Tag: blake lively

Blake Lively Reveals the ‘Entire Sonic Universe’ of Music That Inspired ‘It Ends With Us’

August 9, 2024

Humans are complex creatures, capable of experiencing joy, sorrow, and everything in between. It Ends With Us, the first Colleen Hoover novel brought to life on the big screen, captures that kaleidoscope of emotions, weaving a tale of love, resilience, and the choices we make.

The movie, which hit U.S. theaters on Friday, stars Blake Lively as protagonist Lily Bloom, a woman who overcomes a traumatic childhood to begin a new life in Boston and pursue her dream of opening a business. She falls for charming neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni) but soon begins to see sides of him that remind her of her parents’ relationship. When Lily’s childhood love Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar) reappears in her life, her relationship with Ryle is upended, leaving her with an impossible choice.

Adapted for the screen by Christy Hall, the film has sparked a fresh wave of interest in the 2016 novel. The day after the official trailer dropped, the audiobook reached its biggest listening numbers ever on Spotify, while searches for “It Ends With Us” shot up nearly 600% throughout the week.

Now, fans can experience the romantic drama in a whole new light—and music plays a crucial part in the adaptation. It’s also a huge source of inspiration and creativity for Blake, who helped pick the songs that make up the movie’s soundtrack. But to truly capture the full extent of artists, songs, and genres that define It Ends With Us, the actress also created a special (6.5-hour-long!) Spotify playlist.

For the Record sat down with Blake and her costar Isabela Ferrer, who plays young Lily, to discuss their creative processes, the vastness of the human experience, and the power of music.

Blake, you curated a Spotify playlist for It Ends With Us. What was your approach?

I was asked to include a few songs—I included 100. One hundred songs. I was lucky to get to select the music in this movie with our music supervisor, Season Kent, and one of our editors, Shane Reid. And the music in this movie is everything. Lily’s story, what she’s feeling, comes through in the music—sometimes she can’t express it in words, but you can feel it in songs. So, these are songs that are not only in the film, but also songs that I listened to while making the film, songs that were in early cuts of the movie, and songs that inspired the score. This really is the entire sonic universe that we all lived and breathed while making this film.

If you could pick one anthem for Lily, what would it be?

Blake: Lily is so multifaceted. She’s somebody who is like a contradiction of herself at all times, yet it makes perfect sense for her, and it’s totally harmonious. That’s why I have a 100-song playlist. My anthem is 100 songs long. Enjoy!

Isabela: I would pick “God Turn Me Into a Flower” by Weyes Blood. That song is the most atmospheric, most beautiful. It feels like the movie The Tree of Life but in a song. Every time I would listen to it, it just felt like what I feel Lily’s inner life is like—just the fullest, most expansive thing. It’s one of my favorite songs.

Blake: Will you send me a playlist? Because I love all the music you’re talking about, and I want to hear it. 

Isabela: Yeah, I’ll send it to you! I love Weyes Blood so much. Her voice—there’s something so angelic and emotional [about her music] and I feel like it just keeps me in touch with myself.

On that note, how does music play into your creative process? Does it help you get into character?

Isabela: I feel like you can build a world around music. At least for me, what I listen to really affects my day. If I’m walking somewhere through the streets of New York and I’m listening to something upbeat, that gets me in the mood. Or if I’m feeling really sad and just need to cry, I’ll put on Jeff Buckley. And I feel like that’s such a cool part of playing these types of roles, where you actually get to ask yourself: What would they listen to? You get to world-build. You get to really invest more in that character with music.

Blake: For me, the older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve gotten involved in the filmmaking and storytelling outside of my character. Music is storytelling. I never look at it as character specific, I look at it through moments in the story. Are we trying to underscore something, are we trying to juxtapose the moment with a song, are we trying to lean into it, are we trying to bring back nostalgia? That’s why Dashboard Confessional is in [It Ends With Us]—that’s something that sounds like high school, where you’re like, “Oh my gosh, I forgot how much I felt and how much I loved!” Music can really transport you. So, I look at it less through the character of Lily and more through what we want the audience to be feeling at that moment.

And my husband and I both help each other so much with music. We’re like uncredited music supervisors on each other’s movies. I mean, you see that all over Deadpool & Wolverine, all that millennial girl music. He loves Avril Lavigne—fellow Canadian—but he was not feeling the feels, in his car in middle school, screaming “it’s a damn cold night” [from “I’m with You”]. So, both of our loves are all over each other’s work, and I think that’s really special.

Can you describe It Ends With Us in three words?

Blake: No! I choose one word: No. Because I cannot describe it in three words. I think that this is a movie about feeling. It’s a movie about feeling with other people, whether it’s a loved one or a friend or strangers. You go to the theater, where you’re surrounded by a bunch of strangers, to laugh with a group of people, to cry with a group of people, to be afraid, to be excited, to feel nostalgic, to feel passionate about the future, or to feel someone’s dreams come to fruition. Feeling the whole messiness of the human experience with others and that connectivity that you feel in a theater, there’s nothing like it. We watched this movie with 3,000 fans in Dallas and it was just so beautiful and so cool to experience that. So, I hope people come and feel. I hope they come and feel all of it. It’s a whole roller coaster.

