How old is Lily in ‘It Ends with Us?’

It Ends With Us is one of the most talked about books on social media, with millions of copies sold. As with most fiction books that get such raucous reception, it’s being adapted into a movie, which will star Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, with the latter also set to direct.

With Lively set to step into the shoes of Lily Bloom for the upcoming film, the It Ends With Us fanbase is naturally questioning whether Lively is age-appropriate to portray the protagonist of author Colleen Hoover’s story.

Lily Bloom’s age in It Ends With Us

Whether you’re a Blake Lively fan who dislikes Colleen Hoover’s works, or a Colleen Hoover fan who thinks Blake Lively isn’t the right fit for the role – in either case, the trepidations around the casting choice are somewhat understandable. Lily Bloom is 23 years of age at the beginning of It Ends With Us. Blake Lively, meanwhile, turned 35 in August last year. At least we know that Lively can pull off red hair. 

Granted, Lively could easily pass for mid-to-late-twenties, which can still be a fairly formative age when it comes to making mistakes in relationships and learning from them, with that theme playing a large role in the narrative of It Ends With Us. However, for the purist wanting the adaptation to stay as close to the source material as possible, it would be a stretch to cast Lively as a recent college graduate.

Could Lively’s age affect the story?

It’s no secret that Hollywood takes some creative liberties when it comes to adapting popular works of fiction. One of the most prominent examples when it comes to books would, of course, be the Harry Potter adaptations, which have been known to tweak details from the source material, or even omit subplots and characters entirely.

Heck, even HBO’s recent television adaptation of The Last of Us has made its fair share of changes from the original game. 

However, those examples both seemed to stick the landing with fans of the original works, seeing as the primary narrative beats have remained intact. The story of It Ends With Us can likely be executed to similar satisfaction, even if Lily isn’t fresh out of college. This is if the film doesn’t stray too far from the core developments in the plot that made the novel as successful as it is.

It Ends With Us will arrive in theaters on Feb. 9, 2024.