Blake Lively wanted to be more than just an actress on a set, according to an unearthed interview from the 2022 Forbes Power Women’s Summit.
During the sit-down in New York, Lively, 37, admitted some directors and producers felt uncomfortable with her need to feel “authorship” while working on projects.
“When I was younger, in my life and career, I would sort of shape myself to the version of myself that I thought they wanted, or when I would show up on a set I knew that they just wanted me to show up and look cute and stand on a little pink sticker where I’m supposed to go and say what I’m supposed to say,” Lively said in the resurfaced interview.
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Blake Lively said directors and producers “really resented” her need for creative control. (Nils Meilvang)
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“But I also knew, like, that wasn’t fulfilling for me, that I wanted to be a part of the storytelling, that I wanted to be part of the narrative, whether that be in the writing, in the costume design, in creating the character.”
Despite some willingness from production for Lively to be hands-on with the project, Lively also said she received backlash.
Blake Lively attended the 2022 Forbes Power Women’s Summit. (Taylor Hill)
Justin Baldoni is suing Blake Lively and husband Ryan Reynolds for $400 million. (Cindy Ord)
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“Sometimes, I had directors or producers or writers who would welcome that and invite that once they saw that I was able to offer that, and sometimes I would have people who really resented that because they were like, we just hired you to be an actor.
“Yet when I went in the meetings, I would just seem like I’m just there to be the actor and ready to get the gig, I wouldn’t reveal that I actually need to have authorship in order to feel fulfilled.”
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She added, “So, I think that for them, sometimes that might have felt like a rug pull because you’re like, you’re trying to assert yourself into something that we didn’t hire you to do, and so it was a really strange position to be in. I want to have more authorship. It’s about knowing what I want and what I need and knowing what I need from the outset.”
Justin Baldoni not only starred in the film adaptation of the novel, but also directed the movie. (Getty Images)
“I would just seem like I’m just there to be the actor and ready to get the gig, I wouldn’t reveal that I actually need to have authorship in order to feel fulfilled.”
Representatives for Lively did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. It’s unclear which of Lively’s projects the star is referring to.
The “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” actress is embroiled in a legal back-and-forth with Justin Baldoni, her “It Ends With Us” director and co-star, whom she accused of sexual harassment. Baldoni, 41, filed his own $400 million defamation lawsuit against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds.
In an attempt to show how Lively allegedly took control of the movie’s production, Baldoni’s legal team claimed in documents that the actress used her friendship with Taylor Swift to threaten him. While working on the film, Lively insisted on rewriting the rooftop scene. Baldoni had been hesitant about the idea but told the 37-year-old actress he would “take a look at what she put together,” according to the complaint.
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Afterward, Lively invited Baldoni over to her New York City home, where the actor said he felt Swift and Reynolds pressured him into using the rewritten scene. “Later, Baldoni felt obliged to text Lively to say that he had liked her pages and hadn’t needed Reynolds and her megacelebrity friend to pressure him,” the complaint said.
Lively filed a sexual harassment suit in December against Baldoni, his Wayfarer studio and former PR reps. The same day Lively filed her suit, Baldoni filed a $250 million suit against the New York Times for a December article about the alleged smear campaign Baldoni attempted to run against his co-star.
Weeks later, Baldoni then named Lively and Reynolds in a separate $400 million lawsuit in which he accused the Hollywood power couple of attempting to hijack “It Ends With Us” and create their own narrative.
Judge Lewis J. Liman of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered a trial set for March 9, 2026.
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