Laith Ashley spoke about the "Transmale urge" Excessive regard for Taylor Swift’s body and limitations during the "lavender haze" Video

In the video, Laith Ashley was cast as Taylor’s love interest and slayed the role.

Contents

Toggle

In an interview with Elle, Laith said he was completely shocked when he got the chance to star in the video. “I thought it was a joke. I thought someone was trying to prank me. I said, ‘You’re joking. She doesn’t know who I am. Why would she choose me for her music? Video?'”

Laith then talked about what it was like having Taylor on set as a director. “As we lay in bed waiting for action to be called, she explained to me what my role would be. She made me feel locked in, as did everyone else who was part of the party scene.”

He said Taylor is very considerate of talent and even allowed them to see what was happening on the monitors while she was directing. “She literally showed us what we looked like. It was amazing. I’ve done other music videos before, and usually when you have talent for someone else’s music video and they have full control over it, they look at it on the monitors,” he said. “But she was really nice to take the monitor and bring it to all of us and give us a little taste of what it would look like. She was so cute.”

Laith also spoke about the importance of respecting Taylor’s body and boundaries, especially as the love interest in the video.

“I’ve rewatched her in previous videos with other love interests and I was just so scared to touch her. I know we act, but I always say it’s the trans male urge to just be overly considerate of a woman’s body and her limitations.”

“So I was nervous and awkward and I was smiling all the time because I was so nervous,” he added.

Laith also made sure to ask about dance moves, wearing Taylor, and other interactions. “We danced and twirled together, and I was like, ‘Can I carry you?’ And she said, “Yes, of course,” and she jumped on me. I said, “Can I move you?” She said, ‘Do it.’ And I dove her back and then back up and we did that a couple of times and she had a blast,” he said.

“I was like, ‘Great, that’s great, I hope it looks great on camera.’ And they ended up using that part.”

So glad you did, Laith. Great work in an incredible video. You can read his full interview with Elle here. And check out “Lavender Haze” here.