Guillermo Del Toro Expects Great Things From Taylor Swift As A Director
Ready or not, Taylor Swift is in her director era, and it's been a long time coming. For nearly two decades, the pop-star has been imbuing her music with a personal, detailed sense of storytelling. Though one might not be blown away by her feature film acting credits, rest assured, Swift is no stranger to a film set. She first co-directed alongside longtime collaborator Roman White for her 2010 music video, "Mine," a single off of her third studio album "Speak Now." Nine years later, the Grammy-winning singer returned back behind the camera and has since directed most of the music videos from her seventh album, "Lover," not to mention her latest efforts from the album "Midnights."
In the past year alone, her cinematic ambitions have been reaching new heights. Back in November 2021, she released "All Too Well: The Short Film," which visualizes one of her most beloved songs in her long and acclaimed discography. Starring Dylan O'Brien and Sadie Sink, Swift's short gives new dimension and specificity to one of her most publicized heartbreaks. After months of campaigning the short, it was recently announced that Swift would make an appearance in Variety's Directors on Directors series alongside Martin McDonagh. Plus, we have the news that Fox Searchlight has picked up Swift's upcoming feature directorial debut.
Basically, it's a good time to be a Swfitie. Especially when she has talent like filmmaker Guillermo del Toro by her side. Last night, W Magazine spoke to del Toro at the launch of a MoMA exhibition centered on his newest film, "Pinocchio." In their conversation, del Toro expressed great enthusiasm for Taylor Swift's career pivot into the director's chair.
'I have the greatest admiration for her'
"Yes, yes," Del Toro told the W Magazine. "She's a very accomplished director, she's incredibly articulate and deep about what she's trying to do — and what she will do."
Del Toro continued to share that the two had recently met up to talk about filmmaking and exchange wisdoms. He even provided her with a few of the most influential texts that helped shape one the most important films of his career:
"I have the greatest admiration for her; we had one of the most stimulating and gratifying conversations. We have many, many common interests. And her interest in fable and myth and the origins of fairytale is quite deep. I gave her a few books that I thought would be interesting for her — among them, very importantly, a book that was useful for me in creating 'Pan's Labyrinth' called 'The Science of Fairy Tales,' which codifies and talks about fairytale lore."
Other than the fact that it's happening, details on Taylor Swift's feature-length film are tight lipped. Will it be a semi-autobiographical coming of age tale of love and loss like "All Too Well?" Or, is she taking a page from Del Toro's book and making a stylistic fairytale like her music video for "Bejeweled?" Whatever your opinion on her is, Swift is a bonafide storyteller, and it is exciting to see an experienced modern pop star take on a new medium.