Taylor Swift cast a dizzying array of famous faces in the music videos for her “Midnights” album. The cameos began in the “Anti-Hero” visual, which arrived on Oct. 21 and features comedians Mike Birbiglia, John Early, and Mary Elizabeth Ellis as Swift’s future sons and daughter-in-law, respectively. The music pauses for two whole minutes as the tacky trio hilariously squabble over Swift’s will at her funeral, making for quite the entertaining scene.
Several days later, Swift took the star power to the next level for her Cinderella-themed “Bejeweled” music video, throwing in appearances by Laura Dern, the Haim sisters, Pat McGrath, and more. While posting several behind-the-scenes photos from the shoot on Instagram, the Grammy winner wrote, “Bejeweled video is out NOW! Directed by this tired tacky wench. Got to make this with my best friends @haimtheband, greatest of greats @lauradern, icon of burlesque and glamour @ditavonteese, genius and actual dame @patmcgrathreal and my partner in Midnights mayhem @jackantonoff. Love you guys so much. Stay sparkly out there.”
During a “Tonight Show” interview on Oct. 24, Swift shared insight into her criteria for selecting celebrities to appear in her videos. “One of the prerequisites when I cast anyone for anything is ‘Are they fun and are they nice and are we gonna have a fun time on set?'” she told host Jimmy Fallon. “Obviously talent, that’s No. 1, like, do you fit the part? But then there’s also this caveat of we’re gonna be on set for a while. Is this gonna be a blast?” It’s abundantly clear she met all of those requirements for the folks she included in the “Bejeweled” video.
Swift first revealed the many stars set to make a cameo in music videos for her 10th studio album in a teaser trailer dropped on Oct. 20. Between the “Anti-Hero” and “Bejeweled” productions, every celeb she mentioned has made their appearance, save for transgender model Laith Ashley, who’s suspected to portray Swift’s love interest in an upcoming release.
Read ahead for a full breakdown of the best “Midnights” cameos so far, and then read up on all the music video Easter eggs you might have missed.