Every Taylor Swift Acting Role, Ranked From Worst To Best

Two decades into her career, there isn’t much Taylor Swift hasn’t done. She’s won album of the year at the Grammys a record-breaking four times, grossed over $2 billion with The Eras Tour, and incited economic boosts in cities, the vinyl record industry, and the NFL. The one thing Swift has yet to achieve is a major role in film or television, having only dipped her toes in acting throughout her long career.

It’s not rare for musicians to transition to acting careers, as evidenced by the likes of Justin Timberlake and Madonna. However, for Swift, her massive celebrity status can be seen as distracting to some filmmakers, which is why the “Twilight” movies turned down a cameo from the then-country star. By her own admission, Swift tends to prefer to be in the director’s chair, telling Martin McDonagh for Variety’s Directors on Directors, “I’ve been part of things where you didn’t know the script, and no one knew what the story was.” 

Swift’s future in filmmaking certainly seems promising, with a project for Searchlight Pictures in the works as of 2022. She may not be gunning for an acting Oscar anytime soon like Ariana Grande, but the few roles she has taken on have certainly been memorable. Even when the movies themselves weren’t hits, Swift proved time and time again that nothing can stop her ability to entertain. 

While Taylor Swift has done her fair share of acting in movies and TV, her career has always been music-first. Although they might not technically count as “acting” performances, Swift’s most frequent time on-screen has been in music videos for her own songs, which from a young age proved that she had some strong comedic and dramatic chops. “You Belong With Me” and “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” play out like short comedy films, while she even flexes action in “Bad Blood (feat. Kendrick Lamar)” and “Out of the Woods.”

Her performances have certainly leveled up ever since Swift starting self-directing her own videos, as evidenced by “All Too Well: The Short Film,” as well as more recent examples like “Fortnight (feat. Post Malone),” “Anti-Hero,” and “Cardigan.” It also helps that she started surrounding herself with strong acting talent like Ethan Hawke, Laura Dern, and John Early, but as The Daily Bruin wrote, “Swift’s music videos – more than her movies – prove that she is capable of emotionally rich performances given that the words and emotions she delivers are her own.”

In the 2000s, every holiday started getting their own movie like “Love, Actually.” For that, we can thank “Valentine’s Day,” directed by Garry Marshall and featuring a who’s who of Hollywood, from Jennifer Garner to Jamie Foxx. Despite being a certifiable box office smash, “Valentine’s Day” was subject to some scathing reviews, with some of the vitriol saved particularly for Taylor Swift, who plays Felicia, the girlfriend of Taylor Lautner’s Willy, both high schoolers who have agreed to wait before consummating their relationship. 

As written by one particularly harsh review in The Guardian, there was no patience for the fact that “Valentine’s Day” is Swift’s feature film acting debut, calling her “the worst film actress of all time … Taylor Swift would appear to have forgotten, out of sheer self-consciousness, how to convincingly walk like a human being.” Other reviewers cited her presence in the film, alongside real-life romantic partner Lautner, as one of the few reasons for the film’s success. 

In all fairness, if this performance happens to be Swift’s worst, that’s actually great for her. When you’re acting poorly next to seasoned actors who are also not giving the best performances of their careers, you’re probably not looking so bad after all. There have even been plenty of positive reviews of her appearance in the film, commending her comedic chops and charm.

Compared to her bit role in “Valentine’s Day,” Taylor Swift’s appearance in “Hannah Montana: The Movie” in 2009 is more of a cameo than an actual acting performance. Nevertheless, Swift steals the show with a performance of “Crazier” during a fundraiser in Miley Stewart’s hometown of Crowley Corners, Tennessee. The song, a romantic country waltz, slots in perfectly as one of the film’s best musical moments, which a lot of critics seemed to agree on. 

A review for The State Journal-Register shortly after its release wrote that the film “could have been so much better had it found a way to emphasize Miley’s talents without resorting to so much mindlessness,” while “country star Taylor Swift shows what real talent looks like” in her brief but memorable appearance. Even retrospective reviews of “Hannah Montana: The Movie” highlighted Swift’s performance as nostalgic and endearing. 

It’s not surprising that, given what a bona fide performer Swift was even this early on in her career, that the entire cameo took only one day for her to film. Although it’s not the best display of her potential as an actress on this list, “Crazier” showcased the sheer screen magnetism Swift possessed, which has certainly not gone away 15 years later. 

Taylor Swift was among good company in 2014’s “The Giver.” Like the other films on this list, it’s again a very small but impactful role in the film as Rosemary, daughter of Jeff Bridges’ character, the titular Giver. In a dystopian world where future generations are created through genetic engineering, resulting in memories needing to be passed through a training process, Swift plays Rosemary, whose trauma at receiving The Giver’s memories resulted in her asking to be “released,” which the protagonist Jonas (Brendon Thwaites) learns is actually death by lethal injection. 

