Arts

‘It Ends With Us’ movie cast stirs mixed opinions

Madeline Bell ’23, Staff Writer|March 9, 2023

“It Ends With Us” is loosely based on Hoover’s childhood and her mother’s experience leaving an abusive relationship, breaking the cycle of domestic violence.

The main cast members for the movie adaptation of “It Ends With Us” were announced on Instagram on Jan. 26. Blake Lively plays Lily, while Justin Baldoni plays Ryle. BookTok has had mixed reactions to the casting, serving as a topic of popular debate amongst Colleen Hoover fans. The movie is set to be released sometime in late 2024.

Lily Bloom’s childhood takes place in an abusive home. Lily, however, finds salvation through friendship with a homeless child in the neighborhood: Atlas.

Eventually Lily grows up, moves to Boston and falls in love with a handsome surgeon, Ryle. However Lily re-enters an abusive home, as Ryle becomes verbally and physically abusive to Lily. “It Ends With Us” follows Lily’s path to liberation and breaking the cycle of domestic violence.

Prior to the announcement of a movie, “It Ends With Us” fans casted a hypothetical movie. Across BookTok, a “side” to TikTok, edits depicted an ideal cast. Lily typically was portrayed to have red hair and a young appearance like in the book. Ryle also remained faithful to the book, with dark hair and an older appearance than Lily.

However, Blake Lively doesn’t necessarily meet these expectations for some due to her typical, middle-aged, appearance in most of her movies.

“

While I love Blake Lively as an actress, she doesn’t fit Lily’s character profile. I, as well as many others, have trouble seeing Lively play a young redhead.

— Dylan Fiore ’24

“The book does such a good job of vividly describing Lily that anything outside of what we as readers have envisioned may be disappointing,” Dylan Fiore ’24 said. “While I love Blake Lively as an actress, she doesn’t fit Lily’s character profile. I, as well as many others, have trouble seeing Lively play a young redhead.”

But this goes beyond the issue of hair color. Because, yes, Lively could simply dye her hair. It is more about the disappointment fans experienced when BookTok visions did not come to life. After hoping for a movie after years of waiting, fans had their hearts set on specific actors, such as Lily Collins.

Hoover herself however, thinks actors with amazing capabilities like Lively have the skills to make the book come to life. Some BookTok fans agree that acting trumps characterization.

Despite this, the majority of the book fans agree that Baldoni is the perfect actor for Ryle. Most recognized for his role in “Jane the Virgin,” Justin Baldoni has experience acting as a handsome and rich man.

“Baldoni has acted as a similar character in the past with his role as Rafael Solano,” Cara Feeley ’23 said. “While Rafael was not abusive like Ryle, the similarities between them will make Justin Baldoni perfect for this role.”