The film version of It Ends with Us has finally arrived – and the internet is very, very excited. Adapted from cult favourite author and BookTok mainstay Colleen Hoover’s romance novel of the same name, the film stars Blake Lively , Justin Baldoni and Brandon Sklenar as leads Lily, Ryle and Atlas. {"@context":"https://schema.
org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Hugh Jackman, Blake Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, his mother Tammy Reynolds and Brandon Sklenar attend the world premiere of It Ends with Us at AMC Lincoln Square on August 6, in New York. Photo: Invision/AP","url":"https://img.i-scmp.
com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/08/09/19e9d5f6-0c68-48a5-a6f4-e91d9003eace_e863a4f3.jpg"} Hugh Jackman, Blake Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, his mother Tammy Reynolds and Brandon Sklenar attend the world premiere of It Ends with Us at AMC Lincoln Square on August 6, in New York. Photo: Invision/AP However, not everyone was happy when they found out about the casting, with Screenrant reporting in May that many thought Lively, who was 35 during filming, was too old to play the character of Lily, who is around 23 in the novel.
Her co-star Brandon Sklenar, meanwhile, said he didn’t let diehard fans’ opinions of his character affect his portrayal, telling people he knew it was important to “do your thing with it and not be weighed down by what you think people might want to see or how they want to see it”. {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Brandon Sklenar attends the world premiere of It Ends with Us at AMC Lincoln Square on August 6, in New York.
Photo: Invision/AP","url":"https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/08/09/fac2cfd3-d2af-435f-988b-785ae9e89119_6e70fa6c.
jpg"} Brandon Sklenar attends the world premiere of It Ends with Us at AMC Lincoln Square on August 6, in New York. Photo: Invision/AP So, what else do you need to know about the 34-year-old who may just become the next “internet boyfriend”, Brandon Sklenar? What is Brandon Sklenar’s background? {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Brandon Sklenar photographed by Phil Chester.
Photo: @brandonsklenar/Instagram","url":"https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/08/08/defaff31-3499-440b-8c47-c3fcba9fd862_7390c88c.
jpg"} Brandon Sklenar photographed by Phil Chester. Photo: @brandonsklenar/Instagram Sklenar was born on June 26, 1990 in northern New Jersey to a hairdresser mother and a carpenter father, according to his IMDB. The actor told Man About Town that he “grew up blue-collar”, which instilled a need in him to work hard.
He was close to his grandparents as well, who reportedly nurtured his love of film. He told the outlet he had free rein to watch any films he wanted, and his grandmother would take him to a video store called JMD Video every Wednesday to pick some out. He was a particular fan of Westerns starring the likes of Clint Eastwood and John Wayne, which he would watch with his grandfather, he told Esquire.
How did Brandon Sklenar get into acting? Sklenar opened up about his social anxiety as a child in the same Esquire interview, describing himself as a “lone wolf” at school who would “go to school in a character for two weeks” to entertain himself. “I had severe dyslexia and a really bad stutter. I probably used [acting] in some way to try to fit in.
And in doing so, you didn’t fit in at all, because you’re just this weird kid who’s pretending to be somebody else,” he explained. While it didn’t help him make friends, it was still “cathartic and therapeutic” for the then future actor. He moved to California with nothing {"@context":"https://schema.
org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Brand Sklenar in a leather jacket at a Variety event. Photo: @brandonsklenar/Instagram","url":"https://img.i-scmp.
com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/08/08/d1cc59b2-c6e8-4073-8238-cfbcb6ccf7e7_d7491f3d.jpg"} Brand Sklenar in a leather jacket at a Variety event. Photo: @brandonsklenar/Instagram As soon as he turned 19, Sklenar left for California – and all his father said was “good luck”, he told Man About Town.
