In her new music video for "The Man," here's how Taylor Swift transformed into the titular male character. Swift is one of the most successful and highest-selling artists of all time, having sold more than 50 million albums. At the age of 30 Swift has received numerous accolades from her seven studio albums, including 10 Grammy Awards, 29 American Music Awards (the most wins for an artist of all-time), and 23 Billboard Music Awards (tied with Beyoncé for most wins by a female artist).
The past couple of months have been a busy time for Swift. In December 2019 she appeared in Tom Hooper's Cats as the seductive Bombalurina. The pop star began a collaboration with Netflix as her concert film, Taylor Swift's Reputation Stadium Tour, released on December 31, 2019. Swift's highly-anticipated documentary, Miss Americana, premiered at Sundance to a positive reaction before streaming on Netflix. On February 28, 2020, Swift premiered her new music video for "The Man," the fourth single off her seventh studio album, Lover. The song is a feminist statement about male privilege and the sexist double standard that can exist in the workplace. The protagonist of the video is The Man: a loud, animated and rude blowhard who yells at his coworkers, parties with strippers, and manspreads on the subway.
Instead of hiring a male actor, Swift herself plays The Man in a role that required her to go through a complete physical transformation. At the end of the music video, there is a hyper-lapse of Swift sitting in a makeup chair while preparing to become The Man. Swift needed a lot of makeup on her face to cover the bald cap and hide her very recognizable face. From there, Swift received a new jawline, nose, facial hair, haircut, and dark-colored contacts. In an Instagram post, Swift thanked her makeup team for their hard work and dedication put into transforming her into a man. Swift described it as a "crowning achievement."
Swift's makeup team included Bill Corso, who worked on Nicole Kidman's hair and makeup in the Oscar-winning film, Bombshell. Corso took to his Instagram page to further explain Swift's transformation, detailing in a series of pictures how Swift used layers of thick prosthetics to create The Man. Swift used a muscular suit, facial sculptures, and eyebrow wigs to play the character. Overall, it took a team of more than six people to transform Swift into The Man. In addition to her physical change, Swift used two coaches, Spenser Theberge and Stephen Galloway, to modify her movements so she could walk, move, and smoke like a man. Dwayne Johnson provided the actual voice for The Man, when he asks for director input from Swift at the end of the video.
Like most Taylor Swift videos, "The Man" is full of Easter eggs. There is a sign that bans scooters and a sign that reads, "Missing: If Found Return to Taylor Swift." Both of these signs are a direct shot at her feud with Scott Borchetta and Scooter Bruan over the rights to the bulk of her musical catalog. Other references Swift makes in the video revolve around her previous albums such as Reputation and 1989, as well as high-profile stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kanye West. Although Taylor Swift plays a man, the singer attributes herself as the star, director, owner, and writer of the video, making sure there's no confusion as to who created "The Man."
Next: Miss Americana: Biggest Reveals From Taylor Swift's Netflix Documentary