Hit play on Blake’s playlist to hop on the roller coaster of emotions.

Celebrity Trainer and Fitness Podcast Host Don Saladino Spills His Favorite Workout Songs, Podcasts, and Tips

January 7, 2020

If you’ve seen any of the Captain America, Avengers, or Wolverine movies, you’ve likely noticed Don Saladino’s handiwork. The celebrity trainer and entrepreneur works on strength, conditioning, and overall wellness with television and movie stars—from Ryan Reynolds to Blake Lively and Emily Blunt—to help them improve their performance physiques.

Don was a fitness trainer for more than twenty years, but since 2000 he’s been a business owner, brand strategist, and entrepreneur as well. At this point, training is the easy part. He also hosts two fitness podcasts and is a self-proclaimed music buff who tailors what’s playing to his clientele. For example, he knows to blast Pearl Jam when John Krasinski comes in for a workout, and recommends Led Zeppelin for actor Billy Crudup’s reps. For Don’s own workouts, he likes to stream Metallica albums from beginning to end. (He also says one can’t go wrong with ’90s grunge.)

We asked Don (between reps) to make a podcast playlist for us and grabbed a few music and workout tips from him as well—just in time to help you stick with your New Year’s fitness resolution.

How have you seen music help people during workouts?

I’ve educated myself in the last 20 years on fitness, anatomy, and kinesiology (the study of body movement) from the best doctors and coaches. But part of what I do, as important as that is, is play good music. Music’s a big driving force to a workout. Not everyone comes in having a good day, but music is the one thing you can throw at someone where, no matter how bad their day is, you can almost hit that reset button and get them to put a smile on their face, get into a little bit of a groove, and develop a little bit of a rhythm. Once a person starts picking up that energy and momentum, you can really accomplish something.

This year, Spotify’s data showed that health and fitness podcast listening increased 145% in the past year on our platform. Why do you think people are turning to podcasts to get information about health and fitness?

First off, I think listening to podcasts is a great way to fill time. I have an hour commute every morning on the train, and podcasts are an educational, entertaining way to be able to fill that. It’s so easy now with our phones and wireless headphones to just connect anywhere and become a smarter person. We’re also more aware of time management. If I’m on the train two hours a day, man, that’s 10 hours a week where I can listen to a different author or a different podcast or get educated on a different area. That’s really doing a lot of good self-help stuff for me.

Plus, we’re in a much more health-conscious society now. I mean, it is amazing. Twenty, 30 years ago, we weren’t paying attention to organic farming. We weren’t paying attention to how crops were being made or how important the purity of olive oil is—everyone just thought olive oil was healthy. (The other day I listened to a great podcast about olive oil, so it’s on my mind.) So the combination of downtime and connectivity, wanting to be educated, and the move towards health-consciousness all factor in.

Tell us about the podcasts you host—Reps for Muscle and Fitness and D&D Fitness Radio Podcast—what can listeners get out of these? What sort of episodes did you include on your podcast playlist?

Muscle and Fitness magazine brought me in to help elevate the educational platform for their listeners. We really wanted to go out there and not only just get fitness people talking about sets and reps, but we wanted to get the best nutritionists, the best doctors, talking about wellness as well. There are so many skeptics out there about gluten free or about intermittent fasting or about the ketogenic tide.

When you listen to the full podcast playlist, you’ll get points of view from well-educated experts like nutritionists, doctors, and trainers, as well as a level of entertainment from celebrities like Randy Couture, Zach Levi, and Liev Schreiber.

What are three wellness tips that anyone at any fitness level can incorporate into their New Year’s wellness resolution?

Sleep is number one. When we don’t fall into that realm of that seven to nine hours of good quality sleep at night, it impacts our entire body, including hormone function. If your hormone function is off, you’re not going to have a high level of energy, and you’re also not going to be able to burn an appropriate amount of fat. Your strength level is not going to be optimal and everything with your training’s going to drop.

Hydration is number two. Drink half your body weight in ounces of water. That’s going to set you up for proper digestion, better hormone function, better sleep, better energy, and a better way to metabolize foods.

Then, I think from an exercise standpoint, stop thinking that you need to spend 60 to 90 minutes a day at the gym. If you’re someone who hates the gym, but you can get in there for 15 minutes, just aim to break a sweat for 10-15 minutes a day. That is enough.

One bonus tip is to always fact-check—whether you’re listening to a fitness podcast or hiring a new coach, make sure the credentials are good and you’re getting accurate information about your health and workout.

Finally—for a question that takes us out of the gym—what is your go-to karaoke song?

“Faithfully” by Journey. I think it’s the hardest karaoke song to sing on the planet. My son’s a very good singer and I challenged him to sing it. He’s got a much better voice than I do and he’s almost nailing it right now. He’s 11. I’m trying to see if he can do a much better job than I did. We’ve been having a great time with it. I challenge anyone—if you can hit that song on all notes, you’ve got it together.

Take a listen to Don’s fitness-filled podcast playlist below for expert takes on wellness and working out.