<\/p>\n It Ends With Us<\/em> director and star Justin Baldoni<\/strong> <\/a>knows there are some fan-favorite moments from the book that aren\u2019t in the film adaptation, and he did his best to make up for that.<\/p>\n \u201cSomething that I know so many fans love from the book that didn\u2019t make it in the movie was the phrase \u2018just keep swimming\u2019 that Lily (Blake Lively<\/strong>) and Atlas (Brandon Sklenar<\/strong>) shared over the course of the book,\u201d Baldoni, 40, who plays Ryle Kincaid, explained in a promotional video shared via the official It Ends With Us<\/em> Instagram page<\/a> on Friday, August 23. \u201cIf you watch the movie, look in Lily\u2019s bedroom on her wall, there\u2019s a poster. I\u2019m not gonna say what it\u2019s [a poster] of, but you\u2019ll see a little homage to maybe the movie or the saying, if you will.\u201d<\/p>\n Baldoni went on to share more nods to \u201cjust keep swimming\u201d that fans of the Colleen Hoover<\/strong> novel should look for in the film, which hit theaters on August 9.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s also a stuffed animal that if you blink, you might miss, but I think you\u2019ll get it,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd then when Lily reconnects with Atlas for the first time at Root restaurant, right by the bathroom, if you look in between them, there is a frame on the wall with a very similar saying to [just keep swimming].\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJust keep swimming\u201d is a quote from the film Finding Nemo<\/em>, and a poster for the Pixar movie and a plushie of the titular clownfish can both be spotted in It Ends With Us<\/em>. When Lily and Atlas meet up at the restaurant Root (renamed from the book\u2019s Bibs), there is a framed picture of a fish with a quote about swimming forward on the wall between them.<\/p>\n \u201cI love finding a way to infuse little Easter eggs into the film because of course we can\u2019t put everything from the book into the movie,\u201d Baldoni explained.<\/p>\n It Ends With Us<\/em> chronicles Ryle and Lily\u2019s abusive relationship, as inspired by Hoover\u2019s family history. Baldoni told The Hollywood Reporter<\/em> earlier this month that the film\u2019s heavy subject matter weighed on him during the shoot.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were a lot of times where I would have to go privately into a room and just cry<\/a> or shake it out and try to get him out of me and that energy out of me,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause it\u2019s too real. There are too many people that are the real-life Lily Blooms of the world that have to deal with that every single day, and I wanted it to be as real as possible and yet it was very hard to shoot those scenes.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to the intensity captured on screen, It Ends With Us<\/em> reportedly had behind-the-scenes drama as well. A source exclusively told Us<\/em> earlier this month that \u201cthere were two camps on the film \u2014 team Blake and team Justin.\u201d The insider added that Lively, 36, and Baldoni\u2019s \u201ccreative struggle<\/a> set the tone of the negative experience behind the scenes and grew into them not speaking anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n Justin Baldoni<\/span> Gotham\/WireImage<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n![\"Justin](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1-Justin-Baldoni-Addresses-Leaving-Out-Famous-It-Ends-With-Us-Line.jpg?w=1000&quality=40&strip=all\")
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\n Blake Lively and Brandon Sklenar<\/span> Eric Charbonneau\/Getty Images for Sony Pictures<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n