After bringing her heartfelt words to life on the big screen, Blake Lively is showing her appreciation for Colleen Hoover.
The It Ends with Us star praised the book’s author on Wednesday for her birthday, expressing how much “my life has changed” since starring in this year’s Justin Baldoni-helmed feature adaptation of the novel.
“Everyone who knows this woman is changed for it,” she wrote Wednesday on her Instagram Story. “She’s calm and steady. Her integrity is her foundation. Her humor levels you outta nowhere. Her quiet fortitude is mighty. And she always chooses the kindest path.
“She loves her fans. She loves her friends. She loves her community. She loves her family. But mostly she loves Diet Pepsi. And oh boy do we love her.”
Lively continued, “Happy happy birthday @colleenhoover. My life has changed because of your work. Your art. Your friendship. For good. So many people’s have. And we thank you. Today and every day.”
In It Ends with Us, now available to stream on Netflix, Lively stars as Lily Bloom, who moves to Boston to start her own business. After sparking a romance with neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni), she begins to notice aspects of her new beau that reminds her of her parents. Meanwhile, Lily’s first love Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar) comes back into her life and complicates everything.
Screenwriter Christy Hall, adapted the script from Hoover’s 2016 novel, previously spoke to Deadline about her first time reading the book for the project.
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni in It Ends with Us (2024). (Sony Pictures Releasing/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Sony Pictures Releasing /Courtesy Everett Collection
“I went away, sat with the book, and went on the journey. I just fell in love with Colleen Hoover specifically,” said Hall. “I think she’s extremely brave. I think it is just incredible that she’s very vocal about the fact that this was inspired by events in her own life. I love that it reads like a love story, and then, slowly but surely, you realize that Lily’s a frog in boiling water. I really went on the journey, and I laughed and cried.”
Meanwhile, a few more of Hoover’s titles are heading to the big screen, including Reminders of Him at Universal, Verity at Amazon MGM Studios and Regretting You from Constantin Films.