Argylle, the new spy comedy from director Matthew Vaughn, has a bit of a mystery behind its origins, as it’s based on a mysterious writer’s novel – but is it Taylor Swift?
From the get-go, fans have speculated the true story behind Argylle. It focuses on a spy novel writer named Elly Conway who’s in for a rude awakening. She’s thrust into the world of espionage when learning the very things she’s writing about are coming true in the spy world.
The big question of the movie: who is Agent Argylle? Well, the real-life version compares to Elly’s written one. But Vaughn’s Argylle has been in the spotlight for its origin story. The director has already confirmed Argylle is a real book by an author of the same name.
It seems that the Swift army has taken over Argylle as theories suggest the famed global singer is the real-life Elly Conway.
Is Elly Conway Taylor Swift?
No, she’s not. Vaughn has publically denied the theories that Taylor Swift is the real Elly Conway who wrote the book Argylle is based on. Ties between the two happen to be mere coincidence.
The rumors began when a fan began to notice far too many similarities between Swift and the details in the movie. One of them being the singer’s two Scottish Folds, Meredith Grey and Olivia Benson. In Argylle, Elly carries around her beloved Scottish Fold in a cat backpack with a see-through dome.
Swift was seen carrying her cat in a similar backpack in her documentary Miss Americana. It doesn’t end there as fans also noticed Argylle’s use of the popular print seen in argyle sweaters. On Swift’s merch website, she sells “Red (Taylor’s Version) Argyle Sweater.” Coincidence? Maybe.
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Speaking with Rolling Stone, Vaughn debunked the rumors as being coincidences and Swift having some influence.
“I’m not a big internet guy, and it was actually my daughter who came up to me — this is the power of celebrity and the internet — and said, ‘You never told me Taylor wrote the book!'” said Vaughn. “And I’m looking at her going, ‘What are you talking about Taylor Swift wrote the book? She didn’t write the book!’ And I was laughing because I was like, ‘It’s not true! She didn’t write the book!’ But my daughter was convinced of it.”
But the director does admit the use of a Scottish Fold cat was influenced by Swift. He explains how he arrived home on Christmas and heard some ruckus. He found out his kids had watched Miss Americana and, “they’d persuaded my wife, Claudia [Schiffer], to get them the kitten for Christmas. It was bought without my permission and hidden from me… as crazy as it sounds, that is our only Taylor Swift connection.”
Argylle has a fun surprise behind the cat. Vaughn has explained that the original cat they cast was being troublesome and they ended up using their daughter’s Scottish Fold cat. Swifties will be happy to know that she did have some influence connected to the movie.
When it comes to Elly Conway, she’s a real-life author whose first published work is Argylle. Not much is known about the author and hasn’t made a public appearance.
