Taylor Swift says directing All Too Well ‘came out of necessity’

Singer’s 10-minute music video has earned numerous awards and is eligible for Best Short Film at the Academy Awards

Taylor Swift has spoken about her road to directing, saying it “came out of necessity”.

The 32-year-old singer has directed around 10 music videos and one short film, with the latter currently eligible for Best Short Film at the 2023 Oscars.

All Too Well: The Short Film is an adaptation of her 2012 song “All Too Well”, and stars Stranger Things actor Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien. It has already earned multiple awards, including an MTV Video Music Award.

In conversation with fellow The Banshees of Inisherin director Martin McDonagh for Variety’s newest episode of Directors on Directors, Swift was asked if she had always wanted to direct.

“No, I always wanted to tell stories. I have always written stories, poetry, songs. And I think this just grew out of that storytelling. And the more I did it, the more I loved it,” the Midnights singer explained.

McDonagh further questioned if Swift’s path to directing came from knowing she could do a “better job than the person who was actually doing it”.

“Whoa, we’re just going right in, aren’t we,” she laughed, before adding: “This actually came out of necessity.”

Taylor Swift (Getty Images for MTV)

Swift said: “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. 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,’” she continued.

“And when I did direct, I just thought, ‘This is actually more fulfilling than I ever could have imagined.’”

The Oscar-winning director then wondered aloud if directing came to Swift “almost by accident”.

“It was, sort of,” she replied. “I’m just inching my way along toward taking on more responsibility.”

Next, Swift is set to direct her first feature-length film with Searchlight Pictures.

Most recently, she selected verified fans for a second chance at purchasing tickets to her 2023 Eras Tour, following the Ticketmaster fiasco.