Credit: NFL via YouTubeTaylor Swift is 2023’s Time Magazine Person of the Year. “The Eras Tour” broke Ticketmaster, took over stadiums worldwide, and brought over $260 million in box office sales as the highest-grossing concert film of all time. Her Taylor’s Version re-recordings constantly top charts and helped make her the most listened-to artist on Spotify.
This year, though, she took over another aspect of American life: the National Football League (NFL). After breaking up with her longtime boyfriend, Joe Alwyn, Swift started dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Kelce and his brother, Jason Kelce, jersey sales spiked the first time Swift attended one of his games, and thousands of Swifties have tuned into Chiefs games weekly for a chance at spotting their idol. Discussion of Swift’s attendance is so prevalent that the bit was too old for laughs by the time Golden Globe Awards host Joy Koy joked about it.
Now, one of Swift’s lesser-known (if that’s possible) projects is streaming. As of Thursday, January 17, the movie musical Cats (2019) is available for paid Netflix subscribers.
Swift shows up in two scenes of Cats, the controversial CGI remake of the Andrew Lloyd Webber stage musical. As Bombalurina, she sings “Macavity” and mischievously helps her leader (Idris Elba).
Swift and Webber co-wrote “Beautiful Ghosts,” a new song exclusively for the Universal Pictures film. Though sung by the main character, Victoria (Francesca Hayward), the singer-songwriter’s single version played over the credits.
Despite mixed critical reaction, Swift has no regrets about doing Cats. In a 2020 interview, she recalled the experience positively, calling it a “weird-ass movie.”
This isn’t Swift’s first time on Netflix. The streaming platform previously hosted Swift’s Reputation Stadium Tour (2018) and her candid documentary, Miss Americana (2020). Later, Swift moved to competitor Disney+ with Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (2020), a raw look into the creation of her first surprise album featuring Jack Antonoff.
Were you a fan of Taylor Swift in Cats? Share your thoughts on the film with Inside the Magic in the comments.