“I saw a window display of her books—Colleen Hoover, Colleen Hoover, Colleen Hoover,” recalls Blake Lively, who knew that she was working with something special with It Ends With Us, the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s #1 New York Times bestseller. “Her name was everywhere. She speaks to an audience—her voice resonates with people. The stories she tells and how she tells them reaches out and grabs so many people.”
Lively plays the main role of Lily Bloom, a young woman who’s determined to break free from her past, but as she falls in love, finds herself falling into the same patterns she grew up with. Lively is also a producer for It Ends With Us, captivated by its story. Someone in her skin. I thought it was important to see someone you think is settled in themselves get lost. It makes you realize you never really know what people are going through.”
Author Colleen Hoover thinks Lively embodies the best of Lily Bloom, confident in the actress’s portrayal of one of the most important characters she’s ever created, as It Ends With Us is a story intertwined with Hoover’s own experience with her mother and father. “Blake has many of the same qualities I admire in both Lily and my mother,” Hoover says. “To have her playing Lily demonstrates that each situation is unique. There’s no mold to fit.”
Lively shares her interpretation of Lily Bloom, and the strength that resonates within her character. “Lily is not a wilting lily,” says Lively. “She has both feet on the ground and her head screwed on tight—she has real spice and agency. But you can be a woman with confidence and agency and know better, and still not see all of the red flags that you should. When she meets Ryle, she sweeps him off his feet as much as he sweeps her off hers. It was important to create that level playing field, so that when the relationship goes off-kilter, it’s more confusing for her, because she believes in the equality of their partnership and their strength, as individuals and together.”
Watch the emotional journey of Lily Bloom as It Ends With Us arrives in Philippine cinemas on August 7.
IT ENDS WITH US, the first Colleen Hoover novel adapted for the big screen, tells the compelling story of Lily Bloom (Blake Lively), a woman who overcomes a traumatic childhood to embark on a new life in Boston and chase a lifelong dream of opening her own business. A chance meeting with charming neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni) sparks an intense connection, but as the two fall deeply in love, Lily begins to see sides of Ryle that remind her of her parents’ relationship.
Directed by Justin Baldoni and produced by Alex Saks, Jamey Heath, Blake Lively and Christy Hall. The film stars Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, Jenny Slate, Hasan Minhaj, Amy Morton and Brandon Sklenar, from a screenplay by Christy Hall, based on the book by Colleen Hoover.
