By pretty much every metric, Cats was an absolute disaster. It bombed at the box office, was critically eviscerated, was the subject of gleeful mockery and stands to lose a ton of money. It wouldn’t be surprising to see people distance themselves from the movie lest they get dragged down with it and come out smelling like Jellicle litter. But star Taylor Swift isn’t worried about that. The actress and musician has "no complaints" about working on the "weird-ass" Cats, as she explained:
I’m happy to be here, happy to be nominated, and I had a really great time working on that weird-ass movie. I’m not gonna retroactively decide that it wasn’t the best experience. I never would have met Andrew Lloyd Webber or gotten to see how he works, and now he’s my buddy. I got to work with the sickest dancers and performers. No complaints.
Despite Cats’ myriad failings, Taylor Swift doesn’t regret the experience of working on the Tom Hooper film. She knows the reaction Cats received and how big of a bomb it was, and acknowledges that it was a "weird-ass movie," but she still enjoyed making it, and how things turned out doesn’t change that. The actress is taking the bad with the good, and for her, there were a lot of good things about being a part of Cats.
As Taylor Swift told Variety, she met Andrew Lloyd Webber and worked with him on the Cats music, and together the two were nominated for a Golden Globe (but didn’t win) for Best Original Song for “Beautiful Ghosts.” She also worked with many talented performers and dancers, and by the sound of it, she simply had a lot of fun working on the movie. Those experiences wouldn’t have happened without Cats, so Taylor Swift has no complaints after seeing how the movie turned out.
As her exes and the subjects of her songs can attest, Taylor Swift isn’t shy about letting people know how she feels about past relationships and regrets, so I think we can take her at her word here. With others distancing themselves from the movie, it’s refreshing to hear Taylor Swift stand by her decision to be in it.
She’s not defending Cats or trying to pretend it is a misunderstood masterpiece, but she’s not disavowing it either. Good for her! If she were to retroactively decide that it wasn’t a good experience to conform with the sentiment surrounding the film, that would be dishonest. She’s not piling on Cats or engaging in the schadenfreude around the film’s failure, she’s staying true to her positive experience.
Now to be fair, Taylor Swift has this luxury, whereas others might be wise to distance themselves from Cats. Remember, he has an entire hugely successful career outside the realm of feature films. Cats bombing won’t hurt her in the slightest. She got to have a weird, one-of-a-kind experience that will live in infamy and earned a Golden Globe nomination out of it. Still, it’s cool to see Swift owning it.
Check out our 2020 Release Schedule to keep track of the biggest movies headed to theaters this year and keep it locked to CinemaBlend for all your movie news.
