Justin Baldoni has admitted he had a “near breakdown” after filming an intense scene for It Ends With Us.

The Jane the Virgin actor starred as Ryle Kincaid, the abusive husband of Blake Lively’s main character Lily, in the movie adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s novel of the same name.

Baldoni, who also directed the film, admitted during an appearance on the How to Fail with Elizabeth Day podcast that he had a “near breakdown” after filming a scene where Ryle finds Lily’s ex-boyfriend’s number on her phone.

“He’s very jealous, and he’s heartbroken, and he’s angry, and he doesn’t harm her, but you can see in his eyes how dangerous he is. After that scene, I had a near breakdown,” Baldoni candidly recalled. “I had to leave and just cry and shake because there was so much pain (inside Ryle).”

Baldoni, 40, added that he found it “very hard” holding Ryle’s trauma and insecurity inside his body for months, especially as he was the leader of the project too.

“There were moments in the filming of this where I just have to leave, I have to remove myself and go and shake it out,” he noted.

The film hit headlines around its release in August over rumours of a conflict between Baldoni and Lively, and they fuelled the speculation by keeping separate during the promotional tour.

While Baldoni didn’t address the feud rumours, he indicated that there was a disagreement between him and the studio about having a trigger warning at the start of the film. The actor said he advocated for one because he didn’t want to re-traumatise victims of domestic violence, but “those are certain battles you can’t always win”.

The actor also shared that directing is “a very lonely job” and “a very strange place to be” on a film set.

“In your moments of quiet, everybody has a thousand questions for you and also nobody wants to disturb you and you don’t really have many people to talk to and you can’t necessarily share your anxiety or your nervousness about something because you’re also the leader,” he explained.

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