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- WHERE ARE THEY NOW: All the leading men in Taylor Swift's music videos
WHERE ARE THEY NOW: All the leading men in Taylor Swift's music videos
Olivia Singh
- Taylor Swift has released more than 40 music videos throughout her career.
- Many music videos have featured love interests played by recognizable actors, musicians, and models.
Clayton Collins played her love interest in the music video for "Tim McGraw."
The song was part of Swift's self-titled debut studio album, released in 2006.
Collins has been difficult to track down online since starring in Swift's first-ever music video.
Collins was cast in the video for "Tim McGraw" because he looked similar to the guy who inspired the song.
Musician and "One Tree Hill" actor Tyler Hilton played Drew in Swift's music video for "Teardrops on My Guitar."
Prior to starring in Swift's music video, Hilton portrayed Elvis Presley in the 2005 movie "Walk the Line."
By the time of "Teardrops on My Guitar," Hilton was known for playing Chris Keller on the drama series "One Tree Hill."
He became so close to Swift and her family that they offered for him to temporarily live in their houseboat after he moved to Nashville, Tennessee.
Hilton reunited with "OTH" costar Hilarie Burton for the 2019 holiday movie "A Christmas Wish."
After finishing his run on "OTH" in 2012, Hilton released multiple albums and starred on the show "Extant." He also appeared in holiday movies like "Christmas on the Bayou," "The Christmas Contract," and "When Christmas Was Young."
Hilton met Swift when she was 15 and they've remained friends since, with the pair reuniting at a concert in Texas as part of her Reputation Tour in 2018.
"I remember thinking, 'This girl is so talented. I don't care if she's 15 or 40, I'm just a fan,'" Hilton told Entertainment Tonight. "She's really authentic and that whole thing you see with her is what you get."
He continued: "I remember her playing me songs in her bedroom that ended up on her 'Fearless' record and she really was just a little girl in her bedroom with all these fantasies and a journal full of songs. It was so endearing."
Hilton has been married to actor Megan Park since 2015. The couple welcomed their first child together, a daughter named Winnie, in 2020.
In the music video for "Picture to Burn," Swift fantasized about trashing the home of her lousy ex-boyfriend, portrayed by former NFL player Justin Sandy.
True to the song's lyrics, Swift concluded the music video by setting fire to a photo of her and her ex.
In a behind-the-scenes video, Swift described Sandy to her mom as "a real-life Ken."
"He's all shiny and glowy," the singer said of the former football player.
Little is known about what Sandy is up to now.
After retiring from the NFL because of an injury, Sandy put his degree in business management to good use by pivoting to various ventures, like a nutrition practice that he launched with his wife and a foundation for struggling retired athletes.
Justin Gaston played Swift's prince charming in her music video for "Love Story."
The video was filmed at Castle Gwynn in Nashville, Tennesse.
In a behind-the-scenes featurette, Swift explained that she started her search for her love interest six months prior to the video shoot.
While watching the reality TV show "Nashville Star," Gaston caught her attention when he mentioned being a fan of Swift.
Swift called the singer "perfect" for the role in her video because of his "timeless" look.
Gaston continues to act and sing.
In the years after starring in Swift's music video, Gaston appeared in various shows, like "Days of Our Lives," and TV movies. He also had a recurring role on the soap opera "The Young and the Restless."
Most recently, Gaston played a country singer in the film "God's Country Song" and released a track in June titled "The One."
Gaston has been married to actor and model Melissa Ordway since September 2012. They have two daughters, named Olivia and Sophie.
Another "OTH" star, Stephen Colletti, played a heartbreaker in the video for "White Horse."
At the time, Colletti was also known for appearing on the hit reality TV show "Laguna Beach."
Colletti was her first pick for the "White Horse" video because Swift was a fan of his work on the two aforementioned shows. She described the actor as "sweet and endearing" in a making-of video.
Colletti and "Laguna Beach" costar Kristin Cavallari launched a rewatch podcast called "Back to the Beach" in the summer of 2022.
After playing Chase Adams on "OTH," Colletti appeared in various TV movies like "All About Christmas Eve" and "The Wedding Do Over."
He cowrote and starred in a Hulu series called "Everyone Is Doing Great" with "OTH" costar James Lafferty, released in January 2021.
