Maybe only Taylor Swift could turn a talk show visit into a "group project" with an A-list set of stars, all while circumventing conventional methods of releasing music videos. That's exactly what the singer pulled off with her new visual for "Opalite."
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Swift took the guest list from her October visit to BBC's The Graham Norton Show, including Lewis Capaldi, Cillian Murphy, Domhnall Gleeson, Greta Lee, and Jodie Turner-Smith, and cast them in her 90s rom-com music video for "Opalite." In it Taylor goes from dating an actual rock, to starting a relationship with Gleeson, thanks to an infomercial-ready magic spray.
"My favorite part about writing is that first spark of an idea. It can happen at any time, for any reason," Swift shared in a post on socials. "The idea for the 'Opalite' music video crash landed into my imagination when I was doing promo for 'The Life of a Showgirl.' I was a guest on one of my favorite shows, 'The Graham Norton Show.'"
"For those of you who aren’t familiar, it’s a UK late night show where Graham Norton (the insanely charismatic and lovable host) invites a random group of actors, entertainers, musicians, etc to be on his show and we all sit there and chat like it’s a dinner party. They even serve wine," she adds. "I remember thinking I got ridiculously lucky with the group I was paired with. Cillian Murphy, Domhnall Gleeson, Greta Lee, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Lewis Capaldi. All people whose work I’ve admired from afar."
"When we were all talking during the broadcast, Domhnall made a light hearted joke about wanting to be in one of my music videos. He’s Irish! He was joking! Except that in that moment during the interview, I was instantly struck with an *idea*. And so a week later he received an email script I’d written for the 'Opalite' video, where he was playing the starring role."
"I had this thought that it would be wild if all of our fellow guests on 'The Graham Norton Show' that night, including Graham himself, could be a part of it too. Like a school group project but for adults and it isn’t mandatory. To my delight, everyone from the show made the effort to time travel back to the 90’s with us and help with this video."
The video debuted Friday morning exclusively on Spotify and Apple Music, bypassing the typical landing place (for now) of YouTube. Speculation has been that it's a response to YouTube no longer submitting their streaming data to the Billboard chart. However, the onyx night blackout on the world's most popular video platform won't last for long. The "Opalite" video will hit the site on Sunday, February 8.