Brandon Sklenar opened up about starring in two high-profile film adaptations that both discuss domestic violence.
“It’s a theme that’s been around me and in my life for a long time,” Sklenar, 34, told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published on Thursday, April 10. “Someone very close to me has been dealing with it for many years, and I’ve been helping her navigate that space as much as I can.”
Sklenar starred as Atlas Corrigan in 2024’s It Ends With Us, a film based on Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel of the same name. Both the book and movie center around Lily Bloom (Blake Lively) and her abusive relationship with Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni).
Sklenar will next star in The Housemaid, which is based on Freida McFadden’s 2022 novel about a homeless woman hired as a housekeeper for a wealthy family. Protagonist Millie soon notices that the married couple acts erratically and displays demanding behavior. The film also features Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried.
Brandon Sklenar Focuses on Meaning of ‘It Ends With Us’ Amid Legal Battle
“Perhaps, by the grace of God, it keeps finding its way into my sphere as a theme because it’s a theme in my own life,” Sklenar added to THR.
After filming It Ends With Us, Sklenar worked on horror movie Drop with Meghann Fahy. The movie, which is in theaters now, also involves domestic abuse. Filming two projects back-to-back about the same heavy subject matter did not worry Sklenar.
“It’s something that we touch upon in Drop, given Violet’s history, but it’s not necessarily in the forefront as much as it is with It Ends with Us,” he said, referring to Fahy’s character. “That film is directly about [domestic violence], and the entire plot revolves around it. So it was just purely coincidental that it’s a theme in this film. Oddly enough, it also reoccurs in The Housemaid, which I just wrapped.”
Sklenar stressed that any similarities are purely “coincidental.”
“It seems to keep coming about,” he said, adding that “there is a way” to properly tell these stories.
Brandon Sklenar Breaks Silence on Alleged ‘It Ends With Us’ Cast Drama
“Housemaid touches upon it. It’s a suspense thriller, but it’s not as true to life as It Ends with Us,” Sklenar noted to the outlet. “The character is dealing with very real traumatic things, but it’s elevated in the way the story is told. So that hopefully takes just a little bit of the edge off as a result, and lets people digest it in a different way. Drop does it in a similar way, as well. The film itself is elevated, and so it’s able to address the topic without being fully consumed by it.”
After It Ends With Us premiered, Lively, 37, accused director and costar Baldoni, 41, of sexual harassment, fostering a hostile work environment and trying to destroy her reputation. He denied the allegations before filing a defamation lawsuit against Lively, which she requested to dismiss last month. Sklenar, for his part, has not directly addressed the scandal, hoping to continue to highlight the important message instead.
“Colleen [Hoover] and the women of this cast stand for hope, perseverance, and for women choosing a better life for themselves,” he wrote via Instagram in August 2024. Vilifying the women who put so much of their heart and soul into making this film because they believe so strongly in its message seems counterproductive and detracts from what this film is about.”
He added, “It is, in fact, the opposite of the point. What may or may not have happened behind the scenes does not and hopefully should not detract from what our intentions were in making this film. It’s been disheartening to see the amount of negativity being projected online. … I feel a responsibility to bring this to life and help spread that message further.”
