Taylor Swift Stops by The Tonight Show | Taylor Swift, Keri Russell | Monday, October 6

Summary

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Episode: Taylor Swift Stops by The Tonight Show | Taylor Swift, Keri Russell
Date: October 7, 2025

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Main Theme

This lively episode celebrates the release of Taylor Swift’s new album, The Life of a Showgirl, which has shattered records and generated enormous buzz among her global fanbase. Taylor sits down with Jimmy Fallon for an extended interview, diving deep into her creative process, the engagement everyone is talking about, behind-the-scenes stories, and her signature playful banter. Keri Russell also joins the episode for a warm segment about celebrity encounters, parenting, and her Netflix show The Diplomat.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Taylor Swift’s Album "The Life of a Showgirl" (05:13–07:07)

• The Life of a Showgirl debuted at #1, selling 3 million copies on its first day and breaking streaming records on all platforms.
• Taylor views each album as a deep-dive into a different facet of her personality:
  • Her previous Tortured Poets Department was "earnest and stoic and raw".
  • With Showgirl, she embraces a “funny, feisty, flirty, and a little scandalous” persona.

    "I love to showcase...aspects of my personality that are in the extreme." — Taylor (06:12)

2. Engagement to Travis Kelce (07:09–10:21)

• Jimmy brings up Taylor's engagement and the dazzling ring, sparking jokes and awe from the crowd.
• Taylor describes the proposal:
  • The engagement was carefully orchestrated after she had joined Travis Kelce for his podcast, New Heights.
  • Travis was visibly nervous—something Taylor had “never seen”, and the house was draped for secrecy.
  • The actual proposal was a surprise, with the backyard transformed into a "secret garden oasis".

    "He's just my favorite person I've ever met... the fact that this is the person that I get to hang out with every day forever is just like—that’s the whole thing of it." — Taylor (08:02)

3. Rumor Game: "Two Truths and a Lie" (11:08–16:24)

• Jimmy reads out five rumors about Taylor for a truth/lie guessing game.
  • She denies making a joke at Selena Gomez’s wedding about Selena beating her to the altar (14:02).
  • Taylor admits Ed Sheeran learned of her engagement via Instagram because “he doesn’t have a phone.”

    “When the news came out I was like, ‘Oh my God, we forgot to call Ed.’” — Taylor (16:16)

• The segment features delightful, self-deprecating humor and stories about Taylor’s friendships.

4. Life at #1: Album and Box Office (16:54–18:38)

• The album’s official release party was also a #1 box office event.
• Taylor talks about baking and the sourdough bread cameo in the “Fate of Ophelia” music video:
  • She's become obsessed with bread, to the amusement of friends and Jimmy.

    “I have to actually stop myself from talking about bread at parties, because people don't...” — Taylor (17:34)

  • Playful riffing about her “next phase” being jams and chutneys.

5. Game: "Lasts" (19:31–21:46)

A quick-fire round of “lasts” brings out candid, funny moments:

• Last person texted: “Selena.” (20:02)
• Last movie watched: “One Battle After” — she and Jimmy rave about the cast and music. (20:05)
• Last music by another artist: “Tit for Tat” by Tate McRae. (21:37)
• Last song of her own listened to: Tradition to revisit her previous album before a new release.

  "I listen to the entirety of the last album that I made [before release], to say goodbye to it." — Taylor (21:10)

6. Track-by-Track Inspirations from "Life of a Showgirl" (22:54–27:13)

• Opalite:
  • Song uses man-made opal as metaphor: “You have to pick your own happiness... sometimes make your own happiness. Just like man-made opal.” (23:20)
• Wood:
  • Created as a “throwback, timeless-sounding song”, inspired by superstition—“I gotta knock on wood.”
  • Session went off the rails in a fun way: “I don’t know what happened, man... I don’t know how we got here, but I love this song so much.” (24:56)
• Fate of Ophelia:
  • Inspiration struck like “You Belong With Me”; wanted to blend Shakespearean and modern language.

    “We wanted to take just like, different tones of speaking... blend like now and then and try to juxtapose those together.” — Taylor (26:03)

  • Taylor beams over seeing fans’ dances online: “It is unbelievable.”