The young actor reportedly took his then-girlfriend and several rubbish bags filled with his things and rode off into the distance – “very much like a Springsteen song”, he described it. With no money to his name, he eventually ended up living in his car as he worked construction jobs and took on small roles to make ends meet, per Bustle. But, one day, he went up to someone in a diner to ask for a cigarette, and it just so happened to be a manager who told him he had a “great look”.
He signed him, and the rest is history. He wounded himself on the set of 1923 {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Brandon Sklenar as Spencer Dutton in 1923.
Photo: @brandonsklenar/Instagram","url":"https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/08/08/69494fd0-0141-4684-bd8e-fff1a36d4982_7390c88c.
jpg"} Brandon Sklenar as Spencer Dutton in 1923. Photo: @brandonsklenar/Instagram Sklenar’s acting career already spans over a decade, but his breakout role only came recently, in the Paramount+ Western series 1923 , the prequel to Yellowstone . On his first day of filming, during a scene in which he had to beat an enemy soldier to death with a steel helmet, he sustained an injury when director Ben Richardson asked him to “just go feral”.
“I was so into it that one time, I literally hit myself between the eyes with [it],” he told Bustle. And despite being told by a doctor that he would need stitches, Skenlar reportedly asked if he could use superglue instead so as not to interrupt filming. He’s pals with Blake Lively {"@context":"https://schema.
org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Brandon Sklenar poses with Blake Lively in the floral-embellished jeans she gifted to him. Photo: @brandonsklenar/Instagram","url":"https://img.i-scmp.
com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/08/08/30039f02-ecdd-4a0e-8af1-bb82092affd1_ccd5a007.jpg"} Brandon Sklenar poses with Blake Lively in the floral-embellished jeans she gifted to him. Photo: @brandonsklenar/Instagram Sklenar definitely seems close with his co-star off-screen, too.
Recently, at a surprise screening of It Ends with Us in Grapevine, Texas, Sklenar donned some jeans with floral appliqués on them – courtesy of leading lady Blake Lively, aka Lily Bloom, who’s a florist in the book. Sklenar looked proud as he posed with his jeans, embellished by the Gossip Girl star herself. Lively posted pictures from the event on her Instagram, showing the process of her ironing the appliqués on with Isabela Ferrer, another co-star.
Who is Brandon Sklenar dating? {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Brandon Sklenar and his girlfriend Courtney Salviolo at the world premiere of It Ends With Us in New York City, on August 6. Photo: Getty Images","url":"https://img.
i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/08/09/de418892-f91b-433c-abf8-1cef379a8554_44aefcbe.jpg"} Brandon Sklenar and his girlfriend Courtney Salviolo at the world premiere of It Ends With Us in New York City, on August 6.
Photo: Getty Images The 34-year-old and his girlfriend Courtney Salviolo recently made their red carpet debut at the film’s New York City premiere. According to her Instagram, Salviolo is a personal trainer and nutritionist. It’s speculated that the couple have been dating since at least 2022, as per Just Jared.
Despite her boyfriend being in the public eye, it seems Salviolo is a fairly private person. When E! News shared a video of Lively pulling Salviolo into a group picture on the red carpet during the film premiere, many fans pointed out that Sklenar looked uncomfortable, prompting a response from the actor himself. “Hey! Brandon here.
I mentioned to Blake I wanted to get Courtney in the photo. Courtney was unsure if that was something she wanted to do. I told her to let me know if she was comfortable with it and we would make it happen,” he commented under E! News’ video on Instagram.
“I’m a private person and very protective over my home life outside of this world. It’s a vulnerable moment knowing the person I love is about to be under the same microscope I am. Especially when their career is very far from this industry,” he added.
The film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s BookTok-beloved novel stars Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni and Brandon Sklenar – the cast just attended the premiere with Lively’s hubby Ryan Reynolds in tow Sklenar grew up watching Clint Eastwood and John Wayne, and started acting to deal with his social anxiety – his breakout role came in 2022, in the Paramount+ Western TV series 1923.
