"I loved making a film that was so intimate."
While a lot of musicians try their hand at acting over their careers, Taylor Swift is keen to go further: actually directing a feature film. The ‘Willow’ singer made a surprise appearance at the Tribeca Film Festival yesterday, where her short film All Too Well was screened and joined the film’s stars Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien for a Q&A session.
Swift directed All Too Well last year, a ten minute short film set to her song of the same name believed to be about her former relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal. It instantly went viral online, with fans praising its stars Sink, who currently stars in the latest season of Stranger Things as Max Mayfield, and O’Brien for their realistic portrayal of a doomed relationship.
Filmmaker Mike Mills interviewed the three celebrities onstage at the festival, during which he discussed Swift’s surprise passion for filmmaking. According to Variety reporter Rebecca Rubin, who also shared videos from the event on Twitter, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds were also in the crowd to support the singer and were seen "clapping, singing and taking videos of Taylor throughout." Swift also performed a ten minute version of her song before the audience.
Swift said she was “always curious” about the process and had in the past contributed to her music videos in the editing suite. She told Mills, “It would be so fantastic to write and direct something… a feature."
It’s unlikely she’s gunning to direct a major Marvel movie anytime soon however, as she added she didn’t want her next directing project to be any bigger than the production on All Too Well. She called directing Sink and O’Brien “such a fulfilling experience” and continued, “I loved making a film that was so intimate.”
However, she said it had been “vulnerable” for her to try her hand at something other than songwriting and singing. She added, “I had this imposter syndrome in my head saying, ‘No, you don’t do that. Other people do that who went to school to do that.'”
“There are so many decisions you have to make. Saying ‘I don’t know’ really isn’t an option most of the time,” she continued.
Swift said, “It is important to remind yourself you shouldn’t do everything perfectly, because you need to learn and grow.”