Justin Baldoni talks about omitting the famous line “It Ends With Us”

It ends with us Director and leading actor Justin Baldoni knows that there are some fan-favorite moments from the book that aren't in the film, and he's done his best to make up for that.

“I know that a lot of fans love something from the book that didn't make it into the movie, namely the line 'just keep swimming' that Lily (Blake Lively) and Atlas (Brandon Sklenar) throughout the book,” Baldoni, 40, who plays Ryle Kincaid, explained in a promotional video released on the official It ends with us Instagram page on Friday, August 23. “If you watch the movie, look in Lily's bedroom on her wall, there's a poster. I won't say what it is [a poster] of, but you might see a little homage to the movie or the saying, if you will.”

Baldoni nodded further to “just keep swimming”, which the fans of the Colleen Hoover Roman in the film, which will be released in theaters on August 9th.

“There's also a stuffed animal that you might miss if you blink, but I think you'll find it,” he said. “And then when Lily meets Atlas again for the first time at the Root restaurant, right next to the bathroom, if you look between them, there's a frame on the wall with a very similar saying to [just keep swimming].”

“Just keep swimming” is a quote from the film Finding Nemoand a poster for the Pixar film and a plush toy of the titular clownfish are both featured in It ends with usWhen Lily and Atlas meet at the Root restaurant (renamed after “Bibs” from the book), there is a framed picture of a fish on the wall between them with a quote about swimming forward.

“I love finding a way to incorporate little Easter eggs into the film, because of course we can't put everything from the book into the film,” explains Baldoni.

It ends with us tells the abusive relationship between Ryle and Lily, inspired by Hoover's family history. Baldoni told The Hollywood Reporter Earlier this month, he said the film's difficult subject matter weighed on him during filming.

“There were a lot of moments where I had to go into a room by myself and just cry or shake it out and try to get it and that energy out of me,” he said. “Because it's too real. There are too many people who are the real Lily Blooms of this world and have to deal with that every day, and I wanted it to be as real as possible, and yet it was very hard to shoot those scenes.”

In addition to the intensity recorded on the screen, It ends with us There was also reportedly some drama behind the scenes. A source told exclusively Us Earlier this month, he said that “there were two camps on the film – Team Blake and Team Justin.” The insider added that the “creative struggle between Lively, 36, and Baldoni set the tone for the negative behind-the-scenes experience and resulted in them no longer speaking to each other.”

While the source said that “Justin felt his vision wasn’t as important” as that of Lively, who served as executive producer on the film, a second source told Us that “any changes or contributions made by Blake were to create the best possible film and do justice to the book.”

It ends with us is currently in cinemas.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.