Highlights
- Despite her success in the music industry, Taylor Swift’s acting career has had its ups and downs, with mixed reviews for her roles in “Cats” and “Valentine’s Day.”
- Swift had a “nightmare” audition with Eddie Redmayne for the film adaptation of “Les Misérables,” but still wanted to meet him as one of her favorite actors.
- Swift’s appearance on “Saturday Night Live” as a host at the age of 19 showcased her talent and songwriting abilities, leaving a lasting impression on SNL alum Seth Meyers.
Taylor Swift is currently ruling the music world on her “Eras Tour.” She has been a huge pop star at the top of her game for many years now.
However, Swift’s acting career has been more of a rollercoaster. While she received great reviews for her hosting gig on Saturday Night Live, she didn’t win any glowing comments for her role in Cats. Her appearance in the film Valentine’s Day only furthered speculation about her relationship with Taylor Lautner.
But it was another film role that Swift didn’t land, which would perhaps leave the biggest impression on her. She would tell the story of this “nightmare” audition years later on The Graham Norton Show.
Taylor Told Graham Norton About Her ‘Nightmare’ Audition With Eddie Redmayne
Swift appeared on The Graham Norton Show in 2022 to promote her album “Midnights.” Redmayne was another guest on the show during that particular episode. Therefore, the subject of Swift’s failed audition with Redmayne came up during their chat.
Swift detailed her experience auditioning with Redmayne for the film adaptation of the musical Les Misérables. However, she knew from the start that this wasn’t going to work out.
“Basically, I was up for two roles,” she began. “I had the look of Cosette and the range vocally of Éponine, so it was established I was there for a good time but not for a long time.”
Swift then said that while she knew she wouldn’t get the role, she decided to audition anyway for the experience. She also said that she wanted to meet Redmayne, since he was one of her favorite actors. Redmayne had already been cast and Swift was told she would get to screen test with the actor.
“When I got there they put me in full 19th century street-urchin costume and told me they were going to paint my teeth brown, and I was like, ‘You are going to do that after I meet Eddie Redmayne right?’” Swift joked.
“They made me look like death and it became a nightmare,” she continued. “When I met Eddie I didn’t open my mouth to speak!”
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Redmayne then jumped in and let Swift know that she wasn’t the only one who was embarrassed by the experience.
“I thought we would just be singing off each other — I didn’t know we would be in each other’s arms,” Redmayne said. “My overriding memory of it is that I had pizza and garlic dough balls beforehand and all I could think about was my garlic breath while Taylor was dying in my arms and I was trying to show emotion.”
While Swift didn’t get cast, she did land a role in director Tom Hooper’s other musical film, Cats. However, the 2019 film wasn’t well-received by the public.
Taylor Made Her First Acting Appearance In The Film ‘Valentine’s Day’ With Taylor Lautner
Swift dated Taylor Lautner briefly as both of their stars were rising. The two met while working on the film Valentine’s Day, where they played each other’s love interests.
Swift and Lautner had been spotted out together several times since and Swift talked about Lautner when promoting the film on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
“Is that part of the movie when you all go to some kind of game together?” DeGeneres asked as a picture of the two at a hockey game appeared on the screen. “Is that part of the movie too?”
“I really like hockey a lot and it turns out so does he,” Swift said coyly. DeGeneres then asked if Lautner was a good kisser, which caused Swift to break out laughing.
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After Swift mentioned Lautner in her monologue while hosting Saturday Night Live, she opened up to InStyle about getting close to the actor. She also said having the same name made things difficult on set.
“It would be confusing on the set with two Taylors in the same scene. They were like, ‘Taylor, on your mark – no, not you, the other one!’ So halfway through the shoot, I said, ‘How about you guys call me Swifty and call him Taylor?’” she said.
Taylor Continued Acting On ‘Saturday Night Live’ And Blew Seth Meyers Away With Her Monologue
Swift continued to stretch her acting wings when she hosted Saturday Night Live in November 2009. Her hosting duties are even more impressive when you consider that Swift was only 19 at the time. During her opening monologue, Swift sang a song referencing many of the things people have said about her.
In the song, Swift talks about writing songs about those who have wronged her, breaking up with Joe Jonas, rumors of her dating Lautner, and her infamous run-in with Kanye West at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Swift wrote the song herself and when SNL alum Seth Meyers appeared on The Howard Stern Show, he reflected on the moment the singer presented the song behind-the-scenes.
“It really speaks to what a force of nature she is and the depths of her talent,” Meyers said. “Here’s a 19-year-old who nobody is really helping out; nobody gave her a manual of how to do that show. And yet, she came to us and said, ‘I wrote a song for the opening monologue.’ So we brought Taylor into Lorne [Michaels, SNL creator]’s office, and she sings this song which is not only a beautiful song by a beautiful singer, it’s a perfect SNL monologue. Fully formed.”
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To say that Meyers was impressed with Swift would be an understatement.
“To this day, I’ve never had a moment like that where someone brings you a fully gift-wrapped present and it’s exactly what you need it to be,” he said. “When she finished I should’ve said, ‘Now Taylor, just for you, I want to look at you and read what we had written for you just so you know how much f****** worse it was. Not only is your song great, but you cannot even begin to imagine how s***** what we were doing for you is compared to how great what you did for yourself is.”
Source: NewsFinale
