BookTok residents, Colleen Hoover stans, or just simply movie lovers, brace yourselves because Ms. Hoover just revealed who is playing Lily in the It Ends With Us adaptation and she did not disappoint.
If you were on BookTok circa 2021, you know about It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover. Nearly six years after the book’s original release, the story of Lily, Ryle, and Atlas had the TikTok book community wrapped around its finger. The hashtag #itendswithus alone has over 2 billion views. Though many readers had a love-hate relationship with the book, the novel landed Hoover on the New York Times bestselling list in 2021 and is still there today. The power of BookTok led to a sequel of the novel, It Starts With Us, which was released on Oct. 18, 2022.
In October 2021, it was announced that the popular novel would be made into an adaptation with the help of Justin Baldoni, director of Five Feet Apart. When the news dropped, BookTok got to work speculating who would make the perfect Lily. Well, no need to guess anymore because Hoover revealed on Jan. 26 that Lily will be played by none other than Blake Lively. Cue the BookTok community screams!
On Jan. 26, Hoover came to TikTok to reveal she knows who the cast for Lily and Ryle are. The video started off with her showing her childhood house where she explained how thankful she was for her mom, who was the loose inspiration for It Ends With Us. She shared that the movie adaptation is bittersweet because her mom’s story resonates with so many others, and has helped them get out of bad relationships of their own. After expressing her thanks, Hoover finally revealed who will be bringing Lily’s story to life on screen. “Our Lily is going to be played by Blake Lively. Blake Lively, y’all. She’s my dream Lily,” said Hoover.
Whether you’re an OG Gossip Girl fan or just keep up with all of Taylor Swift’s besties, then you know who Lively is. So, when Hoover dropped this news, naturally BookTok was freaking out. One TikToker commented, “Lily played by Blake is going to be unreal.” Another TikToker said, “The moment you said Blake Lively I decided I’m watching it.” An icon playing the main character of one of the most popular books just wrote this film’s success in stone, in my opinion.
Though Lively is a big-time actress, some fans said that is not who they had in mind for Lily. When fans were drafting up their dream casts for the novel back in 2021, common names for Lily were Holland Roden, Abigail Cowen, and even Sadie Sink as young Lily. After the much-anticipated cast reveal, fans were still sticking by who they had in mind. One fan wrote, “TBH, in my opinion Abigail Cowen would’ve been the perfect Lily.” Another said, “no, no. Blake Lively needed to be saved for the Verity movie.” If you’ve read that book, then you know exactly why Lively would make the perfect Verity. Nonetheless, Lively as Lily is a major win for the BookTok community.
As revealed by Deadline, Lively will also be an executive producer alongside Hoover. I mean, we all saw her work in Swift’s “I Bet You Think About Me” music video, so her being one of the masterminds behind this hyped production is no surprise. Justin Baldoni will be directing the film, but Hoover revealed in her TikTok news that he will also be playing Ryle. Hoover said that when he first met Baldoni, she immediately knew he was Ryle. “I just thought that he had what it takes to play that character,” said Hoover.
It’s official, BookTok has their Lily and Ryle. Meanwhile, Atlas has yet to be revealed. Fans are rooting for Dylan O’Brien or Logan Lerman. Personally, if Ryan Reynolds played Atlas I would actually cry. I need an on-screen love story of one of Hollywood’s beloved couples — they are a national treasure. Hoover has yet to say when Atlas will be revealed, but I know the die-hard fans of BookTok will be sure to let everyone know when the time comes.