Taylor Swift is ready to turn your “problems into paradise” with her “Opalite” magic potion spray.
The singer-songwriter on Friday released the music video for her song “Opalite” off her recent album The Life of a Showgirl. Swift wrote and directed the video.
The clip starts with a ‘90s style commercial advertising an “Opalite” spray, aimed to help those feeling “unsatisfied in life” and “lacking connection in a friendship and relationship.”
“What if I told you you could turn all that crappiness into happiness?” the advertiser says in the faux commercial, promising the “Opalite” chemical potion can turn “your problems into your paradise.”
The video then transitions to Swift’s character watching the commercial while sitting next to her partner: a large grey rock. She’s seen taking the rock out on dates, including karaoke and even makes a friendship bracelet for it, paying homage to the Eras tour friendship bracelets worn by fans. She then meets Domhnall Gleeson, who has his own relationship with a cactus.
After Gleeson uses the “Opalite” spray, he and Swift’s characters start a romance, which ultimately sees them taking funny photos in a mall photo shoot (with Lewis Capaldi starring as the photographer), walking around the shopping center while eating pretzels and later dancing on a stage dressed in matching blue, sequined jumpsuits for a dance competition.
Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith also appear in the video as a singer and aerobics instructor, respectively, shown on the television screen. Graham Norton makes an appearance as a “Nope-alite” salesman at the mall. An advertisement for the spray also shows a photo of Cillian Murphy giving a thumbs up.
The video ends with the rock and cactus marrying in a “small, intimate ceremony after meeting through ‘Opalite.’” Murphy is also revealed as the narrator for the ‘Opalite’ ad.
In an Instagram post, Swift discussed coming up with the concept for the video and guest stars, who she appeared alongside on The Graham Norton Show last October.
“My favorite part about writing is that first spark of an idea. It can happen at any time, for any reason. The idea for the ‘Opalite’ music video crash landed into my imagination when I was doing promo for The Life of a Showgirl. I was a guest on one of my favorite shows, @TheGrahamNortonShowOfficial. For those of you who aren’t familiar, it’s a UK late night show where Graham Norton (the insanely charismatic and lovable host) invites a random group of actors, entertainers, musicians, etc to be on his show and we all sit there and chat like it’s a dinner party. They even serve wine. Anyway. I remember thinking I got ridiculously lucky with the group I was paired with. Cillian Murphy, Domhnall Gleeson, Greta Lee, @JodieSmith, and @LewisCapaldi. All people whose work I’ve admired from afar.
Swift went on to explain that during the broadcast, Gleeson “made a light hearted joke about wanting to be in one of my music videos. He’s Irish! He was joking!” However that moment gave her the idea for the video.
“And so a week later he received an email script I’d written for the ‘Opalite’ video, where he was playing the starring role. I had this thought that it would be wild if all of our fellow guests on the Graham Norton show that night, including Graham himself, could be a part of it too. Like a school group project but for adults and it isn’t mandatory,” Swift explained.
“To my delight, everyone from the show made the effort to time travel back to the 90’s with us and help with this video. You might even recognize some friendly faces from The Eras Tour. I got to work with one of my favorite people in the world, @rpstam, again! I had more fun than I ever imagined – Made new friends, metaphors, and fashion choices. It was an absolute thrill to create this story and these characters. Shot on film.”
At the end of the video, Swift shows a clip from their appearance on the Graham Norton Show in which Gleeson jokes about wanting to star in a music video and Swift giving a surprised, but cryptic smile.
Swift’s “Opalite” music video is available to view on Apple Music and Spotify.
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