Watch the 'Graham Norton Show' moment that inspired Taylor Swift’s 'Opalite' music video cameos

Taylor Swift has officially dropped the music video for Opalite on YouTube - and the inspiration behind it is as unexpected as it is charming.

The video first debuted on Apple Music and Spotify Premium on Friday, before landing on YouTube this morning. Not only does it mark another directing and writing credit for Swift, but it also reunites her with an unforgettable group of co-stars from The Graham Norton Show.

The Opalite video features Domhnall Gleeson, Cillian Murphy, Lewis Capaldi, Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith - alongside Graham Norton himself - all of whom appeared with Taylor during a promotional appearance on the show.

Unlike her earlier single The Fate of Ophelia, which leaned into themes of fame and performance, Opalite is a love story told through a distinctly ’90s lens. The video opens like a vintage infomercial advertising an “Opalite” spray, promising to cure loneliness and bring connection.

From there, we follow Swift as a lonely woman emotionally attached to her pet rock, while Gleeson plays a lonely man with a similarly devoted bond to his cactus. Thanks to the Opalite spray, the two are brought together, falling in love and living out peak ’90s romance - think shopping mall dates, dance competitions and retro fashion galore.

Taylor later took to Instagram to explain how the idea came to life, revealing it all started during that now-iconic Graham Norton Show appearance:

"My favourite part about writing is that first spark of an idea. It can happen at any time, for any reason. The idea for the Opalite music video crash landed into my imagination when I was doing promo for The Life of a Showgirl. I was a guest on one of my favourite shows, The Graham Norton Show. 

"For those of you who aren’t familiar, it’s a UK late-night show where Graham Norton (the insanely charismatic and lovable host) invites a random group of actors, entertainers, musicians, etc to be on his show, and we all sit there and chat like it’s a dinner party. They even serve wine. Anyway. I remember thinking I got ridiculously lucky with the group I was paired with. Cillian Murphy, Domhnall Gleeson, Greta Lee, Jodie Smith and Lewis Capaldi. All people whose work I’ve admired from afar.

"When we were all talking during the broadcast, Domhnall made a light-hearted joke about wanting to be in one of my music videos. He’s Irish! He was joking! Except that in that moment during the interview, I was instantly struck with an *idea*.

"And so a week later, he received an email script I’d written for the Opalite video, where he was playing 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.

"Like a school group project, but for adults, and it isn’t mandatory. To my delight, everyone from the show made the effort to time-travel back to the 90’s with us and help with this video. You might even recognise some friendly faces from The Eras Tour. I got to work with one of my favourite people in the world, Rodrigo Prieto, again! I had more fun than I ever imagined - made new friends, metaphors, and fashion choices. It was an absolute thrill to create this story and these characters. Shot on film."

Check out the music video above!

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