‘It Ends With Us’ author responds to backlash over Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s casting

During Book Bonanza, an annual book festival hosted by the New York Times bestselling author, Colleen Hoover discussed the upcoming movie adaptation of her book It Ends With Us and also tackled some of the criticism surrounding the film.

The announcement of Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni as the lead actors resulted in Hoover facing backlash due to the noticeable age differences between the actors and their respective characters in It Ends With Us.

The 23-year-old lead character in It Ends With Us is played by Blake Lively, 35. Justin Baldoni, who is directing the movie adaptation and playing the role of Ryle, is also nine years older than the 30-year-old character in the book.

“Back when I wrote It Ends With Us, the new adult [genre] was very popular,” she shared at the June 23 festival, as per Today. “You were writing college-age characters. That's what I was contracted to do.”

The author continued, “I didn't know that neurosurgeons went to school for 50 years.”

“As I started making this movie, I'm like, ‘We need to age them out because I messed up,’” she explained. "So that's my fault."

“I got to see the footage they filmed thus far,” she said, per Today. “I'm not a crier. I know that I write emotional books but I'm not an emotional person. And I cried so much on set.”

Hoover added, "You guys are going to be so happy. I'm extremely happy and now my expectations are up and I'm going to keep them there"