7. Mutual Appreciation & Show Energy (18:50–19:16, 27:19–27:33)

• Taylor thanks Jimmy for genuinely listening to and engaging with artists:

  “You give us a buzzer, you play a game with us that has no rules, and you make this so fun for us... everybody who comes on the show loves you.” — Taylor (18:57)

• The feeling is mutual: “We are lucky to be living in a time with Taylor Swift in our...” — Jimmy (27:19)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Album Personas:
  "This, I wanted to be the character of the showgirl... funny and feisty... flirty and sort of tongue in cheek and a little scandalous." — Taylor Swift (06:38)
• On Her Engagement:
  "The fact that this is the person that I get to hang out with every day forever..." — Taylor Swift (08:10)
• About Ed Sheeran:
  "He doesn't have a phone... They have to give it to him like he's a child that they give the iPad to." — Taylor Swift (15:53)
• On Baking Obsession:
  "I have these, like, baking or cooking obsessions... my recent obsession becomes my entire personality." — Taylor Swift (17:31)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Monologue & Taylor’s Introduction: 01:15–03:46
• Taylor’s Entrance & Album Discussion: 03:46–07:07
• Engagement Reveal: 07:09–10:21
• "Two Truths and a Lie" Rumor Game: 11:08–16:24
• Bread Obsession and "Fate of Ophelia" Video: 17:15–18:38
• "Lasts" Game: 19:31–21:46
• Album Track Inspirations: 22:54–27:13

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Keri Russell Interview Highlights

• Recalls early encounter with Taylor from her 2008 MySpace post, demonstrating Swift's long-documented admiration.
• Brings her daughter, Willa, to the show—stories about balancing parenting and career, and childhood celebrity crushes (Lenny Kravitz).
• Reflects on the success of The Diplomat, the show’s focus on civil servants, and her consistent “hair icon” status.

  "I have no idea why people like my hair so much. But, you know, the character is supposed to be someone serious..." — Keri Russell (33:39)

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Final Thoughts

This episode covers the spectrum: joyous mutual admiration, genuine emotion, intimate anecdotes, and plenty of laughs. Taylor Swift opens up about artistry and personal life with warmth and humor, while Keri Russell shares delightful celebrity stories and parenting relatability. For music fans, pop culture lovers, and Swifties alike, it’s a must-listen high point of late night.

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Transcript

[A]

From Studio 6B in Rockefeller center in the heart of New York City, it's a tonight show starring Jimmy Fallon. Hey, hey, hey, hey. I joined. Gimme this guest, Taylor Swift, Carrie Russell. Featuring the legendary Ruth Cru. She's here. She. And now here he is. Gimme. We're. Come on. Thank you very much. Enjoy yourself, everybody.

[B]

Enjoy yourself. Take a seat. Enjoy yourself. Welcome to the Tonight show, you guys.

[A]

The tonight Show. That's right, everyone.

[B]

The mother of all guests, Taylor Swift is here tonight. That's right, Taylor Swift is here. And this is the hottest ticket in town today. Today. I was on the phone with pope Leo saying, I'm sorry, sorry, your holiness, there's just no more room. I just want to quickly thank all the Swifties around the world watching us tonight. Thank you for tuning in. Thank you for all your support. Of course. Taylor's here to talk about the release of her brand new album, the life of a showgirl. Yeah. Even though it's October, like everyone else, I spent the weekend looking for Easter eggs. I listened to the album so many times this weekend. I think that I'm in love with Travis Kelce. Who is it? Actually, I saw Taylor backstage and I tried to shake her hand, but I couldn't lift the engagement ring. Ooh. It was a two hander. It was a two hander. Yeah. You'll see it yet. The life of a showgirl is full of Shakespeare references and math. At this point, Taylor's basically our department of education. And I think that's fine. I'm fine with. I'm totally fine with that. Yeah. Taylor broke multiple Spotify records, including most streams in a single day. With the fate of Ophelia, Shakespeare was like, I doth slayeth again. Yep. Taylor's new album is historic. This weekend, people got a news alert and it actually felt good. Yep. Taylor's on the tonight show. Travis is on Monday night football. Every other couple's like, it's just like our Monday nights when we order doordash and watch the voice. It's the same thing. In other news, a TikTok star just cycled up the Eiffel tower steps in world record time. Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy. What are you doing, man? What? What? I mean, telling monologue jokes like I do every night. Dawg, we don't want to hear any more jokes tonight. Just do them tomorrow. Yeah, yeah, yeah, man. Listen, Jimmy, we love you, but we're here for her. You're talking about the biggest pop star on earth. Yeah. Come on, dude. Yeah, man, just stop wasting time. And bring her out already.

[A]

You want that? You want me to do it right now? You want me to do it right now? You ready for this? She is the biggest pop star on the planet. A 14 time Grammy winning, multi platinum selling record breaking music icon whose eras tour made her the most successful touring artist of all time. Her brand new album, the Life of a Showgirl is out now and it's already number one, selling 3 million copies on its first day of release. Everyone, please welcome the one, the only, Taylor Swift. Welcome back. Thank you.

