Cailee Spaeny recalls staring at the back of Taylor Swift‘s head at the Golden Globes 2024, starstruck that the singer-songwriter was right in front of her.
During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to promote her upcoming film, Civil War, the Priscilla star explained she was on cloud nine at the awards show, where she was nominated for her role in the Sofia Coppola-directed biopic.
“I heard that I was sitting at the Poor Things table, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s a winners table.’ It’s a very big deal, so I sort of wandered in, and I was trying to find my name tag, and I saw Emma Stone,” she told the late night host. “I’m like all right, OK. So, someone had moved my name tag, but it was totally fine. Then, Taylor Swift ended up sitting at that table, so the jury’s still out. I feel like maybe my name card got moved for Taylor.”
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The actress went on to explain that she was sitting with her friend Ruby, whom she took as her plus-one, and doesn’t know who won awards that night because she was so distracted by the fact that Swift was sitting near her.
“I was just staring at the back of her head the whole night,” Spaeny told Kimmel. “I couldn’t believe this was my life. She’s so sparkly, and she’s so nice. She stood up for every winner. My friend’s like, ‘Nope, you’re not leaving here tonight without meeting Taylor.'”
Her friend spent the rest of the night going around, asking people how Spaeny could meet Swift, and it worked. At the end of the night, the Grammy-winning artist stood up and approached the actress and praised her work.
“She said, ‘Oh my God I loved you in the movie,'” Spaeny recounted. “It was so surreal, and then she also had remembered me in Mare of Easttown, which is crazy because I only worked like a week on that show and half of that week, I played a dead body.”
The Civil War actress continued, “She’s such a pro when you’re talking to her. You’re like, ‘Oh, I get it.’ Before I even got to it, she was like, ‘Can I take a photo with you for our memories?’ And then my friend — God bless her — she was like, ‘I’m in Mare of Easttown, too.'”
Instead of singing Swift’s praises for her albums or her massive Eras Tour, Spaeny froze and complimented her hair, telling her it was so pretty and had such a nice color, she revealed.
The actress also shared what it was like working with Kirsten Dunst on the upcoming Alex Garland film that follows an American civil war in the near future. She explained she had grown up watching Dunst’s “rare” career and noted the Oscar nominee was “inspiring” to her.
Shortly after Civil War wrapped, Spaeny heard that there was an opportunity to portray Priscilla Presley in the Coppola biopic, and she auditioned for it. “She ended up putting in a good word for me and basically got me that role,” the actress said of Dunst, adding that The Power of the Dog star cried when Spaeny landed the part in Priscilla.
Civil War hits theaters April 12.
