On July 15, 2019, it was announced that a film adaptation of the book “It Ends With Us” by Colleen Hoover was going to be developed. Fans of the book all over the internet were buzzing about this information, posting whenever a new update was available. Almost four years later, we finally have a casting announcement for two of the main characters, Lily Bloom and Ryle Kincaid. These roles will be fulfilled by Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, who Colleen Hoover herself said were her dream castings. There have also been rumors of Shane West being cast as Atlas Corrigan, another main character. While the author seems convinced that these two actors are perfect for the role, many fans are unconvinced. The ages of the actors is a large source of criticism, which has also been an issue for other movies in the past.

While Lively and Baldoni are amazing actors, known for their roles in the shows “Gossip Girl” and “Jane the Virgin,” respectively, they just do not seem fit for these characters. The biggest thing that fans have criticized is their age. Bloom is supposed to be 23 years old, and Lively is 12 years older than the character at 35 years old. Similarly, Kincaid is supposed to be 30 years old, while Justin Baldoni is 39. While their age does not affect their ability to act out the role, it does affect how the characters will be seen on screen.

The clear age gap between Bloom and Kincaid is part of what affects the power dynamic in their relationship. Bloom has a certain innocence about her, being fresh out of college and trying to build a life for herself. Kincaid already has a life for himself and was the one who pursued Bloom in the first place, quite literally showing up at her doorstep and begging her. Having both of the characters age up and appear closer in age on screen will make their dynamic less effective. This has happened before — for example, in “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief,” Percy was older and the tension between him and another older character, Luke, was not present. Furthermore, due to mature content or minor labor laws, younger characters are typically played by older actors. Because the characters in this film are not children, aging the actors was completely unnecessary.

While those two castings may not seem like the best option, maybe we will be pleasantly surprised by the final product. The casting of West as Corrigan, on the other hand, is likely to enrage fans even more. While it is not confirmed that he will be playing the role, this was a rumor floating around due to an Instagram comment he left on a post about “It Ends With Us,” where he insinuated that he would be interested in the role. Altas is a fan favorite, so his casting is very important. The age issue would be even more extreme were Shane, 44, to play Corrigan, 26 years old, with an 18-year age gap. Corrigan and Bloom are supposed to be closer in age since they knew each other when they were in high school, having a three-year age gap. Their history is a very important part of the story, and ignoring this age difference would not make sense for the movie.

The fans that are disappointed by the casting have made that clear in the comments of Hoover’s Instagram cast announcement post. In the absence of a cast for almost four years, there have been many fan-casts that fans are disappointed were not chosen. It seems that the most popular fan-casts are Abigail Cowen as Bloom and Theo James as Kincaid. Cowen is an up-and-coming actor, well known for her role as Bloom in the show “Fate: The Winx Saga,” and who many think look exactly as they imagined Bloom. She is also very close in age to Bloom at 24 years old. James is best known for playing Four in the movie “Divergent,” and many envisioned him as Kincaid. Although he is still a bit older than Kincaid, at 38 years old, having an older actor with a younger one could play into showing the age gap and power dynamic between him and Bloom. There is also a fan-cast for a younger Bloom in many flashback scenes, and fans hope Sadie Sink will fulfill the role. Sink has been rapidly increasing in popularity since her role as Max in “Stranger Things” and her performance in Taylor Swift’s short film “All Too Well: The Short Film.” She is close in age to the 15-year-old character at 20 years old. There are also similarities in looks between Sink and Cowen that would make them a good match for an older and younger version of the same character.

While we cannot change the casting for Bloom and Kincaid, there is still a chance that fans will be happier with the casting for the other main characters, such as Corrigan, Alyssa Kincaid, Marshall and younger versions of Bloom and Corrigan. Hopefully, fans will be pleasantly surprised by Lively and Baldoni’s performances and their ability to bring the book to life on screen.

Lily Tener is a sophomore double-majoring in psychology and English.