Taylor Swift recruited Mike Birbiglia and Laura Dern for her Midnights music videos
Plus Dita Von Teese, Haims aplenty, and the inescapable Jack Antonoff
Last night, Taylor Swift unleashed upon the collective timeline Midnights, her 10th studio album. To build up a bit of extra hype for the album for those with a more visual sensibility, though, Swift also teamed up with the NFL and Amazon a few hours before the release to deploy a teaser specifically for its music videos—including a full list of the eclectic group of co-stars Swift has recruited for the project, including comedian Mike Birbiglia, and Certified National Treasure Laura Dern.
All the names of the videos’ co-stars—which also include It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’s Mary Elizabeth Ellis, model Laith Ashley, all three extant Haims, comic John Early, make-up artist Pat McGrath, Dita Von Teese, and, of course, the utterly inescapable Jack Antonoff—were tossed up on the screen at the end of the video teaser, which mostly just serves to show off the dozen-plus looks Swift will be deploying in the videos for the much-anticipated album. (No sign of Zombie Taylor from the “Look What You Made Me Do” video, alas, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed.)
In a statement linked to the teaser, Swift noted that she collaborated on the new videos with Rina Yang, who previously directed the 10-minute short film/music video for the (Taylor’s Version) of “All Too Well.”
Swift also revealed that you won’t have to wait too long for the reveal of the first video, “Anti-Hero,” which is supposed to arrive on the internet this morning at 8 a.m. Eastern. The track was a co-write between Swift and Antonoff, because YOU CANNOT ESCAPE FROM JACK ANTONOFF. And, of course, today, October 21, is also the release date proper for Midnights itself, which Swift deployed around—when else?—midnight last night, and which includes a songwriting credit from Zoë Kravitz and an appearance from Lana Del Ray. (Sadly, neither Mike Birbiglia nor Laura Dern appear to have been invited to lay down a few bars; missed opportunity, if you ask us.)