The legendary Michael Caine has thoughts about Taylor Swift.
“I think Taylor Swift is incredible, a giant star,” Caine, 92, said in his recently released book, Don’t Look Back, You’ll Trip Over: My Guide to Life. “You know, she was a country singer to start with? And now she fills stadiums all over the world, with audiences of 100,000, and politicians are desperate for her to support them. That’s extraordinary.”
Caine was interviewed by Matthew d’Ancona — he noted, “I’ve never done a book of interviews” — to share “life hacks” for the book, which was released in the United States on Tuesday, March 25. (Don’t Look Back, You’ll Trip Over: My Guide to Life had its initial release in the U.K. late last year.)
Swift, 35, and her widespread success became a topic of conversation while Caine was discussing how the idea of “stardom” has changed during his years in the entertainment industry. (Anyone else dying to know which of Swift’s songs Caine dubs his favorite?!)
“You can just tell how much hard work lies behind what she’s achieved, too. It’s no accident,” Caine said of the singer. “She has really earned her success, and it hasn’t come overnight. She’s down-to-earth, which is almost always part of it. Not spoiled by all the accolades and money. That’s impressive.”
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Caine agreed that “stardom is definitely different” now compared to the Golden Age of Hollywood, which included stars like John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart and Elizabeth Taylor, to name a few. (Some of these legendary stars, Caine has even worked with in the past.)
“People’s attention is more divided than it used to be, there’s more competition from all sorts of directions,” Caine continued. “There’s not really the sense there used to be of the big cultural event of the week. So, there are definitely fewer actors and musicians whose name alone can guarantee a movie or a record will make money.”
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He added: “But stardom is still stardom.”
This memoir is the eighth book written and released by Caine. The first few being trivia books before releasing his first memoir, What’s It All About? An Autobiography in 1992. Following his 2023 retirement from acting, Caine decided to dip his toe in to fiction writing, releasing a mystery novel titled Deadly Game in December of that year.
Don’t Look Back, You’ll Trip Over: My Guide to Life is out now.
