Bryce Dallas Howard Says Taylor Swift Was a ‘Great Inspiration’ for Argylle Due to Her ‘Unapologetic Dorkiness’

Howard, who plays spy author Elly Conway in the new film ‘Argylle,’ says Swift is “a little bit like” her character

Bryce Dallas Howard is sharing her two cents on the Taylor Swift-Argylle conspiracy.

The actress, who plays author Elly Conway in the new Argylle film, denied the rumors that the “Anti-Hero” singer was involved in writing the book that inspired the movie, but admitted that there was some inspiration from Swift for her character.

“We can’t pretend she was involved,” Howard, 42, said on Friday’s episode of The Graham Norton Show. “The reality is she was in many ways a great inspiration.”

“She is a cat lady. She’s got this awesome backpack with a cat in [it] that she walks around with. She loves a good argyle sweater, and there is a sort of unapologetic dorkiness about her,” Howard continued of Swift, 34.

She added, “That’s a little bit like what my character is like.”

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Claudia Schiffer’s Cat Steals the Show at Argylle Premiere — See the Photos!
Since the film’s announcement, Swift fans began speculating online that the pop star might be behind the Elly Conway pseudonym due to a number of details related to the book and movie that fans thought could be Easter eggs.

One of the apparent clues fans speculated about was the similarity of the cat imagery featured in the book and film to one of the Grammy winner’s own felines.

In the movie’s trailer, Howard’s character has a Scottish Fold cat — similar to Swift’s pet Meredith Grey — which she puts in an argyle-patterned backpack she brings with her while she embarks on her own spy adventure. The cat is also featured on a poster for the movie.

Swift is known to be a cat lover and owns three furry felines: Meredith, Olivia Benson and Benjamin Button. Benjamin even joined her for her Time’s 2023 Person of the Year photo shoot.

However, Argylle director Matthew Vaughn shut down rumors of the singer’s involvement last week in an interview with Rolling Stone.

He said he initially found out about the conspiracy from his daughter, who told him that the book was written by the “Cruel Summer” songstress — and he had to set the record straight.
“It’s a really good book,” Vaughn, 52, told Rolling Stone. “And there is an Elly Conway who wrote the book, but it’s not Taylor Swift. And I say that because I imagine Taylor Swift has a load of people trying to jump on her bandwagon left, right and center, and I don’t want to be a part of that club.”

“I did read the conspiracies and I was like, ‘Wow, they don’t leave a stone unturned!’ ” the filmmaker added. “But it’s not Taylor Swift. She definitely didn’t write the book.”

The story follows Elly as she finds herself accompanied by a real-life spy (played by Sam Rockwell) while the two race “across the world to stay one step ahead of the killers as the line between Elly’s fictional world and her real one begins to blur,” according to a synopsis.

Also among the star-studded cast are Henry Cavill, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, Bryan Cranston, Samuel L. Jackson, Catherine O’Hara and John Cena.
Argylle is set to release in theaters Feb. 2, before streaming globally on Apple TV+.