‘I Don’t Think We’ll Be Able To Clear This.’ How Sydney Sweeney And Amanda Seyfried Manifested That Taylor Swift Song Into The Housemaid

Scene where Sydney Sweeney is cleaning a bathroom in The Housemaid when Amanda Seyfried sneaks up to her.
(Image credit: Lionsgate)

There’s nothing like a good BTS story about how a movie comes together, and in the case of The Housemaid, fans have been interested to learn how the highly-anticipated book adaptation came to life on the big screen. One of the coolest details about the movie, in my opinion, is how it ends on just the perfect Taylor Swift song. I just found out that moment was not guaranteed for fans in the beginning, but Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney absolutely kept the faith.

It was director Paul Feig who admitted he wanted Taylor Swift's "I Did Something Bad" for the closing credits of The Housemaid. Of course, taking a popular song from a bucket list want to a reality can be a little bit challenging.

We wanted to put it in, but I just kept going like, 'I don't think we'll be able to clear this,' because Taylor doesn't really clear many of her songs.

Honestly, I get it. The last time Taylor Swift cleared one of her songs for a big movie release was It Ends With Us, and that landed her in the middle of the Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni brouhaha. Personally, Swift's music is such a perfect fit for The Housemaid tonally and I can see why Feig, Amanda Seyfried, and Sydney Sweeney all wanted it in the movie.

The song’s from Swift’s Reputation, and Feig told People it was the “ultimate kind of empowerment song.” There was just one problem: They needed permission to use it. The two leading ladies saw the cut of the final version of the movie before the right were cleared, and they just kept saying they needed it in the movie.

Still, it wasn’t always a sure thing.

  • Seyfried: "We saw it before it was fully confirmed."
  • Sweeney: "And we were like, 'We can't lose this!' We were like, 'You have to keep this!' … And it brings every generation together, which is so fun. "

Ultimately, The Housemaid does end on “I Did Something Bad” shortly after the audience finds out – and minor spoilers – that Millie has moved on to a new household during The Housemaid’s viral ending scene. Because of the scene and the song, there's a chance we'll get a Housemaid 2 sequel.

Honestly, I don’t personally know exactly how difficult it is to land a Taylor Swift song, though Feig alluded to it not being a super simple favor. It’s true a ton of movies don’t have her music, but shows like Will Trent, The Bear and The Handmaid’s Tale have all rocked her music just this year. Still, I do think The Housemaid may have had an uphill battle given it’s a little similar to It Ends with Us tonally and that obviously has been a whole big thing in the press. Or maybe there could have been cost issues (as we all know Swift's music ain't cheap) or problems with clearing “I Did Something Bad” in particular.

Maybe there simply was another kind of holdup on nabbing the rights, too, as Feig did not clarify how it ultimately came, down.

Whatever the case, Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney seemingly kept beating the drum until the powers that be agreed to let “I Did Something Bad” into the movie. The rest is delicious, campy movie history, and if you haven’t given the flick a watch yet, it’s absolutely one for the big screen. Just see CinemaBlend’s own Corey Chichizola recounting his rowdy screening.

Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways. 

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