Taylor Swift’s new music video for her single “You Need to Calm Down,” features an astounding 29 celebrity cameos—everyone from the Queer Eye cast to Ellen DeGeneres. But Fab Five member Tan France says it wouldn’t have been possible if the 29-year-old Grammy winner wasn’t the queen of secrets and careful organization.
In an interview with Elite Daily, the 36-year-old Queer Eye fashion expert revealed the extent to which Swift kept details from the much-talked-about video under wraps. Spoiler alert: Her attention to detail is incredible.
France explained that although he and his fellow Queer Eye co-stars appeared in the video, they had no idea that basically every other famous person would also make cameos. No one saw the video before it debuted, and cameos were shot at different times to avoid spoilers.
“We actually didn’t know what it was at all," France admitted. "We didn’t know who else was going to be in the video. Everything was so top-secret. We were just honored because she asked.”
Unfortunately, France was filming the finale of his upcoming Netflix series Next in Fashion when the rest of the Fab Five filmed their portion of Swift’s video. Because of this, he had to shoot his cameo alone in front of a green screen.
“I was so sad to not be there," he said of having to film his portion without his co-stars. “I love the message of it, and it’s something I’ll look back on in 20 years and think, ‘Can you bloody believe I was in that? That’s insane.’”
He went on to explain that he first saw the video when the rest of the internet did and was pleased with how the inclusivity-forward anthem turned out: “We watched it when everybody else did. I screamed when I saw my part. I was so happy with it,” he said.
So are we, Tan. So are we.