Taylor Swift opens up about her directing ambitions: "I always wanted to tell stories"

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

Taylor Swift is set to direct her first feature-length film, but has she always had her sights set on directing?

Taylor chatted with The Banshees of Inisherin director Martin McDonagh as part of Variety's Directors on Directors interview series. McDonagh opened the conversation by asking the hitmaker if directing was always a goal of hers.

"No, I always wanted to tell stories," Taylor said. "I have always written stories, poetry, songs. And I think this just grew out of that storytelling. And the more I did it, the more I loved it."

She revealed her directing "came out of necessity" when she specifically hoped to find a woman to direct her 2019 music video "The Man." Said Taylor, "The few that I reached out to were fortunately booked ... So I was like, 'I could do it, maybe.' And when I did direct, I just thought, 'This is actually more fulfilling than I ever could have imagined.'"

Although her start in directing was accidental, Taylor said she now has 10 music videos and one short under her belt. "I’m just inching my way along toward taking on more responsibility," she said.

"Every aspect of my job as a singer has affected the way that I am as a director," Taylor continued. "I definitely feel more free to create now. And I’m making more albums at a more rapid pace than I ever did before, because I think the more art you create, hopefully the less pressure you put on yourself."

Added Taylor, "I’m happier when I’m making things more often ... The more that I’m writing, the more those ideas come. I’m just going with it."

It was revealed last week she partnered with Searchlight Pictures to make her directorial debut with an original script that she's written.

Tuesday, December 13, 2022 at 6:00AM by Megan Stone Permalink