Blake Lively finds passion, pressure in ‘It Ends With Us’ adaptation

LONDON—Serving fans of Colleen Hoover’s best-selling novel “It Ends With Us” was at the heart of bringing the book to the big screen, actress Blake Lively says.

At the London premiere of the romantic drama on Thursday, Lively said that turning the novel into a film, was “a great responsibility, but also an opportunity.”

“When you have to service a group of people who are so passionate about the source material… to be able to serve people who care so much, is beautiful,” the actor said.

In the movie Lively plays Lily Bloom, a Boston-based florist who falls for handsome neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid, portrayed by Justin Baldoni, who also directed the film.

As their relationship gets more serious, Ryle starts showing traits reminiscent of Lily’s father’s abusive behaviour, triggering her childhood trauma and forcing Lily to make tough decisions about her future to break a toxic pattern.

Leaning into it

Lively, who made her directorial debut with Taylor Swift’s “I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version)” music video, received her first producer credit on “It Ends With Us”.

“I used to feel like an impostor because I would watch actors who were just shapeshifters. And then I realized that half of the actors I admire most are people who had to get their hands in the storytelling, the writing and the creating and I was like, oh, OK, there are two different categories and I’m in this category, and that’s OK,” she said.

“Once I started embracing that and leaning into it and not feeling embarrassed about it, I think I was able to do the best work. And so that’s why I’m so proud of this film,” she said.

“It Ends With Us” began its global cinematic rollout on Aug. 7.