[B]

I mean.

[A]

Come on. We love you too much. We love you too much. That was.

[B]

The big. I know the. You have to. We have to let her talk. Sorry. We have to.

[C]

Oh, it was so nice. That was incredible.

[B]

Wow. That's the loudest intro in the history of the Tonight Show.

[C]

You guys are the best.

[B]

They're the best crowd. Yeah, they're the best.

[C]

I feel like I'm back at the Arrows tour.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I mean, come on.

[B]

Let'S talk. Life of a Showgirl is out now. It went to number one. It is the biggest streaming date for any album released this year across all platforms, including Amazon, Apple, Spotify. Every platform. Number one. Congratulations.

[C]

That's all you got?

[A]

Thank you so much. How.

[B]

How does it feel to have this out in the world?

[C]

I mean, it's. I. Yes. I'm so excited about, like, this was sort of a surprise and a secret that I had been carrying around for a year. And I was so excited. It's like, it's like when you're like, I got a really great Christmas present from my brother and then I like, but you have it for a year. And so it's really exciting that, you know, they have opened the present and they are playing with the toy. It's fantastic. Like, this feels so special because, like, with my albums, I love to kind of, you know, showcase sort of like aspects of my personality that are in the extreme, right? Like torture poets department. My last album was really highlighting the facets of me that are like a writer that's like earnest and stoic and raw and sort of like the sprawling part of it where the part of me that wants to just be like, I'm just gonna write everything and give you everything. I wrote raw, right? Raw and like pain and just excruciating detail. And then there's this like, that was the character of the poet and this. I wanted to be the character of the showgirl, which is like other aspects of a person's personality where you're like, you're like, funny and feisty and like. And, like, having a blast. And flirty and sort of tongue in cheek and a little scandalous and, like, friendly.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

We're feeling all of it, by the way, I have to say, because I'm getting blinded. Congratulations on your engagement.

[A]

Oh, thanks. Thanks. Wow.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Can I see?

[C]

Yeah, of course.

[B]

Oh, my. My Lord. Can we look just at the things?

[A]

Holy mass.

[B]

Taylor.

[A]

That's crazy.

[B]

Taylor. That is insanity.

[A]

That's crazy.

[B]

He put a lot of. He put a lot of work into that one.

[C]

He did. He did. And he had it for a really long time before he gave it to me, too.

[B]

He did.

[C]

Yeah. So he had it like. He custom did this and designed it with this amazing jeweler who he made it with.

[B]

It's gorgeous. Even the sides are beautiful.

[C]

I know, I know. I look at it constantly.

[D]

Like, it's not.

[C]

It doesn't feel in any way normal for me. I'm just sort of like, oh, this.

[A]

Is the moment we're in. Whoa.

[C]

But it's like, it's more than that. It's like I just, like, he's just my favorite person I've ever met. No offense to everyone else.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[C]

But the fact that this is the person that I get to hang out with every day forever is just like. That's the whole thing of it. You look at that and you're like, I get to hang out with him forever. And this represents that.

[B]

That's the win. Yeah. Well, I know that you did his new heights, which, by the way, I have done. And since I've done his podcast, they've won every game.

[C]

Yes, I did.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

You know what? Don't think I didn't notice that.

[B]

Thank you.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And so I don't want to thank you. I don't want any credit. Let's just act like a dude.

[C]

Let's not jinx anything. Let's sort of.

[D]

But.

[B]

But it did happen, so it did happen. What are you gonna do?

[C]

We have to acknowledge certain superstitious, you know, things that cause a streak of winning.

[B]

Yes. And my.

[C]

My head is very much there.

[B]

Yes, you are.

[C]

So thank you for acknowledging that.

[B]

No, no, I was gonna bring up the podcast only because you did the podcast to announce and reveal your album title.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

And then after that podcast, I think it was. I think I'm right about this. It might be another rumor about you. But he went and you got engaged right after the podcast.

[C]

Yes. So basically, I think for Travis, the podcast was just sort of like a distraction sort of ruse to keep me not Looking out the windows of the.

[B]

House, it was all happening. Was the backyard normal when you got there?

[C]

It's like, I don't. Every time he does the podcast, it's not like he, like, blacks out all the windows. Like, the drape. It's, like, fully, like, just blackout drapes on every single window of the whole house.

[B]

Yeah. You're like, honey, this is real secretive.

