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Taylor Swift has released the Nineties-inspired music video for her hit single “Opalite”, revealing that she invited her fellow guests from The Graham Norton Show – and Norton himself – to co-star with her.
Irish actors Cillian Murphy and Domhnall Gleeson, actors Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith, and Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi, who appeared with Swift on the show last October, all make an appearance in one way or another.
Gleeson stars as a man in an unhappy relationship, while Swift is in a similar situation. After being convinced to try a mysterious product, “Opalite” – advertised by a grinning Murphy – they find each other and fall in love.
Capaldi stars as a mall photographer taking pictures of Gleeson and Swift together, before getting in on the pictures himself, while Turner-Smith and Lee appear in cameos on retro TV screens.
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Graham Norton, Taylor Swift and Domhnall Gleeson in the ‘Opalite’ music video (Republic Records/Universal Music Group)
“My favourite part about writing is that first spark of an idea,” Swift, 36, wrote on Instagram as she announced the video’s release.
Praising the “insanely charismatic and loveable” Norton, Swift spoke of how “lucky” she felt to be paired with such a lineup on the Irish host’s chat show.
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Swift with Gleeson and Lewis Capaldi (Republic Records/Universal Music Group)
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Scenes from the ‘Opalite’ music video with Jodie Turner-Smith (Republic Records/Universal Music Group)
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Swift and Gleeson perform a dance routine at the end of the video (Republic Records/Universal Music Group)
“It can happen at any time, for any reason. The idea for the ‘Opalite’ music video crash-landed into my imagination when I was doing promo for The Life of a Showgirl,” Swift said, referring to her most recent album.
“When we were all talking during the broadcast, Domhnall made a light-hearted joke about wanting to be in one of my music videos,” Swift recalled. “He’s Irish! He was joking! Except that in that moment during the interview, I was instantly struck with an *idea*.”
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Cillian Murphy makes a cameo in Swift’s music video (Republic Records/Universal Music Group)
She continued: “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.”
Swift said she was delighted when everyone accepted: “I had more fun than I ever imagined – made new friends, metaphors, and fashion choices. It was an absolute thrill to create this story and these characters.”
The “Opalite” music video is currently only available to watch on Spotify and Apple Music.