It Ends With Us's Justin Baldoni responds to age criticism
It Ends With Us star Justin Baldoni has broken his silence on casting backlash to the film.
The actor - who also directs the big-screen adaptation of Colleen Hoover's bestselling novel - weighed in on fan criticism of the cast being significantly older than the characters they portray.
Gossip Girl star Blake Lively is 13 years older than protagonist Lily Bloom, whilst Baldoni is a decade older than his character Ryle Kincaid.
In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Baldoni said: "When you have a book that is so in the zeitgeist, especially on a platform like TikTok and Instagram and social media, you're always going to have online chatter. There's always going to be opinions."
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"It didn't really bother me because the fact that they were talking about it was a beautiful thing," he continues. "If nobody talks about your book adaptation, then I feel like that's more of a problem. Then we should be worried."
It Ends With Us follows the story of Lily who strikes up a relationship with Ryle Kincaid after a chance encounter. As she continues to navigate her new life and romance in Boston, Lily bumps into old flame Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar) which brings back old feelings and traumatic memories from her past.
In the same interview, Baldoni explained that they had aged up the book's characters from their twenties to thirty-plus in the movie - but not due to the real-life ages of the film's cast.
Related: It Ends With Us author Colleen Hoover addresses Blake Lively casting and costume controversy
"I just knew from the beginning the type of movie I wanted to make was not about a 23-year-old girl," he explains, with the Jane the Virgin star committed to bringing the book to the big-screen after reading it.
"I wanted women of all ages to be able to see themselves, and aging up the characters, I think, really helps it become a universal story, and it takes it out of the YA genre.
"I believed, from the beginning, that Blake Lively is aspirational to young women and would never be seen as too old once they saw the movie."
The movie finally hits cinemas this month following two release date delays as a result of last year's Hollywood strikes.
It Ends With Us is released in UK cinemas on August 9.
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