People We Meet On Vacation director Brett Haley knew he wanted Taylor Swift’s “August” for a specific scene going into production on the film adaptation of Emily Henry’s book.
The director also considered a different song, from Swift’s 1989 album for the film, but ultimately it came down to the folklore ballad for Poppy’s grand entrance to what looks to be a luxurious party. The film centers around a wedding that brings Alex Nilsen (Tom Blyth) and Poppy Wright (Emily Bader) back together after a traditional summer trip — they take one every year — ended in a falling out between them.
“It was ‘Clean’ [Taylor’s Version],” author Henry reminded Haley during an interview ahead of the film’s arrival in December. “But we aren’t made of money.”
Henry agreed that “August” fit the scene.
“[Poppy’s] exact fear is, ‘I’m not actually the one. I’m just this summer thing,” she shared as Haley echoed the label. “I’m getting chills.”
“It’s my favorite Taylor Swift song hands down. We even, on set, were playing it during that sequence, so that the steady-cam operator could time it up,” Haley added. “August being summer. That was very particularly designed to that song. I remember my music supervisor being like, ‘Please don’t use it on set if you have to, because I don’t know that we’ll be able to get it.’ I was manifesting it and Taylor, thankfully, was so kind to us. We’re so proud of it in the film.”
This isn’t the first big feature for the popular song off of Swift’s eighth album, as it was featured in the Season 2 trailer for Prime Video’s The Summer I Turned Pretty intermixed with “Back To December” from Swift’s Speak Now album.