Lucas Till played the endearing boy next door in Swift's music video for "You Belong With Me."
Swift met Till on the set of the 2009 film "Hannah Montana: The Movie," in which he played Miley Cyrus' love interest and Swift appeared as herself.
By the end of the music video, Till's character ditched his high-school cheerleader girlfriend (played by a brunette Swift) for the nerdy band geek (also played by Swift).
Till is known for starring as Alex Summer/Havoc in the "X-Men" movies and portraying the titular character of CBS' "MacGyver" reboot.
He starred in three "X-Men" films: "First Class," "Days of Future Past," and "Apocalypse." Till played Angus MacGyver from 2016 to the series' conclusion in 2021.
He still looks back at his time working with Swift fondly.
"I remember feeling like a star when I came and did that music video," Till recalled in a 2020 interview with Entertainment Tonight. "I felt so special."
In the music video for "Mine," Swift met an attractive waiter, played by British actor Toby Hemingway, and envisioned a long, happy life with him.
The video was filmed in Portland, Maine. Swift cast Hemingway after seeing a few of his projects and becoming a fan of his work.
Most recently, Hemingway appeared on an episode of "FBI: Most Wanted."
The same year that the music video for "Mine" was released, Hemingway played Tom in the film "Black Swan."
He went on to have roles in movies like "In Time," "The Girl in the Photographs," and "The Monster Project."
He also appeared on the TV shows "Lethal Weapon" and "The Crossing."
Swift reminisced about a past relationship in the snowy music video for "Back to December," with model Guntars Asmanis playing her leading man.
Swift chose Asmanis for her video after seeing a photo of him. Prior to "Back to December," he had never been part of a music video before.
The song was inspired by Swift's relationship with "Twilight" star Taylor Lautner.
The exes remain on friendly terms to this day, with Lautner starring in her music video for "I Can See You (Taylor's Version)" and making a surprise appearance at one of her concerts as part of her Eras Tour.
Information on the Latvian model has been difficult to find since he starred in the music video for "Back to December."
However, a TikTok posted by the account @modelhommes in May 2022 — in which Asmanis said that he's not a fan of modeling and only does it "for the money" — went viral with over 1 million views.
Caleb Campbell played Swift's ex in the college-set music video for "The Story of Us."
"The Story of Us" was part of Swift's 2010 album "Speak Now."
It's unclear what Campbell is up to now.
A rerecorded version of "The Story of Us" was released as part of Swift's 2023 album "Speak Now (Taylor's Version)."
Zach Gilford, of "Friday Night Lights" fame, starred in Swift's 2011 music video for "Ours."
The video showed Swift working at a dull day job before leaving the office to reunite with her boyfriend, a soldier, at the airport.
"He was someone that I had in mind because he's really endearing in all the roles that he plays," Swift said of Gilford in a behind-the-scenes video.
"I have a lot of respect for her as an artist and so it was cool that she wanted me to be involved in something," Gilford said. "It wasn't too hard of a sell. It was a pretty easy acceptance."
Gilford stars as Elias Voit on "Criminal Minds."
Gilford landed plenty of TV roles in the years after starring in Swift's music video. This included parts on "Drunk History," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "L.A.'s Finest," "Good Girls," and "The Midnight Club."
He also starred in the 2014 horror film "The Purge: Anarchy."
During an appearance on the "LadyGang" podcast, Gilford revealed that Swift gave him a "handwritten note of 'things to do in Nashville' when they worked together.
"I think there were like, little hearts over the I's. It was really cute," he said.
Gilford has been married to Kiele Sanchez since 2012 and the couple have a daughter named Zeppelin Adele Gilford (born in 2017).
Swift shut the door for good on an ex-boyfriend, played by model and actor Noah Mills, in her music video for "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together."
Mills, who modeled for brands like Gucci and Versace, was still in the early stages of his acting career when he was cast in Swift's 2012 music video.
At the time, he had appeared in "Sex and the City 2" and "Happy New Year."
These days, Mills is known for starring as Jesse Boone on "NCIS: Hawaiʻi."
He also had roles on "2 Broke Girls," "PEN15," and "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier." He also starred on the NBC drama series "The Brave."
