Post Malone Calls Taylor Swift ‘One Take Tay’ in New ‘Fortnight’ Behind-the-Scenes Video: ‘You Went Nuts’
Taylor Swift’s latest behind-the-scenes look at her “Fortnight” music video is just as riveting as the visual itself.
On Friday, June 21, the superstar, 34, gave fans a deeper dive into her video co-starring Post Malone. He’s her collaborator on the lead single from her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department.
The inside look kicks off with Swift throwing a metal cart against a two-way mirror in a stark white room. However, unlike in the video, where it shatters the glass, the cart bounces back toward the “Down Bad” singer, causing her to flinch and bust out laughing.
She then introduces the official video’s first scene. In her mind, it is “taking place in the Tortured Poets Department.” The pop star explains that this is a government municipal building where they study the behaviors and minds of poets, detailing the creative concept.
“And one of the stereotypical things about poets over the years is that people said they were crazy,” Swift adds before cutting the cameras to check out footage.
“Nothing says crazy like a slight tilt to the head,” she jokes.
The next scene finds Swift gushing over Malone, 28, joining her on set for the music video shoot as she explains the shot where the two are filmed sitting across from each other working off typewriters. We then see the “Circles” artist marvel over the 19th-century technology, telling Swift, “This is amazing. I feel very steampunk.”
Still fascinated by the typewriter, Malone says, “How do you get a shift—” before his jaw drops in surprise and delight. “What the hell! I’m buying this right now.”
“This is too much fun,” he adds with glee. “Ya’ll shouldn’t have let me play with this.”
That’s not the only fun behind-the-scenes moment Swift and Malone share.
While breaking down their scene’s concept, the Austin musician also cutely tells his collaborator, “yes ma’am,” repeatedly as he listens to her run down ideas.
Later on in the clip, Swift explains why she sometimes loves coming up with video shots “two seconds before you do it.” “It makes all the difference,” she says, adding that she included an Easter egg on the “Fortnight” visual’s Us book — which is a sly reference to her 2010 Speak Now track “The Story of Us” — just for “fun.”
“Something about getting here puts like more pressure on you to put details into what you’re doing,” Swift concludes, “and I really love it when that happens.”
The “Fortnight” behind-the-scenes look wraps up with Swift and Malone figuring out the shot. They’re hugged up on a cloudy, stormy beach, but this time they’re filming in front of a blue screen.
At the end of the clip, the pair review the footage in amazement as Malone tells Swift, “You went nuts.”
“It’s f—ing amazing,” he adds, high-fiving the Midnights performer as he calls her, “One take Tay.”
Swift released her “Fortnight” video with Malone on Friday, April 19.
The video also features co-stars and “Dead Poets Society” actors Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles. This release coincided with her chart-topping album, The Tortured Poets Department.
The “Cruel Summer” singer announced the visual a day before on Instagram. She wrote to fans, “I’ve been such a huge fan of Post because of the writer he is, his musical experimentation, and those melodies he creates that just stick in your head forever.”. I got to witness that magic come to life firsthand when we worked together on Fortnight.”
Since its release, Swift has been full steam ahead on the international leg of her sweeping Eras Tour, which continues in London June 21-23. During the tour’s 100th show on Thursday, June 13, the pop singer confirmed that she’s finally wrapping up. She announced that the last of her shows will be in December.
“The celebration of the 100th show for me means this is the very first time I’ve acknowledged to myself and admitted that this tour is going to end in December,” she told the Liverpool, England crowd. “That feels so far away from now. But then again, it feels like we just played our first show on this tour because you have made this so fun for us.”
She concluded with gratitude, saying, “Just know that I appreciate every single ounce of effort that you’ve put into being with us.” When this tour reaches triple digits of shows, she expressed her heartfelt thanks: “So thank you.”