The character of Rosemary may be tragic, but according to Spectrum Magazine, she struggles to stand out like many of the other actors, calling her performance “fine, but forgettable.” As it turns out, despite being a massive part of the film’s marketing, Rosemary’s role in the film is more blink-and-you’ll-miss-it. Swift’s entire appearance in “The Giver” is limited to one scene, which Billboard calculated as being 3% of the movie’s total runtime. 

Notably, one person who wasn’t disappointed by Swift’s screen time was her co-star, Bridges, who had nothing but kind things to say about her and her very emotional role in the story. The book’s author, Lois Lowry, also felt that her parts were a stand-out. Like many great books Hollywood adapts into movies, the film may have just been underwhelming for those who loved the book. 

It says a lot about “New Girl” that they got Taylor Swift to cameo in one of their episodes, and it wasn’t even the biggest and most talked-about musician cameo in the show’s history. However, even before she showed her face in one of the best “New Girl” episodes, “Elaine’s Big Day,” Swift and her music had been referenced numerous times on the Fox sitcom. As it turns out, Swift and the creators of “New Girl” were mutual fans, particularly after she came to set quoting the show and gave a great, if brief, performance.

In fact, one of the show’s stars, Jake Johnson, said (via Entertainment Weekly) Swift’s cameo was “a little bit frustrating. She came in and is really nice … She had, like, a little monologue and delivered it perfectly. Liz gave her alternative jokes and lines, she delivered them all perfectly.” Reviewers were more critical of Swift’s acting, from noting how un-subtly she portrays Elaine, to some even declaring it unnecessary. 

Nevertheless, others felt the moment was appropriately adorable and aligned with the tone of the show, and given how brief and inconsequential it is as a whole, it just makes for a fun scene that pays tribute to the show’s obvious love for Swift and her songs. If only she could’ve cameoed once again so we could see how her elopement with Shivrang (Satya Bhabha) went.

Compared to the previous Swift performances we’ve seen so far, her guest spot in “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” sees her featured much more prominently than a couple scenes or a limited cameo. Swift was vocally a huge fan of one of the biggest and best crime dramas in TV history, and therefore got invited to appear in season 9’s “Turn, Turn, Turn.” The entire episode centers on Nick (George Eads), who has run into Swift’s character, Haley, several occasions in the past year at the same motel she’s found murdered at.

Although Swift’s entire brand was family-friendly by the time the episode aired in 2009, the role itself was quite edgy for the pop star, featuring her donning an emo look and getting involved in selling meth. Even Swift’s own mother was nervous about it, but as Swift told MTV (via People), “All my friends know that my dream is to die on CSI. I’ve always wanted to be one of the characters on there that they’re trying to figure out what happened to.”

As for reviews of her performance itself, there were mixed opinions about the episode, with some criticizing its content while others were just excited to see Swift make her acting debut. Others felt that even though Swift doesn’t make or break the episode, she does a decent-enough job playing off Eads’ character. 

Directed by the controversial filmmaker David O’Russell, “Amsterdam” features an ensemble cast including Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, and Robert De Niro. Among those names is also Taylor Swift, who has a small role at the beginning of the film as Liz Meekins, the daughter of a World War I general (Ed Begley, Jr.) whose mysterious death spurs her to start asking questions and, unexpectedly, get murdered. The rest of the film follows a trio of war friends attempting to uncover the truth behind the Meekins’ murders and exonerate themselves. 

The film saw a handful of positive reviews calling it complex, lavishly shot, and humorous, but our own review criticized it for being an undercooked movie with enjoyable performances. Swift, for her part, is not the worst performer in the film, and GQ even commended her, writing, “She rocks up for five or ten minutes of screen time, puts in a perfectly serviceable — even appreciable — performance within an ensemble of big-name stars, then yeets out before she can be shown up (and, indeed, before the movie gets bad).”

Out of all these films, however, “Amsterdam” was probably not worth the trouble it took to take the part. Given O’Russell’s history of abuse both on and off set, fans were disappointed to see Swift’s name alongside his for a measly little part. At least the actual acting itself didn’t make her look bad. 

It shouldn’t be surprising that, given her success as a singer, Taylor Swift would be a decent voice actor. It’s a shame she’s only been in one animated feature film: the 2012 adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ “The Lorax,” often ranked as one of the worst Illumination movies. Swift plays a character named Audrey (named after Seuss’ wife), the love interest of Ted (Zac Efron), whose visits the Once-ler (Ed Helms) to learn about the titular protector of Truffula trees (Danny DeVito) and win her heart.

Most of the criticisms of “The Lorax” pertained to its unfaithfulness to the source material, but as for the voice acting, there was a lot to commend. However, “The Lorax” is also a musical, and features no singing from Swift. As Scott Manzel wrote for We Live Entertainment, “[The] idea of putting her in a musical film and not using her vocal talents made no sense at all to me.” 

While Swift’s voice-acting performance is very good in the film, the lack of her singing isn’t the only oversight made by the filmmakers. Swift also gets to recite one of the few Seuss-inspired lines of dialogue in the film, though unfortunately it’s also undercut moments later by Efron’s Ted. In another world, there’s a better version of “The Lorax” out there, but for this one, Swift does a fine job. 

