the Duck and Rice, which is in Soho.

REINHART I want sweet and sour chicken and rice.

BATEMAN No, but you can get that except fancy.

REINHART But I don’t like it fancy. Asking me about food is such a disappointment because I have such a limited palate. I’m not a foodie, and I eat the same things. People don’t believe me, I feel like they think I’m joking. If you could see my Postmates history, you’d be like, “What’s going on here?”

Lili, can you tell us more about your limited palate? What are you eating?

REINHART It’s just one of my things, I have a limited, childlike palate. But I’ve gotten better as the years have gone on. But I still am genuinely not super adventurous with food. But the people around me know that and know that if they send me a place, I need to check the menu first to make sure I can eat there. My friends are very kind about it. I was going out to dinner with two friends the other week, and they sent me a menu and I was like, I don’t know if I can eat here. So we went to a different place, but people are very understanding and accepting when they come into my life. They know that I want to experience having good food with them, I just am a picky, picky gal.

BATEMAN Because you know this about yourself, is there a food that you wish you could eat?

REINHART Everything.

BATEMAN Is there a specific thing?

REINHART Just crunchy vegetables. I love watching videos of people [eating] because I love watching people eat things that I know I wouldn’t eat. So it’s very cathartic for me to see mukbangs of crunchy things and adventurous food that I know I wouldn’t [eat].

Have you ever cooked for someone on a first date?

REINHART No, but I’ve had someone cook for me on a date. A steak in a bag in water. I didn’t like that.

BATEMAN It was a first and last date.

REINHART It wasn’t the last date but I didn’t — first of all, the steak didn’t taste good. But I was watching it being cooked in water, really threw me.

BATEMAN For a first date, there’s a lot of pressure you’re putting on yourself. And I feel like, would you enjoy it slash would you really get to know the person? Do you know what I mean? If you’re sort of trying to get to know someone, you spend the whole time freaking out about cooking and the timing and stuff. And then you’d be sat watching their expression while they eat your boiled steak.

REINHART Yikes! I like the way Jack [Martin] cooks. Jack will cook the steak, and I’ll make the baked potatoes and carrots and corn.

BATEMAN Aw, that’s sweet.

REINHART We have our little routine now.

BATEMAN What’s the first thing he cooked for you, do you remember?

REINHART Maybe it was a steak, but he’s really good at it. Medium rare.

You’ve been all over the place promoting this movie, what’s the best thing you’ve eaten?

REINHART In Brazil, we got aligot. It’s mashed potatoes with an insane amount of cheese in it. I don’t believe it’s a Brazilian dish, it’s actually French, but it was at this restaurant in Brazil. I had that with a fillet and a cold Coke, and it was so good. Did I have Mountain Dew in Brazil? I don’t think I did, but, when I arrived in Germany, they had Mountain Dew waiting for me, which was nice. But it does taste very different in Europe.

If you were a food dish, what would you be? Can you answer for each other?

REINHART I feel like you’d be a couple different courses. Maybe a Tomahawk steak.

BATEMAN Oh hell yeah. Fridge.

[Both laugh]

REINHART He was called a fridge in Brazil. Apparently, it’s a compliment. Tomahawk steak and you’d have lots of dressing on a garden salad with vegetables in it. And then maybe you’re a sweet potato on the side.

BATEMAN I love all these things.

REINHART And then a nice glass of red wine. Or you like Aperol Spritz actually. That’s what you are.

BATEMAN That’s so nice. I think you’d be really really classy, fancy version of breakfast waffles with fried chicken, maple syrup drenched over it, some strawberries on the side. Because you’re very sort of, like your pizza, “I don’t want to get too complex with my food.” It’s simple, but it’s just done really well. Really classy, bit of sweetness there, little bit of punch at the end. And maybe, a cool glass of Mountain Dew.

REINHART [Laughs] With my Belgian waffle. Sure, I’ll take it.

Follow New York Times Cooking on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Pinterest. Get regular updates from New York Times Cooking, with recipe suggestions, cooking tips and shopping advice.