Justin Baldoni has revealed the 'secret reason' he wanted to direct and play his character in It Ends With Us.
The 41-year-old actor and director has lifted the lid on how he felt while filming the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover's novel, It Ends With Us, and why he felt compelled to take on the task.
Speaking on the Gent’s Talk Podcast with host Samir Mourani in November last year, a rather emotional Baldoni revealed he had an ‘intense year’ filled with 'emotional stress'.
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The pair discussed toxic masculinity - a phrase the director said he refrains from using - as well as his mental health, his dating life and some of the issues men face today in modern society as he wrote about in his debut novel, Man Enough: Undefining My Masculinity.
Mourani then asked Baldoni what message he wants men to take away from the movie, which follows the plot of a troubled relationship between protagonists, Lily Bloom, played by Blake Lively, and Ryle Kincaid, played by Baldoni.
The film covers some intense themes such as domestic violence and emotional abuse.
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Baldoni replied: "I haven’t talked about this a lot because I want to be very mindful in the conversation around this movie to not take the emphasis off of what is happening to women at alarming rates," he continued, stressing that he prefers to 'reframe' the question from ‘why did she stay?’ to ‘why did he hurt her?' in abusive relationships.
The author continued: “And that means violence against women as we know is not a woman’s issue, it’s a man’s issue.
“So the secret reason, which I would never lead with because this is a movie at the end of the day for women to see themselves and [watch] the character's courage to find courage themselves...
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“The real reason underneath it all was to effect change in men."
The Californian director went on to say that inspiring a change in men's attitudes towards women was what attracted him to the role.
"That’s the other reason why I wanted to direct it and why I wanted to play this character because I wanted men to see themselves," he continued. “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.
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"[The character] never took the time to heal."
At the same time, Baldoni said the movie was not about making Ryle 'the villain', adding: "We have enough man-hating movies that exist in the world.
"This is a movie about trauma and ending generational cycles."
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Baldoni's comments about the movie come as he is in a high-profile legal battle with his co-star, Lively, her publicist, and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, though the podcast was filmed a month before Lively launched her legal complant.
The Gossip Girl alum sued her Us co-star for alleged sexual harassment in December last year.
The mom-of-four further claimed Baldoni and his company Wayfarer Studios, orchestrated a smear campaign to ‘destroy her reputation’, all of which Baldoni's legal team denies.
Baldoni has also made a flurry of accusations against Lively and Reynolds, having filed a countersuit for $400 million against the Hollywood couple for claims ranging from civil extortion to defamation and more.
A New York judge, Lewis Linman, set a trial date for the Hollywood megafeud trial to commence in March next year while a pre-trial hearing determined the legal teams of the two parties are restricted in speaking to the press to limit potentially prejudicing the future jury.
Topics: Justin Baldoni, Blake Lively, Film and TV, Hollywood, Books, Podcast, Mental Health, California
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