Who could forget the travesty that is the 2019 adaptation of “Cats,” an iconic Broadway musical-turned-CGI-slopfest? A lot of the film’s promotion heavily leaned on the appearance of Swift as Bombalurina, the right-hand woman to Idris Elba’s Macavity, though in the final cut of the film, Swift’s screen time is around 10 minutes total, essentially appearing towards the end of the film to sing a song about Elba’s character before disappearing. 

Even though the film got totally destroyed by critics, Swift might’ve been one of the only cast members to come off looking good. As USA Today wrote, “Swift makes the most of her brief screen time, bringing her unabating charisma to the flirtatious feline … singing in a light British accent and mostly nailing the song’s brassy second half (made more impressive by the fact that all vocals were recorded live on the set, rather than in a recording studio).” It helps that production on the film came right off Swift’s Reputation Stadium Tour, preparing her for putting on a good show. 

A brief cameo wasn’t Swift’s only contribution to “Cats.” She also penned a Golden Globe-nominated original song “Beautiful Ghosts” with Andrew Lloyd Weber,  which Francesca Hayward sings in the film. While Lloyd Weber himself was critical of the finished product, Swift had no regrets about her work on the film. Of course, that’s easy to say when you had almost no criticism of your brief part in it.

In 2014, Taylor Swift joined an incredibly exclusive club in showbiz that only a few have had the honor of doing: appearing on “EW!” with Jimmy Fallon. The long-running sketch on “The Tonight Show” stars Fallon as teenager Sara, who invites her friends on to talk about things they find, well, “EW!” Other guests have included Seth Rogen, will.i.am, Sabrina Carpenter, and Michelle Obama, but it’s Swift’s appearance as Natalie that’s one of its most memorable. 

Compared to most other characters who have shown up on “EW!,” Swift’s Natalie is quiet and awkward, with triple pigtails, braces, and khaki pants underneath a skirt. It’s a masterclass in character work from Swift, who based some of the character’s weirdest quirks on her own childhood self, telling Fallon (via YouTube), “I don’t know why I got so into this, but I love the ‘EW!’ sketch … I think I [wanted] to tap into sort of a different kind of friend that Sara would have.” 

There were certainly positive reviews of Swift’s appearance in “EW!,” with many finding her take on Natalie adorable and charming. What’s even more impressive is Swift’s “audition” video for the sketch, donning glasses and fake braces with Natalie’s timid way of speaking already down, which is some serious method acting going on from Swift. 

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, then you know that for the past few years Taylor Swift has been on a personal mission of re-recording her first six albums in protest of her master recordings being sold without her consent. For her 2012 album “Red,” Swift included the original 10-minute version of arguably her best song, “All Too Well,” and alongside it, wrote and directed a short film starring Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien. 

Although Swift doesn’t appear in the video herself until the very end, “All Too Well: The Short Film” is an all-too-powerful masterpiece of filmmaking, chronicling the rise and fall of a relationship between a young woman and an older, manipulative man. At the end of the film, Swift appears as the older, more aloof version of Sink’s character, who has channeled her heartbreak into a novel, titled “All Too Well,” which she reads to a teary-eyed crowd as O’Brien’s older version watches from a window. 

As written about Swift’s brief performance by The Harvard Crimson, “The actor switch shows that She has matured physically with time, and emotionally too — having produced a successful creative work as the result of her pain.” Swift herself even explained this character arc in a behind-the-scenes video, as her performance capture the character’s loss of innocence. It’s no surprise one of Swift’s best acting performances comes from an extension of her songwriting, which has always been her strongest suit. 

There will always be debate over who the best “Saturday Night Live” guest hosts have been, but Taylor Swift should at the very least be in the conversation. She first appeared on the show as a musical guest for Neil Patrick Harris in 2009 and later that year made her hosting debut. Among the best sketches from that night included “Driving PSA,” as a frustrated teen warning about bad habits of parent drivers, “Firelight,” an SNL Digital Short parodying the “Twilight” trailer with Bill Hader as Frankenstein’s monster, and “Roommates,” where she and Nasim Pedrad play obsessive besties.

As the One SNL A Day blog wrote in their episode review, “Taylor Swift did an impressive job as a host, being surprisingly very good in every single sketch, and committing to every single role. She also added well to the atmosphere of this episode, giving the show a fun, likable feel.” While this has been Swift’s only hosting performance to date, she’s made a few cameos in later seasons, including joining “The Californians” at the 40th anniversary special, as well as singing with Pete Davidson in “Three Sad Virgins,” a song mocking the Please Don’t Destroy boys. 

Obviously, Swift’s best performances on “Saturday Night Live” have come during her musical guest spots, including her astounding “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” in 2021. Hopefully, Swift’s second hosting gig isn’t too far into the future, as this was certainly her best showcase of versatile acting yet.