Young Lily star Blake Lively and Isabela Ferrer

Blake Lively and Isabela Ferrer didn’t just have an on-screen connection in It ends with useach playing a variation of main character Lily Bloom, but they also forged a close bond in real life.

While their uncanny resemblance may surprise some (right down to a mole under their right eye), they didn’t know each other before working together on the film, based on Colleen Hoover’s beloved book of the same name. However, Lively says The Hollywood Reporter that once she saw Ferrer’s audition tape, she immediately knew they had found someone special.

“We were like, ‘This is crazy,’” Lively recalls. “There were other great actresses who gave great performances, but there was only her. Even though she didn’t act the same way I did, didn’t talk the same way, didn’t have the same mannerisms, didn’t look like me or have the same mole, her performance was so strong, her heart was so strong.”

As for Ferrer, she felt grateful to be given the responsibility of playing a younger version of the character, who appears in flashbacks throughout the film. It was also notable given that this was her feature film debut.

“I knew how important this movie was and how important Colleen was,” Ferrer says of the role. “And then it was a great compliment to say, ‘Can you play a young Blake Lively?’ It’s the greatest compliment I’ve ever received in my entire life.”

Lively, an industry icon, quickly took Ferrer under her wing to help her find the confidence to trust her acting abilities and make her version of Lily her own.

“You came up to me and said, ‘I want you to know that this role is as much yours as it is mine,’” Ferrer says of a conversation they had on set. “It was the most empowering and encouraging thing for a young actor coming into this role, to feel like someone like you has such a high status and is so important to this project, and to say, ‘What do you think?’ It’s the greatest privilege and the greatest compliment.”

Their mutual vulnerability eventually blossomed into an off-camera friendship, one that had Lively jokingly considering becoming a “stage mom” to Ferrer. “Film is my side hustle,” the actress said. Gossip Girl Former student jokes during joint interview with THR“Isabella is my main priority.”

Lively also remembers how Ferrer supported her on set.

“She knows I feel something that no one else in the room knows, and it’ll just be like a gentle hand on my shoulder or on my leg or on my back,” Lively says of Ferrer.

It ends with us is directed by Justin Baldoni (who also plays Ryle). In the film, Lily must learn to rely on her own strength to overcome a traumatic childhood and later a relationship with Ryle that reminds her of her parents’ abusive relationship. Although the film includes a love story, it also focuses on a romantic relationship.