Lewis Capaldi has publicly thanked Taylor Swift after she unexpectedly cast him in her lavish new Opalite music video, giving him a cameo role as a photographer following their shared appearance on The Graham Norton Show.
The global pop star, 36, sent fans into a frenzy with the release of the video, which features appearances from every celebrity who appeared alongside her on The Graham Norton Show last year.
Taylor had joined the BBC chat show with Lewis Capaldi, Domhnall Gleeson, Cillian Murphy, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Greta Lee.
During the broadcast, Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson jokingly suggested he would love to appear in a Taylor Swift music video. The throwaway remark immediately sparked an idea for Taylor, which later became the foundation of the Opalite concept.
Lewis, 29, was one of the guests brought into the project. In the finished video, he appears as a photographer, snapping images of Taylor and Domhnall. Taking to Instagram on Saturday, Lewis shared several behind-the-scenes and on-set photos from the shoot and wrote: "Thank you for having me @taylorswift."
Released yesterday, the Nineties-inspired video casts Domhnall, 42, as the romantic lead opposite Taylor’s character. The storyline opens with a surreal twist, showing Domhnall in a relationship with a cactus and Taylor paired with a rock, before the two characters finally cross paths thanks to a so-called magical spray bottle labelled Opalite.
Graham Norton, 62, makes his own appearance promoting a different spray product, while Cillian Murphy, 49, is featured in an Opalite advertisement. Greta Lee, 42, and Jodie Turner-Smith, 39, appear on retro-style television screens scattered throughout the video.
Taylor later explained that the idea for the video formed during her October appearance on The Graham Norton Show. She was on the programme to promote her album The Life Of A Showgirl, which includes the track Opalite.
"When we were all talking during the broadcast, Domhnall made a light-hearted joke about wanting to be in one of my music videos," she wrote on Instagram on Friday.
"He's Irish! He was joking! Except that in that moment during the interview, I was instantly struck with an idea."
Just one week after the show aired, Taylor sent Domhnall a script she had written, offering him 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," she continued. "Like a school group project but for adults and it isn't mandatory."
"I had more fun than I ever imagined," Taylor added. "Made new friends, metaphors, and fashion choices. It was an absolute thrill to create this story and these characters."
She also shared that she was thrilled everyone from the episode, including Graham, agreed to take part in the shoot. The episode itself aired on October 3, the same day her album Life of a Showgirl was released.
During the show, Taylor also debuted her engagement ring and spoke briefly about wedding plans with her fiancé Travis Kelce.
"You'll know. I want to do the album stuff first, and the wedding is what happens after in terms of planning," she told Graham.
"I think it will be fun to plan."
Fans have since flooded social media with praise for the video’s bold Nineties aesthetic, calling the retro vibe “crazy” and celebrating Taylor’s vintage-inspired outfits. One item in particular drew intense attention: an ivory sweatshirt featuring a cat clinging to a tree branch.
"I need this sweatshirt right now, it is meowfully wonderful, I am obsessed," one fan wrote on X. Another added, "I am going cats*** over this top, please tell me universe where to buy it ASAP, I need this in my life."
Taylor’s love of cats is well known. She owns three, Meredith Grey and Olivia Benson, both Scottish Folds, and Benjamin Button, a Ragdoll, all named after characters from Grey’s Anatomy, Law & Order: SVU, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.