Director Paul Feig recently opened up about how he managed to secure Taylor Swift’s approval to use one of her songs in The Housemaid, the R-rated thriller led by Sydney Sweeney. Speaking at the film’s premiere, the director revealed that the pop star and her team gave final approval after being shown the completed project.

How Taylor Swift let Sydney Sweeney’s movie to use her song

Taylor Swift’s music appears in The Housemaid only after a last-minute approval process that director Paul Feig initially believed would not succeed. The filmmaker revealed that Swift personally signed off on the use of her 2017 track I Did Something Bad, which plays over the film’s closing credits.

Speaking at the film’s Hollywood premiere, Feig explained that adding a Swift song involves a direct sign-off from the artist and her team. While editing the film, the director said the track felt like the right match for the ending. However, expectations were low that it would be cleared. As per Deadline, the director said, “Well, that’s the thing; you want to put a Taylor song in your movie, but she and her company have to approve it.”

Despite those reservations, Feig decided to submit the completed film for review. “So, we were tempting with it, and we were like, ‘It’s so perfect, but she’s never gonna clear this,’” he recalled. After viewing the movie, Swift approved the use of the song, clearing it for the final cut. The filmmaker said, “Then we showed she and her people the movie, and she approved it. So, I guess she likes it. Thank you Taylor!”

Sydney Sweeney, who stars in The Housemaid, said the song plays a crucial role in the film. “It’s so perfect,” she said to PEOPLE, emphasizing how strongly it complemented the ending. Co-star Amanda Seyfried noted that the cast saw the scene before the clearance was officially confirmed. Sweeney added, “And we were like, ‘We can’t lose this!’ We were like, ‘You have to keep this!’”