Mills looked back on his time on the set of Swift's music video during a 2017 interview with People magazine.
"It was super goofy," Mills said. "I remember feeling like I was in Disneyland. Everything was super upbeat."
French actor Vladimir Perrin played Swift's love interest in the wistful, Paris-set music video for "Begin Again."
"Begin Again" was released as part of her 2012 studio album "Red."
Perrin has done a mix of movies, short films, TV shows, and theater productions.
He's primarily acted in projects that are based in Europe.
In the music video for "I Knew You Were Trouble," Swift ignored the red flags and pursued a relationship with a bad boy played by actor and musician Reeve Carney.
The music video showed Swift falling hard for a reckless guy and losing her sense of identity.
Carney, who played Peter Parker/Spider-Man on Broadway's "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," told MTV News that he was "thrilled" that Swift wanted him to be in her music video.
"I had no idea how she even became aware of me but when I met her, it turns out she had seen my video for this song called 'Love Me Chase Me' and was a fan of what I do," he said.
Carney played fashion designer Tom Ford in the 2021 film "House of Gucci."
After appearing in Swift's music video, Carney portrayed Dorian Gray on the series "Penny Dreadful." He also starred as Riff Raff in Fox's 2016 TV movie adaptation of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."
In 2019, Carney returned to Broadway as Orpheus in the play "Hadestown."
In the music video for "Blank Space," Swift played the villain when she suspected that her boyfriend, played by model Sean O'Pry, was being unfaithful.
She caused destruction in the lavish estate where the video took place by defacing his portraits on the walls, setting his clothes on fire after cutting them up with scissors, and repeatedly striking his expensive car with a golf club.
O'Pry continues to model.
In recent years, he's modeled for Oliver Peoples and appeared in magazines like GQ Korea and Esquire Middle East.
O'Pry also had a minor role on an episode of the HBO series "Veep" in 2016.
Swift recruited "Shadowhunters" star Dominic Sherwood for the music video for "Style," off her "1989" album.
The abstract music video showed a couple's fragmented relationship through various flashbacks.
Sherwood told HuffPost that he and Swift knew each other through mutual friends. When she reached out to him about starring in her video, the actor was "really flattered that she would even think of me and consider me for it."
Sherwood starred on the Netflix series "Partner Track."
The show was canceled in 2022, after one season.
After playing the love interest in Swift's music video for "Style," Sherwood guest-starred on an episode of ABC's "Modern Family," which starred then-girlfriend Sarah Hyland.
He also starred in a reboot of the film "Eraser," titled "Eraser: Reborn."
"Shadowhunters" ended in 2019, after three seasons on Freeform. Three years later, Sherwood and his costar, Katherine McNamara teamed up as cohosts of a rewatch podcast called "Return to the Shadows."
In the music video for "Wildest Dreams," Scott Eastwood played Swift's dreamy costar in a fictional 1950s movie of the same name.
Eastwood and Swift played characters named Robert Kingsley and Marjorie Finn, respectively, in homages to Swift's relatives.
The music video chronicled the off-camera romance and breakup between the lead actors, culminating in Swift's character leaving the film's red carpet premiere after seeing Kingsley at the event with his wife.
Swift donated all the proceeds from the music video to the African Parks Foundation of America, in support of their mission of wild animal preservation.
In a 2016 interview with People, Eastwood said that he was discouraged from starring in the music video.
"None of my agents wanted me to do it, actually," he said. "They said, 'Oh, we don't want you to do that! Why would you be Taylor Swift's boy toy?' And I said, 'Why the hell not?'"
Eastwood reprised his role as Little Nobody for "Fast X," the 10th installment of the "Fast and the Furious" franchise.
Eastwood joined the blockbuster franchise in 2017, making his first appearance in "The Fate of the Furious."
He also had roles in the DC Comics film "Suicide Squad," "Pacific Rim: Uprising," and the rom-com "I Want You Back."
Swift ushered in her "Lover" era by teaming up with Panic! At the Disco frontman Brendon Urie for the upbeat, bubbly track "Me!"
The music video opened with Swift and Urie as a couple arguing in French in front of their two children — aka Swift's real-life cats Meredith and Olivia.
Swift's character rejected flowers and a ring in favor of a kitten that he presented her with. The rest of the video showed the couple happily dancing and singing through colorful musical numbers.
