Ever since her self-titled debut album, Taylor Swift has been building an empire. It’s an empire chock full of number one records, masterful storytelling, and millions of devoted fans. And today, over 15 years after that first album release, it’s nearly impossible not to run into Swift fans in your day-to-day life.
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The latest to join the ranks of Swifties is actor/comedian Ben Stiller. In a recent interview with talk show host Stephen Colbert, Stiller revealed that his daughter Ella helped him join the wide-reaching Swift fan club. The father/daughter duo had been bonding over Swift’s music while Stiller was teaching Ella how to drive in New York.
“What really helped her was if we just played her favorite artist on the iPhone, and we just played Taylor Swift. We would just drive and play Taylor Swift,” Stiller told Colbert. “I was a fan, but I think now I’m a total Swiftie.”
Stiller continued to go into detail about Swift’s musical catalog, proving his Swiftie status.
“We got into the later stuff — folklore, evermore. About ‘Cardigan,’ ‘Betty,’ and ‘August’ all being about the same love triangle but from different points of view. And the characters are named after Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively’s kids. And then the ‘All Too Well‘ 10-minute Taylor’s version from the vault,” he said.
“It would calm her, and it would calm me,” Stiller concluded about listening to Swift’s music.
Colbert then chimed in to mention that he listened to evermore with his own daughter and son on a 14-hour road trip. “I’ll just be muttering those lyrics on my deathbed,” Colbert said of the album. Perhaps Colbert is revealing his own Swiftie standing in a roundabout way.
And, for those still wondering, Ella did pass her driver’s test, and now she’s no longer a girl at home.
Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images
