Ethan Hawke Jokes Appearance in Taylor Swift’s ‘Fortnight’ Video ‘Will Be in My Obituary’ Despite Storied Career
Ethan Hawke Jokes Appearance in Taylor Swift’s ‘Fortnight’ Video ‘Will Be in My Obituary’ Despite Storied Career
Hawke discussed how his surprise appearance in Swift’s music video will be a defining part of his career on ‘The Jess Cagle Show with Julia Cunningham’
Ethan Hawke knows his legacy might be defined by a recent surprise appearance in a certain music video.
During a recent appearance on Sirius XM’s The Jess Cagle Show with Julia Cunningham, the Before Sunrise star, 53, opened up about his experience starring in Taylor Swift’s music video for “Fortnight” alongside fellow Dead Poets Society actor Josh Charles — and the legacy it will likely have on his career.
Of ending up in the visual, Hawke told Julia Cunningham: “I think there’s some kind of psychic connection she was trying to provide for the fans about The Tortured Poets Department and the Dead Poets Society. She was kind of doing some little homage, and so she asked a couple of us old dogs to come out and make our presence known.”
The host then addressed how his cameo in the music video has become the highlight of his career.
“It’s funny you say that ’cause I thought, as I was flying out there, I thought, you know, I’ve worked so hard in my life, and I have a feeling this will be in my obituary,” he teased, adding: “I might get a few other mentions.”
Hawke then brainstormed what his obituary might look like.
“You might know him as the doctor in the background of the ‘Fortnight video, however, he did do some other things with his life,'” the Reality Bites actor quipped.
Earlier this month, Hawke opened up about how the visual collaboration came together during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
“I think she wanted to hide a little Easter egg about Dead Poets Society,” he said of the visual’s clever reference.
He then opened up about what it was like for he and Charles, 52, to keep their surprise cameos a secret ahead of the release of “Fortnight.”
“I can’t imagine what it’s like to walk through an airport with a friend you’ve known for 35 years and watch all the young people with their Eras sweatshirts on and their Taylor Swift things, and we got something on them,” Hawke teased. “We’re going to meet the queen ourselves.”
He then confessed that he couldn’t tell his teenage daughters that he made an appearance in the pop megastar’s music video, saying, “No, I signed an NDA.”
Hawke added: “You tell my teenage daughters that I’m going to meet Taylor, and everybody at school’s going to know.”
The Training Day actor said that when his daughters found out what he was up to with Swift, 34, they had looks of “profound disappointment.”
“Taylor belongs to them,” Hawke said in defense, “I can’t have that on them, so I had to low-key it.”