Urie told Billboard he was a fan of Swift "for a long time" prior to their collaboration.
"She's such a warm and welcoming person and the fact that she has a passion for the things she's doing just validates it for me that that's why this matters and this is why I feel so good, because I do the same," he said.
Urie announced the disbandment of Panic! At the Disco in January.
The same year that "Me!" was released as a single, P!ATD also recorded a new version of "Into the Unknown" for the soundtrack of Disney's "Frozen 2."
Urie embarked on a tour after the release of Panic! At the Disco's seventh studio album, "Viva Las Vengeance," in August 2022.
A few months later, the musician announced that the band would be splitting up after the European tour.
"Growing up in Vegas I could've never imagined where this life would take me. So many places all over the world, and all the friends we've made along the way," Urie said in a statement shared on Instagram from the band's account.
Urie went on to say that he and his wife Sarah Urie are expecting their first child together, so he wanted to pivot his attention to fatherhood.
"But sometimes a journey must end for a new one to begin," he said. "We've been trying to keep it to ourselves, though some of you may have heard.. Sarah and I are expecting a baby very soon! The prospect of being a father and getting to watch my wife become a mother is both humbling and exciting. I look forward to this next adventure."
"That said, I am going to bring this chapter of my life to an end and put my focus and energy on my family, and with that Panic! At The Disco will be no more," Urie added.
Dancer Christian Owens starred in Swift's romantic, colorful music video for "Lover."
After serving as a backup dancer in Swift's tours for her albums "1989" and "Reputation," Owens took the spotlight as Swift's love interest in her 2019 music video.
Owens, who goes by the stage name Owenn, joined Swift as an opening act on her Eras Tour.
Swift was instrumental in helping Owenn get a record deal, by personally contacting the head of Republic Records and putting in a good word for him.
"She's always been that driving force and a supporter," he told Variety in June.
Korean-American dancer Taeok Lee appeared in Swift's self-directed music video for "Willow."
Prior to playing her love interest, Lee was a backup dancer on Swift's Red Tour.
Lee is still a dancer.
In his Instagram bio, Lee describes himself as a dancer, cyclist, and artist.
"Teen Wolf" alum Dylan O'Brien starred alongside "Stranger Things" actor Sadie Sink in "All Too Well: The Short Film."
The video, which accompanied the 10-minute version of "All Too Well," was released in November 2021 and won an MTV VMA the following year for best long-form video.
"Dylan was my first choice for the 'All Too Well' short film because he has that versatility I was looking for," Swift told Bustle. "I'd seen his work and heard nothing but wonderful things about him as a person.
O'Brien, who is a Swiftie, accepted the musician's offer to play the male lead. He called her "trusting" as the director of the music video, in his interview with Bustle.
O'Brien played the drums on "Snow on the Beach," off Swift's 10th album, "Midnights."
He was also credited for providing crowd applause on the track "Question… ?"
During an appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" in October, Swift explained how the actor got involved in "Midnights."
Swift said that O'Brien was "just hanging out, drinking wine" and listening as she and her frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff were working in the studio.
"He was just trying out the drum kit there," she said. "He wasn't serious. And so, we were just sort of like, 'Oh, we haven't recorded the drums for this one yet, see if you wanna,' and he just played the drums on the song."
Following the release of "All Too Well," O'Brien accompanied Swift to events in support of the track like the 2022 MTV VMAs and the "All Too Well" premiere in New York City.
"Whiplash" star Miles Teller played a groom who couldn't escape his ex on his wedding day in Swift's music video for "I Bet You Think About Me."
The 2021 video was directed by Blake Lively. Teller's real-life wife, Keleigh Sperry, appeared in the music video as his on-screen bride.
In a tweet, Swift called Teller "the greatest dance partner and friend to me" and Sperry "the coolest living human on planet earth."
Teller starred as Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw in "Top Gun: Maverick," released in May 2022.
He played the son of Nick "Goose" Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards) from the first "Top Gun" film, released in 1986.
"Top Gun: Maverick" was praised by critics and fans, surpassing $1 billion at the box office globally, and Teller went on to host the season 48 premiere of "Saturday Night Live" in October 2022.
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