Taylor Swift gave Shawn Levy “dad cred for life”.
The ‘Deadpool 3’ director met the 31-year-old pop star through mutual friends Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively and jumped at the chance to star in her video for ‘All Too Well’ alongside Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien because he knew how much it would mean to his and wife Serena’s daughters, Sophie, Tess , Coco, and Charlie.
He told People magazine: “You have to understand, my daughters are between the ages of 12 to 24. So Taylor Swift has been their only shared idol for that entire span of their lives.
“When she asked me to be in the video for ‘All Too Well’, and I was able to bring all four daughters to be in that video with me, I got dad cred for life.
“I’ve directed both of those actors respectively. Dylan O’Brien in ‘The Internship’, and Sadie Sink in ‘Stranger Things’. But that was one of the few times that I’ve acted in the past 20 years. It was a very fun day.”
Shawn’s daughters also appeared in the video as guests at Sadie’s birthday party, and they were delighted to be part of the short film.
He added: “Definitely, any parent loves to give their kids a thrill.”
The 55-year-old filmmaker is thankful his kids have been able to see most of his work over the years.
He said: “When they were young, I was doing these family comedy films that they could see with their friends, like ‘Night at the Museum’ and ‘Pink Panther’.
“Then as they became teens, I started producing ‘Stranger Things’. With my upcoming series ‘All the Light We Cannot See’, they’re able to watch that too.
“It’s been a fluke, but I’ve been very, very lucky in that way.”
The ‘Free Guy’ director is pleased his daughters view Taylor as their role model.
He said: “You know what, as a dad of four girls, their collective fan-hood and mild obsession with Taylor is fine by me, because she’s a good role model.
“And most importantly, that woman wrote all of those songs herself. This is a true generational creative genius. She a force — and she’s also a really fun hang.”
Shawn recently joined Ryan and Hugh Jackman in Taylor’s suite at the Kansas City Chiefs v New York Jets game and he admitted the frenzy around the ‘Bad Blood’ singer – who is rumoured to be dating Chiefs player Travis Kelce – is like nothing he’s ever seen.
He said: “I have never witnessed, and will likely never again witness anything like I saw when I went to the football game with Taylor Swift.”