Blake Lively’s Co-Star Brandon Sklenar Breaks Silence on ‘It Ends With Us’ Controversy
Content warning: This story discusses domestic violence.
Brandon Sklenar explained that one difficult theme didn’t end with his last film.
The It Ends With Us actor, 34, delved into how there has been a pattern of domestic violence stories in his recent work, including the upcoming film The Housemaid, and he thinks there is a reason he has been led to tell these heavy yet important stories.
“It’s a theme that’s been around me and in my life for a long time,” Sklenar told The Hollywood Reporter in an article published April 10. “Someone very close to me has been dealing with it for many years, and I’ve been helping her navigate that space as much as I can.”
He added, “So, perhaps, by the grace of God, it keeps finding its way into my sphere as a theme, because it’s a theme in my own life.”
In It Ends With Us, Sklenar played the childhood friend and first love of Blake Lively‘s character Lily, who he ultimately helps escape from an abusive marriage with Justin Baldoni‘s character, Ryle. Similarly, The Housemaid—another book to film adaptation—also deals with the topic of domestic abuse, starring Sydney Sweeney as maid Millie, who works for wealthy couple Nina (Amanda Seyfried) and Andrew (Sklenar).