[C]

Serious about this, and I really appreciate that. But then afterward, I kind of realized, like, he's walking around sort of nervous about the podcast. He's like, my heart is racing. I just really want. I know how much this means to you. Like, really want this to be what you hoped it would be. Cause we'd been talking about doing the podcast and announcing the album.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And he's like, my heart's racing. And I'm just. I've never seen this dude nervous ever.

[B]

Of course he's not nervous about the podcast professionally.

[C]

Not a nervous person.

[B]

He's like, I wonder what questions I'm gonna ask you.

[A]

I know one. I know one. I know one question that I'm gonna ask. I knew the big one, but I can't get to that yet. Yeah.

[C]

I was like. And so he was like, do you want to go and just walk around the backyard and have a glass of wine? I'm like, I'm always going to want to do that.

[B]

That's good. Always, bud.

[C]

And then I realized exactly why all of the windows were curtained and why he was nervous.

[B]

Yeah. Look at this.

[C]

That's the best possible case scenario.

[D]

Look at that.

[C]

That's what he was turning the backyard into, like, a secret garden oasis.

[A]

Beau.

[B]

I thought we could do something kind of fun here because you're Taylor Swift and you make a lot of headlines. There's a lot written about you on the Internet every day. Some of it is very hard to tell what's true. And I thought we could have a little fun with this. All right. Okay, so what I'm gonna do is. Oh, God, no. I'm going to read some rumors that I heard about Taylor Swift.

[C]

Wait, so what is this for?

[B]

It's just because it looks cool.

[C]

What is it? Do you know what this does? And when I am supposed to.

[B]

Yes, you're supposed to press it. Wait, no, no, not yet. But I think you press it. When we're all done, I'll go back through every rumor, and you press it if that one is true.

[C]

So you're gonna say things that are true and false, and you're gonna. Are you gonna.

[B]

No, I'm gonna.

[C]

Is it two trees in a lie where you guess kind.

[B]

Yes. Oh, I can do that.

[C]

Yeah. So you.

[B]

Oh, I like that.

[C]

We're basically one of these.

[B]

I know. Playing Too true a lie. I heard that. Yes. So. And so one of these is true.

[C]

One of these things are true, but everything else is false.

[B]

That's correct. All right, here we go. Taylor Swift, you turned down the super bowl halftime show because the NFL wouldn't allow you to own your performance footage. Okay, we're going through. There's five rumors. Interesting. Rumor two, your close friend Ed Sheeran learned about your engagement like everyone else did on Instagram. That would be great if that's true. Rumor three, in your speech at Selena Gomez's wedding, you joked that Selena beat you to the altar. That's funny. And I know you. You're funny. I could see that happening. Rumor four, you've been spotted walking a mystery dog in Florida. This is true. This is on the Internet. You are walking a dog that's not your dog and it's a mystery dog. And by the way, I think that might be the true one. But who knows? Travis Kelce can be heard harmonizing on Opalite. All right, I said five rumors about you. One of them is true. I'm gonna say the rumor that I think is true. The Selena Gomez one. I feel like that's funny. And I feel like you say, hey, you beat me to the altar. I'm gonna say, Selena Gomez is true. That you were at Selena Gomez's wedding and you joked, hey, you beat me to the altar.

[C]

It's false.

[A]

What is the rules. Wait, what are the rules of the game? The game is not.

[B]

It's false. The game is. It is. What is the game called?

[A]

I don't know.

[B]

Sorry. That's false. Yeah, she never said that.

[C]

That's false. Well, I. So I got to see her be the most elegant, gorgeous, not only bride, but just vision that I've ever seen in my life. I've never seen anything so beautiful as her on her wedding day. I love her and she deserves and Benny, all of his happiness. Benny, he is him the best. It's so funny.

[B]

He's the best.

[C]

He's the best. So I did make a speech, but I actually made a point not to mention anything about my engagement. Nobody wants you to be like, hey, I know this is your wedding day, but like, you know, like, I was.

[B]

Like, don't mention it.

[C]

Like, maybe turn it around. Do you know what I mean?

[B]

Yeah, this is her day.

[C]

I did do some light Teasing about the way that we used to dress in 2008, the year that we met. Cause we met when we were teenagers in 2008. It was quite a year, let me tell you. And so I talked a little bit about 2008. I talked about how happy I am for her and how just beautiful it's been to get to be a part of her life. But I did not make it about me.

[B]

Okay, good. All right, then I'm going to have my second guest here, and I'm gonna say I think it'd be funny if Ed Sheeran learned about your engagement on Instagram.

