Graham Norton has revealed that the idea for Taylor Swift’s latest music video Opalite, was sparked while the pop superstar was sitting on the sofa of The Graham Norton Show.
The BBC One host appears in the newly released video alongside a star-studded cast that includes Irish actors Domhnall Gleeson and Cillian Murphy, singer Lewis Capaldi, Past Lives actress Greta Lee and British actress Jodie Turner-Smith. The video was released on Friday.
Speaking about how the concept came together, he said the singer came up with the idea during her appearance on the show.
“The whole thing came to her in a blinding flash while she was on the sofa,” he said.
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“And the next thing you know, she’s written this whole treatment.”
Graham couldn’t help but praise Taylor’s hands-on approach to the project, describing her as a “marvellous director”.
“Taylor properly wrote this, it’s all storyboarded and she properly directs it,” he said. “I didn’t think I had that performance in me.”
The Eurovision commentator also spoke about Swift’s calm presence on set, calling it “extraordinary”.
“It was like a movie shoot, a massive, massive deal. Everyone was lovely on set, it was a really, really fun experience.”
Graham joked that he kept a bottle of Nope-alite, a fictional spray featured in the video, but it was later thrown out by a new cleaner who mistook it for an empty cleaning product.
He also admitted he found it difficult to keep his involvement in the video a secret, having filmed his scenes back in November.
Opalite is the latest single from Swift’s most recent studio album, The Life Of A Showgirl, which was released in October last year.
