Brandon Sklenar stars alongside Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni in the latest screen adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us. Starring as Atlas Corrigan, the 34-year-old actor initially rejected the role because he wanted to spend more time in his home after working on another project.
Shortly after he spoke with the director, he was convinced of its story and purpose, and that’s how the film finally got its own Atlas.
Brandon Sklenar Revealed He Initially Refused To Star In Blake Lively’s It Ends With Us
Speaking with Forbes, actor Brandon Sklenar shared how exactly he landed on the part of Atlas Corrigan in Justin Baldoni’s It Ends With Us. At the time, he just finished filming the first part of Paramount+’s 1923 series.
Before the strike happened, he believed he had to return immediately to work for the second part, so in the interim, he wanted not to work at all and just reconnect with his home life.
Casting had reached out to me to read for the role. I respectfully said, I’m good. They just kept knocking on the door and eventually they said, ‘Why don’t you just Zoom with [director/co-star] Justin and talk to him?’
He went on a meeting with Baldoni and learned the book was about domestic violence. Sklenar said he became aware of the filmmaker’s intentions for making the movie and its importance.
But what pushed the actor to say yes was the fact that someone close to him had the same experience as Blake Lively’s Lily Bloom.
I have someone in my life who’s very close to me who has gone through pretty much exactly what Lily has gone through, so it immediately, once I came aware of the story and its cultural impact and how many women it has helped, it just felt like something I had to do.
Sklenar said working with the Gossip Girl star was “the best experience” he’s ever had and that she’s “an extraordinary person” who blows his mind away. He also complimented Lively’s performance and professionalism as an actor.
Brandon Sklenar Sends A Message For The Fans
Sklenar agreed to do the project because he saw something in it that may be helpful to people who could relate to it. In his interview with CBS Mornings, he said:
I just hope that any women that see it, if they relate to Lily in any way, that they feel empowered, and they feel seen, and they feel heard, and they find some hope to take steps to change their life, because it’s incredibly challenging to be in any situation that is remotely close to what Lily’s going through.
Colleen Hoover’s novel tackles hard-hitting issues of violence and the recognition of toxic patterns in a person’s behavior. It is also about resilience and empowerment, and it sends a hopeful message about surviving abuse and breaking its cycle.
It Ends With Us is now showing in theaters worldwide.
