Taylor Swift Wasn't Supposed To Be Alone In Her Biggest Hollywood Flop Performance

Highlights

• Taylor Swift's impact on the Cats movie in 2019 was the only reason people went to see it, despite its flaws.
• The Cats director initially turned Swift down for Les Miserables, but later cast her in the movie, leading to positive experiences.
• Swift's involvement in Cats, despite its reception, led to a renewed interest in musical projects, potentially heading to Broadway.

Taylor Swift has been dominating music since her eponymous breakout album in 2006. She was 17 years old. Now, at 34, she's rumored to be marrying Travis Kelce soon, nearly a year since she first boosted the NFL's brand value. Recently, that "Taylor Swift Effect" has been a concerning phenomenon for some experts. But in 2019, it was the only reason people still went to see the Cats movie in theaters despite its cringe CGI.

Unfortunately, fans were disappointed that Swift only had a brief appearance in it. Seven years before the flop film, the cat-obsessed singer auditioned for another musical – Les Miserables – which was also made by Cats director, Tom Hooper. However, the filmmaker turned her down due to "flattering" reasons that her "weird" stint in Cats didn't really make up for. Fast-forward to May 2024, Swift is reportedly getting a proper musical do-over with a Broadway project.

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Taylor Swift Was Supposed To Peform In Cats Alongside Another Artist

In an interview with Vulture in December 2019, Hooper said he got "very close" to casting Swift in 2012's Les Miserables. But for "flattering" reasons, he felt she didn't deserve the role she auditioned for – Éponine (played by Samantha Barker). "She had auditioned for Les Mis. She rather brilliantly auditioned for Éponine," shared the British-Australian filmmaker. "I didn't cast her, but I got very close to it."

Hooper explained: "Ultimately, I couldn't quite believe Taylor Swift was a girl people would overlook. So it didn't quite feel right for her for the most flattering reason."

Years later, the Danish Girl director contacted Swift to play Bombalurina in Cats. "But I knew she was curious to work on a musical. When this came up, I wrote to her and just said, "Would you like to meet? Would you like to see the world I’m creating?" And I did a presentation," Hooper recalled. "Eve Stewart had these wonderful paintings she did of the world."

He added: "I had a ten-second clip of a dancer with fur, lifelike. That was my pitch. She loved it and was very gracious and really supportive from then on. At that point, I had no idea she'd end up getting involved in writing the new song and getting involved as a lyricist." Hooper also revealed that Swift was set to share her part with an unnamed performer. But a phone call with Cats creator Andrew Lloyd Webber changed everything.

"In the show, it's performed by two women," said the director. "And for a long time, I thought, Well, it's going to be Taylor Swift and X. Then eventually, part of me was like, Why does it have to be two people?"

"I called Andrew and said, 'Just remind me why.' And he goes, 'Oh, we only gave it to two people because we felt guilty that the other girl didn’t have enough to do.' Apparently, it was originally designed for one person," Hooper recounted. "I called Taylor up. 'Do you mind if you do it by yourself?' She was obviously totally happy with it."

According to sources, Taylor Swift was paid $3 million to play Bombalurina in the Cats movie.

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Taylor Swift Has "No Complaints" About Her "Weird" Dad-Inspired Appearance In 'Cats'

In January 2020, Swift said she had no regrets doing Cats in 2019. However, she agreed that it was "a weird-a** movie." At that time, her co-written film track, Beautiful Ghosts was nominated for a Golden Globe. Responding to the recognition, she said: "I'm happy to be here, happy to be nominated, and I had a really great time working on that weird-ass movie." The Fortnight songstress is even proud of joining the then-trolled cast.

"I'm not gonna retroactively decide that it wasn't the best experience. I never would have met Andrew Lloyd Webber or gotten to see how he works, and now he's my buddy."

She added: "I got to work with the sickest dancers and performers. No complaints." Before that, Swift credited her dad for inspiring her famous psychedelic scene in Cats. "And so in the middle of this meeting, Dad just pipes up and says, 'Hey, I got an idea. What if you had a scene where they are all at the Jellicle Ball and they all get catnipped so they all just start going crazy?'" she told Variety back then.

She then recalled that Hooper had no idea what "catnipped" was. "Tom Hooper goes, 'What's catnipped?'" said Swift. "All of us are like, 'You don't know what catnip is?' We start pulling up all these YouTube videos of cats on catnip. Tom looks at Dad and goes, 'That's going to be in the movie. That's exactly what we're going to do.'"

Now, Swift's father Scott Kingsley Swift, "walks around going, 'Hey, I'm the reason there's catnip in the scene.'" Looking back on that meeting, the Bad Blood hitmaker said: "For the first time, one of his mid-meeting bursts of inspiration has really turned into something. It's a really good moment for my dad." Here's how Swift's parents have supported her over the years:

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Taylor Swift Might Be Heading To Broadway After Trademarking 'Female Rage: The Musical' In May 2024

In May 2024, Swift's management, TAS Rights Management, LLC, filed a trademark for Female Rage: The Musical. At that time, she also referenced the Broadway project on Instagram, writing: "This post is dedicated to the new Tortured Poets section of the Eras Tour (aka Female Rage The Musical!) and everyone who made these memories so magical." She also thanked her "crew, fellow performers, and band who worked tirelessly in their break to concoct this surprise for you—but mostly for the fans in Paris."

She continued: "I'm so thankful it was you we got to show this to for the first time because you gave us so much excitement, passion, and love. I'm SO fired up to play this for every crowd on the tour. See you soon, Stockholm!" According to TMZ, Swift wanted the rights to turn Female Rage into merchandise, musical recordings, and video recordings. While many assumed it was a Broadway entry, longtime Swifties said they got it all wrong.

"I don't think she's actually making a musical," a fan wrote on Reddit. "That's just what she called the new segment of her tour for her recent album."

They explained: "She's probably just going to put it on merch. [Copyright] is for music and video recordings and merchandise and the Paris show was being filmed so likely they're adding it to the Eras Tour movie." Another Redditor set the record straight on what the trademark really meant.

"She filed a trademark application— not a copyright application," they wrote. "The application is intent-to-use (meaning she has a true intent to use this phrase IN COMMERCE), and covers— very generally— merchandise and entertainment services."

Taylor Swift has a 1.3 billion net worth.

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