Being part of a film one loves is a dream most people on the planet over have and it’s not any different for A-list celebrities who ply their trade in other forms of entertainment. For Taylor Swift who already has a firm footing in the film industry, getting a cameo role on a project she loved should have been straightforward. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite so simple.
Per The Independent, while speaking on The Twilight Effect with Ashley Greene and Melanie Howe podcast, the movie director, Chris Weitz spoke about how it was possible to put together the hit movie. Weitz also went into discussing the many celebrities who were fans of the franchise and wanted to be a part of the movie. Apparently at the time, Swift and Weitz shared the same agent and news got to the director that the singer would like to be a part of his next work. “Taylor Swift was a huge Twi-hard, and Taylor Swift and I had the same agent at the time and he said, ‘Taylor would like to be in this movie – not because of you, but she’s a Twi-hard,” the director said on the podcast.
Swift’s request entailed even the slightest role imaginable in the movie, the singer didn’t mind playing a waiter or something else as long as it would mean being a part of the movie. However, Weitz declined while stating that the singer’s superstar status would be too much of a distraction on the film's set.
“The hardest thing for me was to be like, the moment that Taylor Swift walks onto the screen, for about five minutes, nobody is going to be able to process anything. I kick myself for it too, because – I was like, wow, I could’ve been hanging out with Taylor Swift. She must have been like, ‘Who is this jerk?’ But sometimes you make decisions thinking this is for the best of the film.”
Despite not being able to call on the star power of Swift, Weitz and the cast and crew of The Twilight Saga: New Moon which included Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner went on to make a hit film. The 2009 production went on to have a brilliant run at the box office with an opening day gross of $72 million – a record at the time. The Weitz-directed film will end up grossing an impressive $709 million in the fall of that year.
Swift has since gone on to establish herself further in the film industry earning roles in projects such as New Girl and Cats. The award-winning singer also has a role in David O. Rusell’s upcoming historical project, Amsterdam. The film also stars Christian Bale, John David Washington, Margot Robbie, Robert De Niro, Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Rock amongst others.
Check out the trailer for Amsterdam below: