It Ends With Usdirector and actor Justin Baldoni revealed which scene from the film made him have to leave the room because he was too emotional.It Ends With Usis based on the 2016 Colleen Hoover novel of the same name, and follows Lily, who meets a man named Ryle and quickly falls in love with him. However, their relationship turns abusive, and things become even more complicated when Lily’s former high school sweetheart, Atlas, reenters her life. In addition to Baldoni, thecast ofIt Ends With Usincludes Blake Lively, Brandon Sklenar, and Jenny Slate.
Baldoni appeared on theHow To Fail With Elizabeth Daypodcast and discussed a specific scene that stands out as one of the hardest scenes he had to film forIt Ends With Us. In the scene, Ryle finds Lily’s phone and notices Atlas' number, which makes him very jealous.Baldoni explains how hard it was to portray the angerthat was boiling up inside his character during the scene. Read Baldoni’s full comments below:
Directing is a very lonely job, I’ll just be very candid. Because you are kind of at the top of this totem pole. In your moments of quiet, everybody has a thousand questions for you and also nobody wants to disturb you and you don’t really have many people to talk to and you can’t necessarily share your anxiety or your nervousness about something because you’re also the leader.
I’d have to remove myself and go shake it out. I mean, I’ve done a lot of somatic therapy so there were times when I was actually just shaking. There’s a moment in the movie where Ryle finds Lily’s phone and he finds a phone number and he’s very jealous and he’s heartbroken and he’s angry and he doesn’t harm her but you can see in his eyes how dangerous he is. After that scene, I had a near breakdown. And I had to leave and just cry and shake because there was so much pain.
What’s hard about a character like that isn’t necessarily what he does. What he does is a result of what he has kept in and so what’s hard about having that in your body is having the trauma live in your body of what he’s experienced or creating that trauma in your body and creating that insecurity and the pain and the feeling that you shouldn’t actually be alive. Your brother should be. It’s all your fault. Nobody really loves you. That was very hard and that took a few months. I had dreams as him for a while, and it lived in my body but I think for the most part, he’s out.
What Baldoni’s Comments Mean For His It Ends With Us Character
Ryle Was Abusive Towards Lily In It Ends With Us
At the beginning ofIt Ends With Us, Ryle is introduced as a man with seemingly no flaws. However, things take a turn for the worse when he and Lily actually begin dating. Throughout their relationship,Ryle is emotionally and physically abusivetowards Lily. Even though Ryle doesn’t physically hurt Lily in the scene that Baldoni is referencing, the actor explained thatthe scene was still very hard to shoot because of the pain within his character.
Baldoni explained that the pain and guilt he feels over his brother’s death is still with him throughout his relationship with Lily, and he takes all his anger out on her.
Even though Ryle’s backstory doesn’t excuse his actions in the movie,It Ends With Uslater reveals that he actually shot and killed his older brother when they were young. Baldoni explained that the pain and guilt he feels over his brother’s death is still with him throughout his relationship with Lily, and he takes all his anger out on her. Ryle is a tortured, dangerous character in the film, which is why it’s good that theIt Ends With Usmovie changed the book’s controversial ending.
Our Take On Baldoni’s Comments About Ryle’s Behavior In It Ends With Us
Ryle’s Actions In It Ends With Us Are Unforgivable
It is interesting to hear Baldoni explain what it was like to portray such a complex character inIt Ends With Us, while also directing the movie. Baldoni’s comments prove that he took the role very seriously and wanted to portray exactly how much anger Ryle had within him. Furthermore, it’s also good that Baldoni doesn’t excuse any of Ryle’s actions inIt Ends With Us.
It Ends With Us
Cast
Based on Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel, It Ends With Us is a drama-romance film directed by Justin Baldoni. The film follows a recent college graduate named Lily, who meets a man named Ryle and falls in love with him. However, a traumatic incident compounded with her former high-school sweetheart re-entering her life complicates her plans.
