In a pretaped November 2024 interview with the Gent’s Talk podcast, Justin Baldoni explained why his mission to direct and star in It Ends With Us was to spark a conversation about masculinity, trauma and accountability.
“The real reason underneath it all was to effect change in men,” Baldoni told host Samir Mourani. “I wanted men to see what happens when you do not resolve your trauma. I wanted men to see a guy like Ryle, who in his heart is a good man, be unable to control his insecurity, let his fears win and take over and harm the person he loves the most.”
Based on Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel, It Ends With Us follows Lily Bloom (Blake Lively), a florist caught in an abusive relationship with Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni), a neurosurgeon battling his own unresolved trauma. Baldoni emphasized that he intentionally avoided making Ryle a one-dimensional villain, aiming instead to reflect the complexities of abuse and accountability.
“The other way to make this movie, which I was really trying to avoid, is to demonize Ryle and to make him the villain — but I knew that I’d lose the men,” he said.
Despite controversy, the film was a box office success, grossing $351 million globally and landing on Netflix’s global chart. But just months after its August 2024 release, Lively filed a complaint against Baldoni, accusing him of sexual harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign. In response, Baldoni filed a $400 million lawsuit against Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and their publicist.
In the interview, which was filmed one month before Lively filed her initial complaint, Baldoni said he believes the film is already making a positive impact on men.
“I’ve had men reach out to me who have thanked me for the movie, and we’ve stopped those men from harming because they saw what could happen to them,” he said. “And for that, it makes it all worth it.”
