Music

Joe Alwyn Isn’t the Only Actor Who Worked on Taylor Swift’s Album ‘Midnights’

'Midnights,' Taylor Swift's 2022 album, features actors including her significant other, Joe Alwyn. But who else worked on the record?

by India McCarty

Published on October 25, 2022

3 min read

Taylor Swift is famous for being able to churn out Grammy-winning songs all by herself. However, she frequently turns to a handful of collaborators, including her partner of six years. Joe Alwyn lent her a hand on some tracks from Midnights. But he wasn’t the only actor Swift featured on her latest album.

Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn worked together before ‘Midnights’

Swift and Alwyn have been dating since 2016. But they kept their relationship under wraps at first — they weren’t publicly seen together until 2018. The pair are still going strong, and it seems like they have something in common: writing songs.

Alwyn has starred in movies like The Favourite, Conversations with Friends, and Catherine Called Birdy. But the actor also has some serious musical skills.

On Swift’s 2020 albums folklore and evermore, fans noticed someone named William Bowery was credited for co-writing a number of songs, including “exile,” “betty,” “champagne problems,” “coney island,” and “evermore.”

Fans of Swift quickly deduced that this was simply a pen name for Alwyn. “William” is the name of the actor’s grandfather, who was a composer, while “Bowery” pays tribute to the Bowery Hotel, where the couple had one of their first dates.

Swift confirmed that William Bowery was, indeed, her boyfriend in the Disney+ special Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions.

“There’s been a lot of discussion about William Bowery and his identity, ’cause it’s not a real person,” she explained. “William Bowery is Joe, as we know.”

When it came time to work on Midnights, released October 21, 2022, Swift and Alwyn teamed up again. This time, it was for the touching love song “Sweet Nothing,” which seems to describe the pair’s relationship.

Zoë Kravitz wrote and sang on ‘Midnights’ opening track

Alwyn wasn’t the only actor who got to help Swift out with some Midnights tracks. Fans were shocked to see Zoë Kravitz’s name on the tracklist. The Batman actor is a musician as well, serving as frontwoman for the band LOLAWOLF.

Kravitz is listed in the writing credits for “Lavender Haze,” the opening track on the album. The song’s lyrics describe Swift’s irritation with the press for speculating about her personal life, as well as her love for Alwyn’s disregard for the rumors.

The actor, a long-time friend of Swift, also sang background on “Lavender Haze,” as well as “Glitch,” a bonus track on the 3am edition of the album.

‘All Too Well Short Film’ star Dylan O’Brien appears on ‘Midnights’ as well

Swift called on another actor as well. Dylan O’Brien and Swift struck up a friendship after she cast him in last year’s All Too Well: The Short Film. O’Brien has long been a fan of Swift’s music, and the Teen Wolf star got a chance to be a part of the Midnights album.

O’Brien is credited as the drummer on “Snow on the Beach (feat. Lana Del Rey).” He used to drum in the band Slow Kids At Play, but dropped out as his acting career picked up.

The actor is also one of the people cheering on “Question…?” The track features a moment where a group of people starts clapping and cheering in the background of the song, and O’Brien is part of that group, along with writer and producer Jack Antonoff’s sister Rachel and Swift’s brother Austin.

“I like to make things with my friends,” Swift said on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “I think the experience of making something is just as important as how proud you are of it in the end.”