A week after dropping the hilarious, retro ’90s video for “Opalite,” Taylor Swift is doubling down with two extended versions of the star-studded clip. In an Instagram post announcing the bonus footage on Friday morning (Feb. 13), Swift shared a series of behind-the-scenes screen grabs from the set, writing, “I never want to forget a single detail of this hysterical shoot, and now I don’t have to! Excited to share more of the ‘Opalite’ Music Video with two extended versions full of dance lessoning, our phenomenal cameos, camcorder footage, gigantic scrunchies & fanny pack angles!”
In the first extended cut, after the full official video featuring dance partner Domhnall Gleeson, as well as Lewis Capaldi, Greta Lee, Jodie Turner-Smith, Graham Norton and Cillian Murphy unspools, Swift pops up on old school TV explaining the genesis of the clip that had a real-life inspiration. “For like a year I was like, ‘what would I do for the ‘Opalite’ video?’,” Swift says, explaining that the idea for the visual she wrote and directed was hatched when she appeared on Norton’s British chat show in October with a panel that became the cast of the video.
Lee adds, “It was wild. In the middle of our interview we turn and we see,” then Capaldi breaks in and notes that Gleeson made his pitch on the show to one day be in a Swift video, with Lee wondering where his nerves went in that moment. Turner-Smith says, “we were all thinking it,” as the camera cuts to Swift’s surprised look at Gleeson shooting his shot during the broadcast.
Gleeson recalls someone asking if he noticed Swift’s shocked reaction when he made his pitch and he admits he didn’t. “‘She’s thinking about it.’ [And I said], ‘there’s no way she’s thinking about it,’” The Paper actor says in an on-set confessional-style interview. But, Swift being Swift, she confirms that unscripted moment instantly sparked an idea for the video.
A smash cut of behind-the-scenes footage leads to Swift smiling and saying, “this one was absolutely absurd and hilarious to make,” as she waves goodbye to 1993. “We miss you,” she adds with a kiss to the camera in the bonus footage that, of course, dropped on the 13th, extending her obsession with her favorite number. The first extended clip ends with bonus footage of the guest stars on set goofing around, Swift wielding a handheld video cam, as well as the singer learning the choreo for her silly dance with Gleeson and joking that the song’s chorus “actually sounds like a commercial.”
“So what if it was in the music video this magical product?,” she says of her idea to turn the word into a spray that has otherworldly powers. “Opalite is for people who want to choose to be unhealed, Opalite is for people who want to choose a path that serves them, but in our metaphor, inanimate objects represent the kind of toxic relationship they’re in, so I become best friends with this rock who is always, like, weighing me down,” she explains of her igneous lover in the video.
The end of the clip reveals that Swift surprised Gleeson with the dance portion, including a bit where she advises him to go “full send” on his performance, and then explains what the phrase means to the Irish actor.
The second extended cut opens with a confessional video of Swift on the set, as well as Capaldi, who plays a mall photographer, bragging that he has a special gift for “capturing people’s essence.” He says that in the brief periods he’s spent with Swift in the past she definitely noticed that quality about him. We then see him giving Swift and Gleeson advice on how to pull off their ridiculous poses, as well as Swift freaking out when she sees Turner-Smith in her 1980s aerobics instructor outfit for the first time. “I don’t even know what to do! Your such a star!,” Swift tells the Queen & Slim actress.
Norton pops in to gush about how detailed Swift’s treatment for the video was, marveling at how close it was to the finished product. “I’ve written this shot list, I’ve chosen every frame. I know exactly what we’re going for,” says Swift, who has directed 14 of her own videos to date.
The two extended videos are available now on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and Tidal.
