Guillermo del Toro Delivers Praise Back to Taylor Swift, ‘She’s a Very Accomplished Director’
Last week, Taylor Swift praised director Guillermo del Toro, saying she is in awe of his vibrant imagination. News recently broke that Swift is preparing to direct her first feature film, and del Toro gave mutual praise back to the Midnights singer and believes she has a promising future in directing.
Taylor Swift considers Guillermo del Toro to be an inspiring director
Taylor Swift has publicly shared her love for Guillermo del Toro as a filmmaker. In an interview at the Toronto International Film Festival (via remezcla.com), Swift talked about two of del Toro’s movies that she watched during the pandemic and how these movies became an inspiration for 2020’s Folklore album.
“I remember watching two Guillermo del Toro movies back-to-back – The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth,” Swift stated. “My whole world turned into folktales and forests and mythical creatures. I was so dazzled by those films. Obviously, The Shape of Water is one of my favorite films ever. But I hadn’t seen those two very pinnacle films in his repertoire. You end up with me telling stories from other people’s perspectives.”
Del Toro says Swift is already an accomplished director
Del Toro is one of the most acclaimed movies in Hollywood. Many of his movies have been nominated for Academy Awards, and he won the Best Director Oscar for The Shape of Water, which also won Best Picture. In an interview with W Magazine for his latest film, Pinocchio, the director returned praise to Swift, saying he’s impressed by the shared love the two have for “fable and myth.”
“She’s a very accomplished director, she’s incredibly articulate and deep about what she’s trying to do—and what she will do,” del Toro shared. “I have the greatest admiration for her; we had one of the most stimulating and gratifying conversations. We have many, many common interests. And her interest in fable and myth and the origins of fairy tale is quite deep. I gave her a few books that I thought would be interesting for her—among them, very importantly, a book that was useful for me in creating Pan’s Labyrinth called The Science of Fairy Tales, which codifies and talks about fairy tale lore.”
Swift is preparing to direct her first feature film
The singer-songwriter is switching from writing songs to directing movies. Swift is set to direct her first feature film for Searchlight Pictures based on a script she wrote.
“Taylor is a once-in-a-generation artist and storyteller. It is a genuine joy and privilege to collaborate with her as she embarks on this exciting and new creative journey,” Searchlight Presidents David Greenbaum and Matthew Greenfield stated in a press release.
While this will be her first film, Swift does have experience in the directing chair. She recently received praise for directing the 15-minute short film for “All Too Well.” Swift received two awards for her directing at the 2022 VMA Awards, and she could even earn her first Academy Award nomination. While there is no official release date for her movie, let’s hope pre-sale tickets aren’t handled by Ticketmaster.
