What on Earth is going on with the cast of It Ends With Us? Recent interviews with Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively haven’t put an end to troubling rumors.
Fans of Colleen Hoover’s best-selling, yet controversial, novel began suspecting drama surrounding the film adaptation after noticing director and star Justin Baldoni was largely missing or separated from the rest of the cast during the press tour. You can read more about that here, but the most popular TikTok theory is that co-executive producer and star Blake Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, seized creative control of the movie and marketing strategy.
With all this discourse, fans may not be surprised to learn Baldoni does not seem interested in directing an adaptation of It Starts With Us, Hoover’s 2022 follow-up novel to It Ends With Us. “I think that there are better people for that one,” he told Entertainment Tonight at the New York premiere on August 6, per People. “I think Blake Lively’s ready to direct, that’s what I think.”
This is not the first time Baldoni praised Lively’s creative vision. Back in April, the Jane the Virgin star said there “wasn’t a part of this production that [Lively] didn’t touch and have influence on,” adding “everything that she put her hands on and her mind to, she made better.”
Meanwhile, many fans feel Lively is going out of her way to keep Baldoni’s name out her mouth. In a Yahoo! Entertainment interview posted on TikTok on August 9, Lively was asked how she built trust with Baldoni, who not only directs the film, but plays Lily Bloom’s abusive husband Ryle Kincaid.
“I mean, this movie was such a challenge because you have scenes that are deeply painful and traumatic and physical, but you also have scenes that are full of levity and light and romance,” Lively said. “And normally, when I see this type of character like Ryle on screen, you know what’s going to happen, and you’re like, ‘Ah, that guy’s full of red flags.’
She continued, “But the way that Colleen wrote Ryle, I think, is just so—I think that’s why the story resonates with so many, is [because] you get why Lily stays. You get why Lily chooses to believe a different reality because you’re watching her in real time. You too are going like, ‘I know what I just saw, but I don’t want to…maybe I didn’t just see that.’ That is the the magic of this film is, is how she how she made these characters so, so winning.”
Multiple viewers in the comments described Lively’s answer as “wild,” given that she did not mention her relationship with Baldoni at any point. “The fact that Justin cast her in the movie and praised her in every interview and she won’t even mention his name when asked is WILD,” one fan wrote, while others described Lively’s answer as “word salad.” Another wrote, “Is the answer in the room with us 😭😭.”