[C]

That's so true. Oh, no, I don't have a perfect explanation.

[B]

Oh, no, I have.

[C]

He doesn't have a phone. He doesn't have a phone.

[B]

Did he write a whole album about an old phone that he had or something?

[C]

But he doesn't have one that works.

[B]

Yeah, true. That is true.

[C]

So he doesn't have a phone. And this is, like, one thing I love about him. It's very eccentric. Love it. But when I'm going through being like, hey, like, you know, hey, all my peeps, who should we FaceTime? I'm going through my texts and being like, who have I texted within the last, like, month of my life? And he just wasn't there. Because you have to, like. You have to, like, how do you.

[B]

Get ahold of him? The bat signal.

[C]

You have to email him, and then you want to FaceTime him. He has to find an iPad. They have to give it to him like he's a child that they give the iPad to.

[B]

Yes. And he watches the episode of Bluey.

[C]

And then this is one of my absolute favorite people on the planet.

[B]

And I know that's why I didn't.

[A]

Get to see it.

[C]

And then when the news came out, I was like, oh, my God, we forgot to call Ed.

[A]

Oh, no, that's my favorite.

[C]

Yeah, it's like family. Like, people love him, but he doesn't have a phone.

[B]

We're gonna take a commercial break. In the meantime, we're gonna call Ed Sheeran and say hi to him. Check in, guys. Thank you for doing that.

[A]

More with Taylor Swift when we come back. Let your dogs run. Welcome back, everybody. We're hanging out with Taylor Swift.

[B]

You. In addition to your number one album, you're also number one at the box office over the weekend with the official release party of a showgirl. Congrats on that.

[C]

Thank you.

[B]

As well. Thank you. That's super fun and something different. And in that, you also debuted the Video for the Fate of Ophelia. Great video.

[C]

Thank you so much.

[B]

You wrote and directed it.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Every fan is looking at little Easter eggs. And I was. Me too. And I'm looking at everything going. It's just brilliantly done. It's gorgeous. And I did see a sourdough cameo in there as well.

[C]

Yeah, there's a sourdough bread cameo. I am. Recently, I have become the most annoying person that anyone knows about the topic of bread. It's like I have these, like, baking or cooking obsessions where, like, my recent obsession, whatever it happens to be, becomes my entire personality. It's all I can talk about. I have to actually stop myself from talking about bread at parties, because people don't.

[B]

You baked me a bread, and you begged me not to bring it on.

[C]

I did bake you a bread.

[B]

I baked you a bread.

[C]

I baked you two loaves. And then I said, if you bring it on tv, people are gonna be like, she won't stop.

[B]

It's too much.

[C]

But I can't stop.

[B]

It's too much. No.

[C]

I think I need to move on to accoutrement of the bread. Jams and such. I think it could get even. Like, jams and such. Chutneys.

[A]

Wow.

[C]

Can you imagine?

[B]

Can you imagine the world that opens up about chutneys? Oh, my God. Oh, my gosh. I can't wait.

[C]

Yeah, they're like, avoid that girl.

[B]

No, it is.

[C]

She's, like, written some bops, but she is boring.

[B]

I want to hear about chutneys. Next time you come on.

[C]

I want you in a verbal headlock of a sourdough starter, and you will have to claw yourself out.

[B]

I cannot wait to have it. And thank you so much for being so generous and always doing those. Extra. You always go extra. You're just amazing.

[C]

You do, too. I want to say that about you. That's why everybody loves to come see you. You do extra. You give us a buzzer. You play a game with us that has no rules, and you make this so fun for us to come and talk about the work that we made that we worked so hard on and love. And you listen to it and you, like, actually care about what we make. Everybody who comes on the show loves you.

[B]

Thank you, Beth.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Thank you, but I don't need anything.

[C]

I've got a heart, kid.

[B]

You did it.

[A]

Keep going.

[B]

He did it.

[A]

Keep going.

[B]

You got me. You got me. You got this cold heart to get emotional. Let's play another game.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

All right. This is a fast game. This is a fast game.

[C]

Where's the buzzer?

[B]

No buzzer in this one. There's no buzzer. This one is the game of lasts.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

Okay. So it's like the last. Blah, blah, blah. The last thing you. Blah, blah, blah. The last.

[C]

Oh, so I just say the last thing I did?

[B]

Yeah. Just talking. Just a talking game. You could play it anywhere. You can play it in the car with your friends. Look, I'm driving.

[A]

I know.

[C]

I love this.

[B]

Look at me, I'm driving. Here we go. All right. This is lasts. And this is gonna go super fast.

