Christian Owens, Taylor Swift’s ‘Lover’ Co-Star: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Christian Owens is a dancer and longtime colleague of Taylor Swift. He co-stars in the Lover music video, which premieres on August 22. The music video serves as the final promotional sendoff for the Lover album, which releases at midnight on August 23.

Owens’ presence in Lover is notable for two main reasons. First, many were wondering if Joe Alwyn, Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, would be in the song, since the lyrics subtly reference their relationship. (Unsurprisingly, Alwyn is not in the video. He and Swift have maintained a notoriously private relationship) Secondly, it’s the first time Swift has chosen an African American male to play her love interest in a music video.

Here’s the Lover video:

Owens is a famous dancer and choreographer. He has been working with Swift for several years now, but he has also worked with other famous artists in recent years. He’s also a musical artist who will be releasing his own music in the near future, Swift told fans at the Lover premiere. 

Here’s what you need to know:

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1. Owens Was a Dancer for Swift’s Reputation  & 1989 Stadium Tours

Owens’ Instagram is filled with intimate memories from his time as a dancer on Swift’s Reputation Stadium tour. Indeed, it was his role as a prominent dancer on the tour that allowed Swifties to identify him as the actor in the Lover music video, hours before the video was even released.

Many fans noticed that Owens had a particular cameo when Swift sang the fan favorite King of My Heart, as seen in this gif below:

Owens also danced for Swift on the 1989 tour.  He was the main dancer for Bad Blood for that stadium tour.

Owens has posted several Instagram tributes to the pop star. For her last birthday, he wrote, “Happy birthday to this Gem of a woman .. Thank you for believing in me to share such a huge moment in front of so many people .. this year was incredible ! Happy birthday @taylorswift .. may your day be filled with love and light ?”

Owens offered up a nod to his role in the Lover music video in the hours leading up to his cameo appearance: he posted a screenshot to his Instagram story, along with a countdown to the much-awaited video.

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2. Owens Also Danced at Beyoncé’s Famous Homecoming  Performance at Coachella

In addition to dancing for Swift, Owens has a number of famous clients to his name. Owens posted several clips of his performance in Homecoming to Instagram. In one such clip, he wrote a lengthy and emotional caption explaining what an “intense” year it was to be working for two such high profile artists at once, presumably referencing Beyoncé and Swift.

Owens wrote, “This year has been so intense . So many blessings .. not a lot of people know but I was fortunate enough to be rehearsing with two major artists at the same time .. I drove from pasedena too Culver City everyday for 2 weeks . Just too make my dreams come true .. i rehearsed for 8 hours after I drove straight from Sony 4 hours to make it to perform 2nd week Coachella with Beyoncé .. I pushed my body , mind , and spirit on that stage .. after the show drove 4 hours back straight into rehearsal for tour .”

He continued, “(No I did not sleep) .. I wouldn’t usually post this but I think it’s important to share things like this .. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE !! And if I can do it so can you ! Thank you 2018 for showing me that hard work and dedication pays off !!! 2019 LETS GOOO !! ”

Just like his long professional relationship with Swift, Owens has performed as a dancer for Beyoncé for several years. In 2015, he posted a clip of the singer’s Love on Top music video, sharing that he was in the video and that it was one of his first performances with the famous singer. He wrote, “This was one of my first major jobs with Miss Bey … a lot of ppl don’t know this but she faught [sic] for me to be in this video Even tho I was on tour with Rihanna at the time . originally it was 4 boys She went against her entire video production team and said “I have to have this boy ” I will never forget that !”

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3. Owens Choreographed Two of Demi Lovato’s Songs for Her Last Tour

In addition to dancing for two of the most famous artists in the world, Owens is an accomplished and celebrated choreographer. He created the choreography for two of the songs on Demi Lovato’s most recent tour, the Tell Me You Love Me tour.

He wrote of the opportunity, “One of my numbers for the #tellmeyoulovemetour so happy I got to do this . @ddlovato your amazing .. It’s crazy how life pulls you in different directions . I would have never thought I would have the opportunity to choreograph two numbers on such a major tour ! ”

Though the majority of Owens’ posts to Instagram have to do with his dancing career, he’ll occasionally share personal news as well. Last December, he shared the exciting news that he had become a homeowner, sharing a picture of himself standing in front of a house holding balloons that read “congratulations!”

“I AM OFFICIALLY A HOME OWNER !!” he wrote. “Never thought I would see the day I actually own something … Hard work pays off man .. Papa got a crib !”

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4. Owens’ Dancing & Choreography Career Seems to Be Exploding, With Work for Normani in Recent Weeks

Though Owens has long established himself as a venerated dancer, his choreography seems to be exploding. On August 20, he shared that he had been dancing for Normani on her new single “Motivation.”

To see a close-up of one of his scenes with Normani, check out this clip he posted to Instagram:

Owens attached a screenshot of the music video and wrote, “What the hell is happening .. THEEE @davemeyers .. y’all this man is a legend and responsible for shooting so many of the iconic things that we look up too in pop culture .. I’m lost for words . ‘Favorite duet’ smh. .. @normani and @itsbankhead this shit is crazy .. so happy to be apart of this history .. HARD WORK PAYS !!!!! Congrats again @normani .”

Owens was also a dancer in Kendall Jenner’s Pepsi commercial, and has performed with Rihanna as well.

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5. Owens Has 57,000 Followers on Instagram & Frequently Posts His Choreography Videos to YouTube

Unsurprisingly, given his star-studded clientele, Owens has over 57,000 followers on Instagram. If the hype around Swift’s Lover album is any indication, that following will likely skyrocket after the Lover music video releases.

Owens also has an active YouTube account, in which he posts videos of the various dances that he choreographs.

Owens has been dancing since he was 13 years old. Though it seems unlikely that he still teaches, given how often he appears to be working for stars and going on tour, he does have a teacher’s bio for the Broadway Dance Center in New York. His bio reads,

Christian Owens has been dancing professionally since the tender age of 13. Christian was signed to the Bloc Talent Agency at the age of 14, and throughout his career has trained under and worked with notable choreographers such as Rhapsody James, Marty Kudelka, Gil Duldulao, Chuck Maldonado, and Dave Scott… just to name a few. One of Christian’s proudest moments came at the age of 15 when he was selected by Rhapsody James to join her ‘Rhapsody the Company’ dance company. If you were to ask Christian about his love of dance, he would tell you without hesitation, ‘Dancing is like breathing to me!’

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