Taylor Swift Quietly Features Cillian Murphy in Opalite, Find Out How

Taylor Swift’s latest music video surprised fans with an unexpected detail that quickly became a big talking point online. Back in October, Swift appeared on The Graham Norton Show to promote her album The Life of a Showgirl. During that visit, an idea for her Opalite music video quietly took shape.

After the video was released on Apple Music and Spotify, Swift shared her creative process on social media. She mentioned that all the guests from the show liked the idea, but actor Cillian Murphy was missing from the photos of the music video she posted.

Soon, viewers spotted the truth inside the video itself. Murphy made a clever appearance at the very start, shown on a billboard advertising a magical product called Opalite. He also lent his voice

in the ad. The cameo cleared the air of any tension between the two stars.

Cillian Murphy’s Clever Cameo In Opalite

During the show, Domhnall Gleeson jokingly said that he would love to be part of a Taylor Swift music video someday. That light moment sparked an idea in Swift’s mind and turned the joke into reality by casting Gleeson in the video for her song Opalite. In the video, the two appear as a couple, who, after using the love chemical, dance together.

Cillian Murphy lends his voice in the opening ad for the product in the video. Greta Lee and Jodie Turner Smith appear as singers and a fitness trainer shown on television. Peter Capaldi plays a photographer who takes pictures of the couple and then joins them in the photos. Graham Norton also makes an appearance as an Opalite staff member who hands out free samples.

Cillian Murphy features in Taylor Swift’s “Opalite” music video.
He’s the ad-voiceover at the beginning of the video. pic.twitter.com/0PbFWj0QXV

— michi³⁰ᴵ⁰⁷ (@gofckapineapple) February 6, 2026

Taylor Swift Shares the Creative Journey

Sharing the process behind Opalite on Instagram, Taylor Swift explained, “My favourite part about writing is that first spark of an idea. It can happen at any time, for any reason. The idea for the Opalite music video crash landed into my imagination when I was doing promo for The Life of a Showgirl. I was a guest on one of my favourite shows, The Graham Norton Show. I remember thinking I got ridiculously lucky with the group I was paired with. Cillian Murphy, Domhnall Gleeson, Greta Lee, Jodie Smith and Lewis Capaldi. All people whose work I’ve admired from afar.”

“When we were all talking during the broadcast, Domhnall made a light hearted joke about wanting to be in one of my music videos. He’s Irish. He was joking. Except that in that moment during the interview, I was instantly struck with an idea. So a week later, he received an email script I’d written for the Opalite video, where he was playing the starring role.

I had this thought that it would be wild if all of our fellow guests on the Graham Norton show that night, including Graham himself, could be a part of it too. Like a school group project, but for adults and it isn’t mandatory. To my delight, everyone from the show made the effort to time travel back to the 90’s with us and help with this video,” the singer added.

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Where To Watch Opalite

The Opalite music video first premiered on February 6 on Spotify and Apple Music. Fans who want to watch it for free will need to wait a bit longer. The video is set to release on YouTube on Sunday, February 8, which also falls on Super Bowl Sunday in the United States.