Blake Lively revealed producers 'resented her' for taking creative control 2 years before It Ends With Us drama

Blake Lively discussed riling producers with demands to take creative control of her projects in a resurfaced video this week - amid the ongoing It Ends With Us drama. The actress, 37, who is embroiled in legal drama with her former co-star and director Justin Baldoni amid reports of a power struggle on set and sexual harassment claims, previously said acting alone left her 'unfulfilled' and she desired to be 'part of the storytelling.'.

Speaking at the Forbes Power Women's Summit in 2022 in a video obtained by TMZ, the star detailed how she would attend first meetings primarily as an actor before revealing she wanted more 'authorship' of the project. She said: 'It's just as important to say, I'm standing up for this and I believe in this and that's why I'm not being difficult and there's other moments to say, am I being the asshole here in the room? What is happening here?.

'When I was younger in my career I would shape myself to the version of myself that they wanted... when I would show up on a set, I knew I was supposed to stand there and look cute and stand on a pink sticker... 'I also knew that wasn't fulfilling for me, that I wanted to be part of the storytelling, be a part of the narrative, whether that be in the writing, the costume design, creating the character, and sometimes I had the director, writers, producers who would welcome that once I was able to offer that, and sometimes I had people who resented that, because they just hired me to be the actor.

Blake Lively discussed riling producers with demands to take creative control of her projects in a resurfaced video this week - amid the ongoing It Ends With Us drama - pictured 2022 at the Forbes Power Women's Summit in 2022. The actress, 37, who is embroiled in legal drama with her former co-star and director Justin Baldoni amid reports of a power struggle on set and sexual harassment claims, previously said acting alone left her 'unfulfilled' and she desired to be 'part of the storytelling'.

'When I was in the meetings, I was like, I'm just here to be the actor and I'm here to get the gig, I wouldn't reveal that I needed to have authorship to feel fulfilled and I feel for them it felt like a rug pull, and you're trying to insert yourself into something we didn't hire you to do. 'So It was a really strange position to be in, because I don't want to just be an actor, i want to have more authorship.'.

This comes after Baldoni talked about feeling 'stressed' in an interview released on Monday. His chat on the Gent's Talk podcast, hosted by Samir Mourani, was recorded in November and is only now seeing the light of day. The interview is important because it took place just before he entered his vicious legal battle with  Lively. The 41-year-old star, who also directed It Ends with Us, said in the teaser released last week that he had experienced an 'intense' 2024.

In the full interview, released on Monday, he goes deeper. Justin said that he was so 'anxious' about a problem that he was worried about his 'mental health' and he noted that he was 'exhausted' and the 'emotional stress' was getting the better of him and his family. All in all, he came off as very on edge and he even wiped away a tear. She said: 'When I was in the meetings, I was like, I'm just here to be the actor and I'm here to get the gig, I wouldn't reveal that I needed to have authorship to feel fulfilled and I feel for them it felt like a rug pull, and you're trying to insert yourself into something we didn't hire you to do'.

'So It was a really strange position to be in, because I don't want to just be an actor, i want to have more authorship' - pictured in It Ends With Us. The star used words like he was not 'in the best place' and need time to recover from something. He also said, 'You don't have to be perfect to be loved.'. One month after he gave the interview, Blake filed civil rights complaint followed by a lawsuit against Baldoni for his alleged sexual harassment and smear campaign against her.

During the podcast, he appeared to be alluding to their behind-the-scenes power struggle and creative differences with Lively. 'I haven’t talked about this yet,' he told Mourani as footage panned to him rubbing his eyes while seemingly trying not to cry. At one point, Baldoni also revealed he 'sent a text message' earlier that morning that left him with 'anxiety.'. The exact topic of the interview was not revealed, but the Gent's Talk podcast usually focuses on difficult conversations around topics like relationships and mental health.

Lively alleged he improvised unwanted kisses while filming and spoke to her frequently about his past sexual encounters and pornography addiction. Last week, Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, raised new allegations in their hotly contested case against Baldoni in court on Monday. Baldoni's attorney, Bryan Freedman, pleaded with the judge to move the case forward as quickly as possible because his client was 'suffering greatly.'.