Are you ready for it?
Taylor Swift has revealed a first look at the music video for her song "Patient Zero," which will debut during the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, Sept. 27.
Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell star in the video, about 10 seconds of which was teased on "CBS Mornings" Thursday, Sept. 24. The visuals in the brief footage are reminiscent of Swift's "Tortured Poets Department" era, including with a cinematic shot of Swift and Johnson standing at a snowy gravesite. It also features glimpses of Swift at a sink, two people jumping into water, and Swift and Johnson standing next to a statue.
Johnson is a longtime friend of Swift's. In April, the singer wrote an essay for the "Fifty Shades of Grey" star when she was included on Time
magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world. "As her friend, I can vouch for her realness, but add that she's also one of the most empathetic people I've ever known," Swift wrote.
The video tease comes two days after Swift made the surprise announcement of her new single "Patient Zero" after a mysterious countdown on her website concluded.
It was initially unclear if the song was connected to a particular album or was the start of a new era for Swift. But answers came the following day when Swift unveiled "The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore," an extended version of her 2025 "Life of a Showgirl" album featuring four new songs: "Patient Zero," "Cleveland!," "Pink Clouding" and "Babylon." The album drops Friday, Sept. 25.
Swift said the extended version of "The Life of a Showgirl" came together after she and collaborators Max Martin and Shellback traveled to Sweden to celebrate the album's record-breaking success.
"Really we just wanted to reflect and take in how grateful we were for the moment we were in, but there was a studio there and we did what we do when we feel anything at all: We wrote more songs," Swift wrote on Instagram. "I hope you love them, because they were born out of pure gratitude for your exuberance for and celebration of the album we made."
Earlier this month, Swift made a surprise appearance in a pre-recorded sketch at the Emmy Awards: She joined host Mariska Hargitay and the cast of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" as they attempted to figure out whether the singer would attend the ceremony. At one point, Swift looked directly into the camera and uttered a cryptic phrase: "Saccharide. Aries. From the vineyard. North or south."
After the music video announcement, Swifties quickly began to theorize that the phrase "north or south" was an Easter egg teasing Johnson's casting – as in, North or South Dakota. Saccharide, meanwhile, could have been a reference to Farrell's Apple TV series "Sugar."
Swift will receive the inaugural Artist Director Honors at the MTV Video Music Awards, a new award that recognizes music artists whose work behind the camera has advanced music videos and visual storytelling. She also has nine competitive nominations, including video of the year for "The Fate of Ophelia"" and artist of the year.
Contributing: Bryan West, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Taylor Swift teases new music video with Dakota Johnson, Colin Farrell
