Blake Lively Recalls Trying to Gain More Creative Control on Projects in Resurfaced Interview

Blake Lively has long been wanting to be more involved in the creative side of show business, she revealed in a 2022 interview.

TMZ resurfaced a clip of Lively speaking at the Forbes Power Women's Summit in 2022, in which she recalled trying to be part of the storytelling and narrative on projects after being hired as an actress.

Lively shared, “When I was younger in my life and career I would sort of shape myself to the version of myself that I thought that they wanted or when I would show up on set I knew that they wanted me to show up and look cute and stand on a little pink sticker… and say what I’m supposed to say, but I also knew that that wasn’t fulfilling for me.”

Blake said she knew that “I wanted to be 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, and sometimes I had directors or producers or writers who would welcome that and invite that once that they saw that I was able to offer that. Sometimes I would have people who really resented that because they were like, ‘We just hired you to be an actor.’”

The star added, “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. So, I think for them sometimes that may have felt like a rug pull because you are trying to assert yourself into something we didn’t hire you to do. And so, it was a really strange position to be in, because it was like I don’t want to just be an actor, I want to have more authorship.”

Blake’s statements echo some of the issues that have come up in her legal battle with Justin Baldoni. They co-starred in “It Ends with Us,” which he directed and on which she was a co-producer.

It came to light that Lively was involved in script rewrites, costumes, music, and that she made her own cut of the film, which was ultimately the version distributed in August 2024. 

The film’s issues, however, allegedly went much deeper.

In December, Lively filed a legal complaint with the California Civil Rights Department claiming Baldoni sexually harassed her on set. She also accused him of a smear campaign in a New York Times article. In return, he sued The New York Times, which denied any wrongdoing. 

Lively then sued Baldoni, and he sued her back. Both parties have also denied any wrongdoing.