[D]

Cool.

[B]

Last person you texted.

[C]

Selena.

[B]

Last movie you saw.

[C]

Last movie. Oh, One battle after.

[A]

Yes. My God, that was great.

[C]

My God, yes, it was great. Chase Infinity. Teyana Taylor. How are they gonna split the Oscar in half?

[B]

I don't know.

[C]

We will see.

[B]

Leonardo DiCaprio. Sean Bell.

[C]

It was so funny. Benicio was. They were scared funny. Leo was.

[B]

Johnny Greenwood. The soundtrack that.

[C]

The fact that when you hear that theme each time.

[B]

Scared me.

[C]

It makes you feel something different every single time. And we are so lucky to be alive at the same time as Paul Thomas Anderson.

[B]

There you go.

[A]

Come on.

[B]

I agree.

[A]

He's just a.

[C]

Like. It's crazy that he is just out here doing that. He's writing it, he's directing it. He's existing on this. Just this higher level that we get to watch. Anyway, that was the last movie I watched last fall.

[B]

Related activity. You did.

[C]

Oh, I baked cinnamon rolls the other day. That is the. That means it's here.

[A]

Yes, it's here.

[C]

It's here.

[B]

Tis the season.

[C]

Yes, yes.

[B]

Last song of your own that you listened to. Not on the new album.

[C]

Oh, okay. So I have this tradition when the eve before I have a new album that comes out that starts a new musical era, I listen to the entirety of the last album that I made. So I listened to Tortured Poets Department to say goodbye to it. And I do it every time.

[B]

I love that.

[C]

It's the night before a new album comes out.

[B]

Didn't know that. I love this game. Last song of any artist that you listen to.

[A]

Oh.

[C]

Tate McRae has a great new song called Tit for Tat. You got Alyssa.

[B]

Do it. It's good.

[C]

In my full volume, over and over again on repeat.

[B]

All right. Love that.

[C]

So good.

[B]

Finally, the last person you said. And, baby, that's show business for you too.

[C]

Man. I don't say it often, but I'll say it now. That's show business for you.

[A]

Yeah, I'll take it. I'm the Last person.

[B]

I rigged that one.

[A]

Since the Life of the Showgirl is officially out for Taylor Swift, we come back. Welcome back, everybody. Taylor Swift is joining us. Turn the ro. The Life of a Showgirl is out now.

[B]

I thought it'd be fun to maybe go through some of the tracks here on the album of Life of a Showgirl and maybe share the inspiration behind each one.

[C]

Yeah, I would love this.

[B]

Is that fun?

[C]

So this is our, like, podcast.

[B]

It kind of feels like. Yeah, I love this. It's kind of like a loose.

[C]

It's like the second podcast interview I've ever done. I'm very excited.

[A]

I'm honored.

[B]

Yes, this is good. Okay, good. I'm very excited. And whoever the other person's podcast you did, don't get mad at me. Okay. Cause there's room for two of us. Yeah. To have podcasts. Okay. Opalite. Let's start with that one.

[C]

All right.

[B]

I don't even know if I know what Opalite is.

[C]

Opalite is man made opal.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

So, like, just like, they can do man made diamonds, they can do man made opal. And I thought it was kind of a cool. It was like, interesting imagery and a cool metaphor for. Life isn't always going to give you what you want. You're not always going to get your way. You're going to get your heart broken. Things are going to happen to you. Chaos will ensue. But you have to pick your own happiness. You choose it. Like, it doesn't always choose you. It doesn't always just show up knocking on your door. You have to. To sometimes make your own happiness. Just like men made oval.

[B]

Wow.

[C]

This song is exactly how I feel right now. And it's just kind of like, amazing to hear you guys sing it like that. That was pretty.

[B]

All right.

[C]

Pretty great.

[A]

How about this?

[B]

Should we transition to wood?

[A]

This is wood.

[B]

W o o d by if anyone's watching that.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

W o o d Like wooden. Yes, Wood. Do you come up with tunes before for this exact song? Did you go?

[C]

No. So I brought this into the studio and I was like, I want to do sort of like a. I want to, like, do a throwback kind of timeless sounding song. And I have this idea about, like, I gotta knock on wood. And we would knock on wood and it would be all these superstitions. And it really started out in a very innocent place. You know, it started out like. I don't know what happened, man. I.

[B]

We went off the rails, I got.

[C]

In there, we started vibing, and I Don't know. I don't know how we got here, but I love this song so much.

[A]

It's brilliant.

[B]

It's perfect the way it is. How about we do one more? Can we do fate of Ophelia?

