McKenna Grace and Mason Thames Say ‘Regretting You’ Had ‘Different Vibe’ From ‘It Ends With Us’

Jessica Miglio / Paramount Pictures / Courtesy of Everett Collection

All eyes were on Colleen Hoover’s second film adaptation, Regretting You, amid the ongoing legal battle between It Ends With Us stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni — but the new stars weren’t bothered.

“It’s just a vastly different vibe and topics,” Mason Thames, who plays Miller Adams, told Entertainment Weekly in an interview published on Saturday, October 25, of the environment on set of the upcoming film.

Hoover, 45, published Regretting You in 2019, centered around teenager Clara (McKenna Grace) and her mother, Morgan (Allison Williams) as they navigate the death of Clara’s father (Scott Eastwood). Their loss and the immediate aftermath ultimately lead to the unraveling of even more family secrets. At the same time, Clara finds love with Miller (Thames).

Regretting You is Hoover’s second novel to be adapted for the big screen, following 2016’s It Ends With Us. The film version was released in August 2024, in which Lively, 38, and Baldoni, 41, played a couple in an abusive relationship. After filming wrapped, Lively named Baldoni in a lawsuit, accusing him of sexual harassment, fostering a hostile work environment and attempting to ruin her reputation.

McKenna Grace Teases Upcoming Role in Colleen Hoover Adaptation of ‘Regretting You’

Baldoni, who also directed It Ends With Us, vehemently denied the accusations before filing a $400 million defamation suit against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds. The married couple denied Baldoni’s allegations before the case was dismissed in May. Lively’s suit, meanwhile, is still ongoing.

Grace, 19, Thames, 18, and the rest of the Regretting You cast began filming amid the legal back-and-forth.

“It’s a completely different film, different everything,” Grace stressed to EW. “I think that we just went into it making a film as we normally would, and trying to make the best film we could outside of any other [influences].”

Grace further revealed that she first bonded with Thames by hitting up a screening of It Ends With Us.

McKenna Grace, Dave Franco and Allison Williams in ‘Regretting You.’ Jessica Miglio / Paramount Pictures / Courtesy of Everett Collection

“When Mason and I first met, we went and saw that film,” the Handmaid’s Tale alum told the outlet. “We wanted to go and prepare for this.”

In regards to tackling the role of Clara in director Josh Boone’s adaptation of Regretting You, Grace did turn to Hoover’s novel in itself.

“I didn’t know that it was a book when I first read the script, but then afterwards, I read the book like a hundred times over by the time all of this was said and done,” she recalled. “I very much had my entire book highlighted and noted to the seams months prior to shooting.”

In Grace’s preparation, she hopes audiences recognize her character’s authenticity.

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“I was like, ‘I hope she’s not too unlikable with all the mistakes that she makes,’” Grace explained of her inner monologue during production. “But then I was watching it and I was like, honestly, she’s just a very human character. She’s very broken and kind of lost, and to me, it felt just very authentic and real, watching her make as many very big mistakes as she did.”

Thames also found Grace’s copious notes to be helpful in his own acting process.

“Whenever I was with her, we just went over things and talked about stuff we wanted to bring from the book into the movie,” he told EW. “[We want to] do our characters justice for the fans — and for us, we love these characters.”

Regretting You is in theaters now.