The It Ends With Us promotional cycle and movie release ended in controversy earlier this year, mainly due to allegations of an on-set feud between the movie's lead stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.
A large part of the coverage surrounding the movie also revolved around the two very different ways in which the actors conducted the promotional cycle, with viewers decrying the film's domestic violence themes often being pushed to the sidelines.
Now Justin, 40, who also directed the film, is opening up in a conversation with Elizabeth Day for her podcast How to Fail about the life experiences that informed his relationship with the film, and wrestling with his character Ryle, a charming but abusive partner. Watch a snippet of the movie below...
The star emotionally shared his experience of being sexually abused by a former partner when he was much younger, explaining that once he identified that "trauma," it affected him deeply.
"I experienced sexual trauma in that relationship," he admitted. "Then wrestled with that trauma for the rest of my life, because in my head a man can't experience sexual trauma at the hands of a woman."
"And it's also the way that society has kind of made me feel that it's only the other way around, when in reality it can happen."
© Getty ImagesThe Jane the Virgin star also confessed that he had a "near breakdown" on the set of the romantic drama, based on Colleen Hoover's best-selling novel of the same name.
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"There were moments in the filming of this where I would just have to leave," he elaborated. "I'd have to remove myself and go shake it out," adding that the pressure of being Ryle was too much at times.
© Getty Images"There's a moment in the movie where Ryle finds Lily's phone, and he finds a phone number and he's very jealous and he's heartbroken and he's angry. And he doesn't harm her, but you can see in his eyes how dangerous he is. After that scene, I had a near breakdown."
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Justin shared that he "had to leave and just cry and shake because there was so much pain," confessing that the character stayed with him for months and he would "dream" as Ryle.
© USWAfter the film's release, he stated in interviews that he thinks Blake would do a good job of directing a sequel to the film, if any. During his podcast appearance, the dad-of-two explained that he found directing to be "lonely." He also served as an executive producer through his Wayfarer Studios banner.
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"Directing is a very lonely job," he explained. "You are kind of at the top of this totem pole. In your moments of quiet, everybody has a thousand questions for you and also nobody wants to disturb you and you don't really have many people to talk to and you can't necessarily share your anxiety or your nervousness about something because you're also the leader."
© Getty ImagesJustin also spoke on the podcast about struggling with learning as a child and receiving an ADHD diagnosis just earlier this year, saying that it allowed him to reconcile with his early life in a way.