[A]

Yes.

[C]

Oh, my God.

[B]

All right. Fate of Ophelia. Do you go? How did you come with dreaming of that was.

[A]

Let me tell you, the rush.

[C]

Let me tell you the rush I felt when I thought of that.

[A]

It was great.

[C]

It was the same feeling that I felt when I thought of can't you see you belong with me?

[B]

Really?

[C]

Yes. Sometimes when you like.

[A]

So good, I'm.

[C]

Like, it's so fun. It's just like, ugh.

[B]

I love it.

[C]

Thank you for acknowledging that melody. Yeah, that was a big one for me.

[B]

It could belter and it's like, yeah, it's just fun to sing along with.

[C]

It was so fun. And it was also just sort of like we wanted to take just like different. Just different tones of speaking, like almost different time periods of the way that people used to speak. Like, there's certain Shakespearean kind of ways of phrasing things in terminology and like, tis locked inside my memory and only you possess the key. But there's also like pledge allegiance to your hands, your team, your vibes. Like, we wanted to kind of blend, like now and then and try to juxtapose those together in a way that hopefully works. But I love this song so much. I'm so proud of it. I'm so proud of the video. We had such a blast. Just this whole process of this song coming out into the world and I see people dancing to it online and they're absolutely crushing it.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

It is unbelievable.

[B]

100 of them this morning trying to learn.

[C]

It's amazing. And it just. It's so fun to. To have fun and I really appreciate you guys having fun with me.

[B]

We are. We're totally having fun with you.

[A]

We're having so much fun with you.

[B]

I can't thank you enough for always remembering me and coming back to the show. We are lucky to be living in a time with Taylor Swift in our. Thank you. Love you, bud.

[A]

Congrats. Number one album. Congrats on your engagement. Thank you for coming to see us. Taylor Swift Legends of Showgirl is out now. We'll be right back with more Tonight show.

[B]

Our next guest is an Emmy nominated actress who executive produces and stars in the Netflix show The Diplomat Season 3 premieres October 16th. Everyone please welcome Keri Russell.

[A]

Welcome back. Thank you.

[B]

We always love it when you come by and what a fun night, because.

[D]

What a night.

[B]

Yeah. You and Taylor Swift.

[A]

Come on.

[B]

No, I love this, because here's one thing I wanted to show you. You've been on the show many times, and thank you for coming on our show. Thank you for having me tonight. I thought it'd be fun to show you super fans out there of Taylor Swift. Found on her 2008 MySpace bio, she put MySpace. I think Keri Russell is the coolest celebrity ever. It goes on. This is the actual post from her MySpace page. The exact post. But I can kind of get through the story. But she said, ben, my banjo player, we all got to meet Keri Russell the other night. We were playing the same party. So I met her. She was so incredibly cool. Before we went to the trip, Ben's wife asked him if he could ask Carrie how she does her hair. Blah, blah, blah. Anyways, she talks to Kerry. She gets out a piece of paper, writes down exactly what products she uses, what blow dryer she uses, and exactly what she does to make her hair straight or curly. I just think it's so awesome when cool people don't know they're cool. Love her.

[D]

I mean, she's the queen. I mean, what a legend.

[B]

No, Taylor is a legend.

[D]

Legend.

[B]

But you are. Do you remember that story? Do you remember. Tell us.

[D]

I do remember meeting her, and I remember meeting her mom, who was so lovely, and she was playing a little bit more country stuff back then. I remember thinking, oh, God, I hope something great happens to her. I hope she makes it.

[B]

I think she did.

[A]

I think she did. I think she did.

[B]

That's great. Well, I love that. Honestly. I've met you a bunch of times, but you are super cool, and it's great for you to just be nice to everybody, because look at how it comes back. It goes.

[D]

And I got to bring my daughter here.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

She's so cute.

[B]

Are you joking?

[D]

Willow is in the back.

[C]

She's 13.

[D]

And I brought her. And I said, I'm gonna do Fallon tonight. You could come with me. And she had a volleyball game. And she's like, oh, I have a game. And I said, well, maybe. Maybe you could just skip it. And she said, mom, it's a game. And I was like, well, she goes, I said, there might be someone cool on the show tonight. And she said, do I know who it is? And I said, I'm not sure. Maybe.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

And she goes, well, is she a singer? And I said, I think she sings.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. I think she does. Yeah. Yeah. Did she freak out.

[D]

Loved it.

[B]

She's cool.

[A]

She's losing her mind.

[B]

Back in the day, by the way. And the cutest.

