Taylor Swift approved the use of her 2017 song I Did Something Bad over the end credits of Sydney Sweeney’s thriller The Housemaid, director Paul Feig said during a Deadline interview at the film’s Hollywood premiere. Feig, whose new movie has drawn praise as an outrageously enjoyable thriller, said the clearance process was uncertain at first but that Swift and her team ultimately gave the go-ahead after seeing the film. “Well, that’s the thing; you want to put a Taylor song in your movie, but she and her company have to approve it,” Feig told Deadline. He added that he initially expected the track to be a no, but after showing Swift and her team the completed movie, they approved it. “So, I guess she likes it. Thank you, Taylor.”
Swift’s reaction to the decision has become a talking point for the film’s cast and crew. Sydney Sweeney, who leads The Housemaid, told People that the end-credit choice felt “so perfect.” Her co-star Amanda Seyfried echoed the sentiment, saying she and Sweeney were thrilled when the song appeared onscreen and that the moment helped anchor the film’s emotional tone at its conclusion. Seyfried recalled watching the ending with the team and noting that hearing Swift’s music “brings every generation together, which is so fun.” Sweeney has also spoken about her dynamic with Seyfried in the project, describing the experience as “crazy” and reveling in a sense of sisterhood on set.
The end-credits moment sits within a film that has generated additional attention for its cast and its adaptation from the 2022 Freida McFadden novel of the same name. The Housemaid features Sweeney in a leading role alongside Seyfried, with Brandon Sklenar, Michele Morrone and Elizabeth Perkins among the cast. Sweeney has repeatedly discussed the thriller’s twists and turns in interviews, including a joint appearance on Today, where she described the production as fun despite its dark material. On that program, she and Seyfried spoke about their on-set camaraderie, including a playful “girls room” on set and late-night conversations after makeup and blood-soaked scenes.
As the film continues to generate chatter, Sweeney reiterated in interviews that she would love to reprise Millie if a Housemaid sequel moves forward. She told People she was a fan of the books and would be just as excited to see more of Millie’s story, adding that the character is “spicy” and fights for what she believes in. Seyfried supported the idea, praising the movie’s energy and the performers’ ability to sustain a dynamic that felt electric on screen. The two actors also shared lighthearted details about the set culture, underscoring the balance of intensity and levity that helped them navigate the thriller’s more shocking moments.
Paul Feig, whose Hollywood premiere remarks framed Swift’s clearance, is promoting The Housemaid as a tightly wound, genre-bending thriller. The central development—Swift’s clearance of a major soundtrack contribution—has become a notable talking point for industry observers considering how high-profile pop songs can influence a film’s reception and marketing. While Swift’s catalog has long intersected with cinema through past soundtrack placements, this instance marks another example of a singer granting clearance after a screen test demonstrates the track’s fit with the mood and cadence of a movie’s final moments. The result, according to Feig and others involved, is a credits sequence that resonates with contemporary audiences while bridging generations of fans through a shared moment of recognition and excitement.