Why Josh Charles Was a Bit Tortured Over His Appearance in Taylor Swift's 'Fortnight' Music Video

Charles appeared alongside Ethan Hawke as scientists examining Swift's love affair in 'Fortnight' music video.

Why Josh Charles Was a Bit Tortured Over His Appearance in Taylor Swift's 'Fortnight' Music Video

Published:

3:49 PM PDT, April 20, 2024

Josh Charles was, shall we say, a bit tortured keeping it a secret that he had been cast to appear in Taylor Swift's highly anticipated "Fortnight" music video.

The 52-year-old actor took to Instagram on Saturday and shared a couple of photos of him and Ethan Hawke, his Dead Poets Society co-star. The first photo's a black and white pic of them in recent times while the second photo shows them in character for the 1989 coming-of-age drama directed by Peter Weir.

Charles began his caption sharing that keeping secrets is not his thing. But he did, and he didn't even tell his kids about being cast for Swift's "Fortnight" music video. "Fortnight" is the opening track to her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department.

"I don't like keeping secrets so that was hard. I didn't even tell my kids until the other day!" said the actor, who shares two kids with Sophie Flack. "Here’s a couple of tortured old poets about to board an early flight to be pop stars for a day. Been through a lot with this dude over the years, but safe to say this was a most memorable day."

Charles, who has appeared in TV hits like The Good Wife and hit films like S.W.A.T., then honored Swift.

"We were treated with such class by Taylor and her crew from beginning to end," Charles shared. "What I’ll remember most was the laughter. There was a lot of it. Like we were 17 all over again. #TSTTPD."

"Fortnight" featured Post Malone, and while most fans expected to see him in the video they were certainly surprised when Swift hosted a Dead Poets Society reunion. Hawke and Charles were cast as scientists examining Swift after a love affair goes wrong.

And now that the cat's outta the bag, Charles is psyched about being forever connected to the biggest pop star in the world. So much so, Charles took to Instagram after the video dropped and posted a shot of him swagging out to TTPD merch, which almost instantly sold out when it became available Friday.

The visual alone had fans a bit puzzled, but in the best of ways.

"i don’t know if i should be saying he’s one of us (swifties) or she’s one of us (dps fans) the world is crazy rn," commented a Dead Poets Society fan.

Another fan added, "Dont forget us Good Wife folks, Will is totally a swiftie."

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