Cliff Lipson/CBS Taylor Swift appears in the upcoming movie The Giver opposite such big names as Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep and Katie Holmes. But it turns out that one of the reasons she got the role isn’t her acting skills, but her musical skills — specifically, her ability to play the piano.
According to The Washington Post, the producer of The Giver, Nikki Silver, appeared at an event at the Library of Congress to promote the film, along with Lois Lowry, who wrote the book on which the film is based. Silver explained that the character Taylor plays, Rosemary, was originally written as someone who played the piano. They auditioned several other actresses for the part, Silver said, but when the producers attended one of Taylor’s concerts last year, they saw her playing the piano and realized that she might fit the bill.
“She’s a very soulful, interesting young woman and we had this very out-of-the box idea that maybe it would make sense that she could be our Rosemary,” Silver said, according to the Post. “And she’s fantastic. I’ve spent a lot of time with her, and she had just been looking to dip her toe slightly in acting.”
“She doesn’t sing in the movie,” added Silver. “But she does play a little piano, which we had written for that character before we hired her.”
The Giver is set in a dystopian future where all the major problems of the world have been solved, but people unknowingly have been stripped of any real emotion. It’ll be in theaters August 15.
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