The contents of a life-changing spray bottle are at the center of Taylor Swift’s new “Opalite” video, in which she portrays a woman searching for happiness while living with a pet rock. The clip can also be streamed on Spotify and Apple Music for the first 48 hours, after which it will be available on YouTube and other platforms.
Swift discussed the genesis of the idea in an Instagram post, in which she traced it back to an appearance on the U.K.’s The Graham Norton Show with other celebrities such as Cillian Murphy, Domhnall Gleeson, Greta Lee, Jodie Smith and fellow musician Lewis Capaldi. In it, Gleeson portrays Swift’s unlikely love interest after they come together thanks to a few pumps from the Opalite bottle.
“For those of you who aren’t familiar, it’s a U.K. 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,” Swift recalled. “They even serve wine. Anyway. I remember thinking I got ridiculously lucky with the group I was paired with.”
“When we were all talking during the broadcast, Domhnall made a light hearted joke about wanting to be in one of my music videos,” she continued. “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,” she said. “To my delight, everyone from the show made the effort to time travel back to the ’90s with us and help with this video. You might even recognize some friendly faces from the Eras Tour. 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. Shot on film.”
“Opalite” is the second single from Swift’s latest Republic album, The Life of a Showgirl, following the chart-topping “The Fate of Ophelia.”