[D]

She's so cute.

[B]

Shout out. She's so cute. She really is the cutest.

[D]

She is the cutest.

[B]

So she likes Taylor. She's a Taylor. Does she like Gracie Abram?

[D]

Of course, yes. And we went.

[B]

Wait, so.

[D]

And Gracie played here?

[B]

Well, Radio City, of course.

[D]

And so we went. And, you know, J.J. abrams is.

[B]

Her dad is genius filmmaker.

[D]

Star Wars. Felicity is how I know him from.

[A]

A million years ago, Mission Impossible.

[B]

The guy doesn't stop. He's a creative genius. But you guys together with Felicity. But now his daughter is Gracie Abrams.

[D]

Gracie Abrams. So I brought Willa and two of her pals, Kate and Savvy, to Radio City, to, like, we walked through the city. It was so magical, like, walking through the city and taking her to this concert. And wild to be standing there with J.J. cheering on Gracie.

[A]

It was just so.

[D]

We were like, these are our daughters.

[A]

It was crazy. Isn't that cool? We have daughters now.

[B]

Isn't that amazing?

[D]

It was so wild.

[B]

Must be wild. Did you ever have. Who was your, like, celebrity, like, freak out when you were a kid?

[D]

I mean, I think I was, like, really into Lenny Kravitz.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Why not?

[A]

Why not?

[B]

Who isn't into. I'm into him now. Totally. He's a stud.

[C]

He's a stud.

[D]

And there we went and saw, like, back when Lollapalooza. Is Lollapalooza still around? We went and saw him. I was working on the Mickey Mouse Club.

[B]

That's right.

[D]

And we went. And I remember my girlfriends and some guy friends, we went to see him play. And there's a discrepancy. Like, they think I might have cried a little when I first saw him on stage. I don't know that I did. I think I'm like, taylor, you're allowed.

[C]

I think I was cool.

[B]

So. Yeah, no, of course. But, hey, you see Lenny Kravitz, I would cry a little bit. Come on.

[C]

He's so hot.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

He's a rock star, man. And when you see it, you go. You have to do it.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

A little tear.

[B]

Why not? Why not? I want to talk about the Diplomat.

[D]

Yep.

[B]

You were fantastic in this. Nominated for another Emmy again for season two.

[A]

Congratulations. Thank you very much.

[B]

Got an interest to have picked up for season four.

[D]

Yep.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

Can we say that? We can.

[D]

So season three comes out.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

Season three is about to come out already. It's that good. It got picked up for season four, so congrats on that.

[D]

Thank you so much.

[B]

By the way, people love your character and they're obsessed with you. They're also obsessed with your character's hair, by the way.

[D]

Something new for me.

[B]

This is very. I find this interesting because. Because, Felicity, I remember people were obsessed with your hair.

[C]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

And Taylor, I don't know what it is. Wanted to know about your hair. Well, you have great hair.

[D]

Well, thanks, Jimmy. Thanks.

[B]

You have fant. Yeah, Sorry. Yeah.

[D]

People like to talk about my hair. Let them talk about it. Whatever. Whatever makes people happy.

[B]

Isn't that. Do you find that weird or interesting or what?

[A]

Who knows?

[D]

I have no idea why people like my hair so much. But, you know, the character is supposed to be someone serious with more important things to do. Like, you know, she's busy. She's not, like, doing stuff to her hair.

[B]

But your hair looks gorgeous.

[D]

I think I look great.

[B]

Yes, you look fantastic. What are you talking about?

[A]

Thank you. Thank you.

[B]

Some of the best. Some of the best hair in the business, I would say. What do we say? What's going on with this season? Season three.

[D]

It picks up right where we left off. And more than anything, I just want to say our show is about civil servants, and they are people who work incredibly hard in difficult situations and for people they don't even know, and they're having a tough go of it right now, and it's not gonna get much easier. It doesn't look like. So I'm just. We're honored to tell their stories.

[B]

Oh, God. That's nice that you said that.

[A]

Keri Russell, everybody. Season three of the Diplomat premieres October 16th on Netflix. More Tonight show after the break. Stick around, everybody.

[B]

Rock and do what it do. The living definition of improving the groove. The same tool we shoot. The Cougar Review.

[A]

My name is Taylor Swift. Keri Russell and the roots from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Good night, everybody who.

[B]

Thanks for listening to the Tonight show starring Jimmy Fallon. Don't forget to subscribe to get the latest episodes weekday mornings, wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the Tonight show starring Jimmy Fallon weeknights on NBC and streaming on Peacock.