Taylor's All Too Well Film Had So Many Easter Eggs About Jake Gyllenhaal
It wouldn't be a Taylor video without tons of hidden easter eggs.
Taylor Swift is back! On Friday, Nov. 12, the singer dropped her second re-recorded album, Red (Taylor’s Version). The project brings a whopping 30 tracks, including the highly-anticipated 10-minute version of “All Too Well.” To go along with the release of her new album, Swift unveiled a short film based on the song featuring Stranger Things’ Sadie Sink and Teen Wolf’s Dylan O'Brien. Since “All Too Well” is rumored to be about Swift’s relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal, fans speculated Sink and O'Brien would portray the former lovers in the film. As it turns out, fans were on point. In fact, the whole visual seemed to reference the stars’ past relationship. Here is every Jake Gyllenhaal easter egg in Taylor Swift's All Too Well film fans think they found.
To give you a refresher, Swift and Gyllenhaal reportedly dated from October to December in 2010. Their relationship drew a lot of attention not only because of their 10-year age gap but because of their many New York City outings. According to US Weekly, Gyllenhaal broke up with Swift over the phone just before New Year’s. After the couple was over, fans speculated many of Swift’s songs on her original Red album, which dropped in October 2012, were inspired by their relationship, including “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “Red,” and “The Moment I Knew.” By far, the one song fans were almost certain was about him was “All Too Well” thanks to a huge clue.
During the track, Swift sings, “I left my scarf there at your sister's house and you've still got it in your drawer even now.” Fans believed it was about the actor’s sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal, because back in the day, the couple did use to share the same scarf and even visited the actress’ house together for Thanksgiving in 2010. “We're singing in the car, getting lost upstate/ Autumn leaves falling down like pieces into place,” Swift also sings on “All Too Well,” seemingly referencing a relationship she had during fall.
In the 10-minute version of the song, Swift seems to drop even more hints about her whirlwind relationship with Gyllenhaal, with lyrics like, “It’s the same/ After three months in the grave” and “You said if we had been closer in age, maybe it would’ve been fine.”
Due to all the references toward their relationship in the song, fans were wondering if Swift’s All Too Well: A Short Film would also include any easter eggs about Gyllenhaal. Now that the film’s out, fans are convinced they’ve found hints about him throughout the visual. Check them out below.
The Scarf
This clothing item is probably the easiest easter egg to catch as the couple did wear the same scarf and Gyllenhaal was said to be spotted wearing the scarf even after they broke up. In Swift’s short film, we can see the older version of Him peeking into the bookstore window as the older version of Her is reading an excerpt of her new book, All Too Well.
Her 21st Birthday
Swift and Gyllenhaal dated from October to December of 2010 and based on the short film, it looks like Swifties finally have a specific date to the end of their relationship. Swift’s 21 birthday was on December 13, 2010 — during her relationship with Gyllenhaal — but we can see in the video that Gyllenhaal stood her up on the day of her birthday celebration. With the visuals and lyrics singing, “He watched me watch the front door all night willing you to come. And he said ‘It’s supposed to be fun, turning 21,” it’s easy to see the timeline of events.
The Upstate Weekend
Perhaps the most notorious paparazzi pictures of the couple took place during Thanksgiving 2010 when they celebrated with Gyllenhaal’s sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal. The two were seen out taking a stroll in upstate New York and according to Swift, she can picture it even after all these days. “We’re singing in the car, getting lost upstate/Autumn leaves falling down like pieces into place.”
The Age Difference
It’s no secret that Gyllenhaal was 10 years older than Swift, and that age difference seemed to be an important part of the casting decision for All Too Well. O’Brien is 30 and Sink is 19, so, OK, an 11-year age gap between the actors, only one year off from Swift and Gyllenhaal. In the 10-minute version of the song, Swift sings a reference hinting that maybe the age difference was what held Gyllenhaal back in the relationship. “You said if we had been closer in age maybe it would have been fine.”
The Beanie
Remember those paparazzi pictures from their upstate weekend? Well, O’Brien’s wardrobe, particularly the beanie he wore, seems to be a nod at Gyllenhaal’s beanie he sported over Thanksgiving.
Sink’s Wardrobe
At various points in the video, we can see Sing wearing very Taylor-inspired outfits, straight hair, and a bright red lip. Following their relationship, Swift released her 2012 album Red, where Swift did rebrand her look as she slowly progressed out of the country genre. Fans have speculated that “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “Red,” and “The Moment I Knew,” were songs all inspired by Gyllenhaal and their time together.
Now, there could be loads of other easter eggs in Taylor’s version of All Too Well, but some things just aren’t public record: like the F*** the Patriarchy keychain. Which is a shame. We can only hope Gyllenhaal is taking the release of the short film in stride.
