Hard to believe that a year ago, the latest buzz around Taylor Swift had to do with her tenth studio album, “Midnights,” which arrived Oct. 21 after she surprised Swifties around the globe by announcing it in her MTV VMA for Video of the Year acceptance speech. Swift also another big debut on the horizon — an onscreen role in David O’Russell’s “Amsterdam.”
October 2023 marked the release of “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” a 2 hour and 48 minute big-screen memorialization of Swift’s stadium tour, in which she performed selections from most of her ten albums (“Taylor Swift” and “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) only had a few numbers). Before she headlined this gargantuan stadium tour that played 20 cities and the concert documentary, Swift starred in other feature films.
Since she already is in the music industry, Swift has moved to cinema as her next space to dominate. She has already contributed over 13 songs to various movie soundtracks, most recently “Carolina” for the film adaptation of Delia Owens’ wildly popular novel “Where the Crawdads Sing.” Swift has also appeared in several films prior to “Amsterdam.” Following her release of “All Too Well the Short Film,” Swift has revealed that she has a written script optioned by Searchlight Pictures, meaning she will eventually direct a feature-length film.
For those wondering which movies Taylor Swift has been in as an actress, we’ve got you covered. Here are all the movies Taylor Swift has been in.
Valentine’s Day (2010) as Felicia
Swift’s first big movie appearance was none other than 2010’s “Valentine’s Day,” such a fitting story for the songstress, who captures love at all angles. Swift plays Felicia, the smart and cute girl dating track star Willy (Taylor Lautner). Felicia is good friends with Emma Roberts’ character Grace, whose boyfriend Alex (Carter Jenkins) knows Willie. Swift’s character gets a gigantic stuffed teddy bear, and true to the good girl image forced on her at the time, tells Grace that she and Willy are waiting (to have sex). Swift’s song “Today Was a Fairytale” was featured on the film’s soundtrack.
“The Lorax” (2012) as Audrey
Swift lent her voice but not her vocals to 2012’s “The Lorax,” adapted from the environmentally conscious story written by Dr. Seuss. Swift voices Audrey, the daydreamy teenage girl who protagonist Ted (voiced by Zac Efron) has a major crush on. Audrey’s biggest wish is to see a truffula tree in real life, and Ted wants to impress her, so of course he ventures out to see the Once-Ler (Ed Helms) about getting access to the species of trees that went extinct outside Thneedville long ago.
“The Giver” (2014) as Rosemary
In the 2014 adaptation of Lois Lowry’s book “The Giver,” Swift briefly appears in flashbacks The Giver (Jeff Bridges) has of his daughter Rosemary (Swift). The Giver shares these memories with Jonas (Brenton Thwaites), which mostly include Rosemary playing the piano and showing off Swift’s musical chops. It’s tough to recognize the songwriter because she sports dark hair, and the memory is a bit dull-colored.
“Cats” (2019) as Bombalurina
Another musical moment in a movie for Swift includes her small role in “Cats” as Bombalurina. Swift sings “Macavity” about the main villain of “Cats” (2019). This is one of her highlights in the film as Bombalurina, who doesn’t have much dialogue. Swift sleekly performs a song in the film, and she also co-wrote a song with Andrew Lloyd Weber called “Beautiful Ghosts” that is featured on the soundtrack.
“All Too Well: The Short Film” (2021) as Her, Later On
Swift not only appeared in but also directed her own short film timed to the 10-minute version of arguably her most popular ballad. “All Too Well” released on the first iteration of Swift’s fourth album “Red” in 2012, but Swift hinted that the original version of the song was actually 10 minutes instead of five, and with her re-recorded version of “Red (Taylor’s Version),” she released not only the extended edition of the song but also the short film, which screened at Toronto International Film Festival and has qualified for Oscar consideration. In the short film, Swift portrays the older version of Sadie Sink’s Her, donning red hair to mimic Sadie’s and reading from her novel thirteen years later. Swift has hinted that she would be game to direct a longer feature film in the future given the right material.
“Amsterdam” (2022) as Liz Meekins
David O. Russel’s “Amsterdam” flashes Swift in a few minutes of fame. Dressed in green garb, she plays Liz Meekins, daughter of Bill Meekings, who is mysteriously murdered in the opening of the film. Liz seeks out Christian Bale’s doctor character to perform an autopsy on her dead father, and Swift’s ernestness shines through. She even sings alongisde Bale and John David Washington in the presence of her father’s corpse. This may not be the last we see of Swift as an actress.
