Ethan Hawke Says Starring in Taylor Swift’s ‘Fortnight’ Music Video Will Lead His Obituary

Samantha Bergeson
·2 min read
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Despite being an Oscar-nominated actor, Ethan Hawke is aware that Gen Z might just know him as that guy who had a cameo in a Taylor Swift music video.

Hawke quipped during SiriusXM’s “The Jess Cagle Show With Julia Cunningham” that perhaps he’ll mostly be remembered for appearing in Swift’s “Fortnight” music video alongside his “Dead Poets Society” (1989) co-star Josh Charles. “Fortnight” is from Swift’s album “The Tortured Poets Department.”

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“I think there’s some kind of psychic connection she was trying to provide for the fans about ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ and the ‘Dead Poets Society,'” Hawke said. “She was kind of doing some little homage, and so she asked a couple of us old dogs to come out and make our presence known.”

Hawke added, “As I was flying out there [to film it], I thought, ‘You know, I’ve worked so hard in my life, and I have a feeling this will be in my obituary.’ I might get a few other mentions. ‘You might know him as the doctor in the background of the “Fortnight” video, however, he did do some other things with his life.'”

Fellow actors Laura Dern, Ryan Reynolds, Selena Gomez, Zendaya, and Mariska Hargitay have all appeared in other Swift music videos.

Grammy winner Swift is also set to make her feature directorial debut with a Searchlight Pictures film from a script she wrote. Swift previously directed the 15-minute “All Too Well” short film.

“I was writing my videos for years, and I had a video that was a very specific concept I had written [2019’s ‘The Man’], which was that I wanted to be prosthetically turned into a man and live my life as a man. And I wanted a female director to direct it,” Swift told Variety. “And the few that I reached out to were fortunately booked. We like it when women work. So I was like, ‘I could do it, maybe.’ And when I did direct, I just thought, ‘This is actually more fulfilling than I ever could have imagined.’ It was, sort of [by accident]. I think I’ve directed about 10 music videos and now one short. I’m just inching my way along toward taking on more responsibility.”

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