Dakota Johnson is sharing details on how she ended up starring alongside Colin Farrell in Taylor Swift’s cinematic new music video for Patient Zero, after Swift revealed Thursday that the video will premiere during Sunday’s MTV VMAs, where Swift is also set to receive the ceremony’s inaugural Artist-Director Award.
A brief teaser released ahead of the reveal shows Swift and Johnson mirroring each other across a series of striking visuals, standing together at a snowy gravesite, facing a bathroom mirror, and appearing near water, along with a close-up shot of Swift crying that offers a clear view of her engagement ring from husband Travis Kelce.
Speaking at the London red carpet premiere of her film Verityon Thursday, Johnson reflected on the ease of collaborating with a longtime friend.
“Working with your friends is like the most fun thing on the planet because we’ve known each other for so long, we respect each other’s creative minds, and to be able to work alongside her and support and assist and be a person whom she tells what to do is wonderful,” she said.
Speaking separately to the Fangirl Nationpodcast the same day, Johnson elaborated further, “Taylor and I have been friends for a really long time and we’re very close, and we decided to work together and it’s great. Normally I would say ‘Don’t work with your friends,’ but we work really well together. It was so fun. So fun. It was the best. We just had the best time.”
The friendship between Johnson and Swift dates back years, and was further underscored by Johnson’s attendance at Swift’s wedding to Kelce this past July at Madison Square Garden.
Patient Zero is one of four new tracks, alongside Cleveland!, Pink Clouding and Babylon, appearing on The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, an expanded edition of Swift’s 2025 album, out Friday, September 25.
Swift explained the new material grew out of an impromptu trip to Sweden to celebrate the original album’s record-breaking first week with collaborators Max Martin and Shellback, writing on Instagram, “There was a studio there and we did what we do when we feel anything at all: We wrote more songs.”
2026-09-25 07:11:00
