Taylor Swift Reveals "All Too Well" Easter Eggs at the Tribeca Festival

According to Swift, both characters are protagonists in the film, which is why it was so important for her to have O'Brien's character return 13 years later to watch Sink's character at the book signing. "I wanted us to wonder: Was he just seeing if she was OK? Was he about to walk in but leaving thinking, 'It's time to leave well enough alone. I've put her through enough?'"

O'Brien added that Swift was passionate about not making his character a one-dimensional villain but rather a complex character in his own right. "I'll never forget — you said, 'We need this guy to be likable even though he's going to execute some really unlikable things,'" O'Brien said to Swift. "It's such a nuanced perspective Taylor has. It's not black and white. He's not a monster. He's just a narcissistic, egomaniacal child."