It's been a big year for Brandi Carlile. After the release of her sixth studio album, By the Way, I Forgive You (and her subsequent six Grammy nominations for her work this year), and a cameo in A Star Is Born, Carlile has proven once and for all that she is a bona fide star.
Carlile continues her winning streak Tuesday (Dec. 11) with a new video for her song “Party of One” off of By the Way. The video features The Handmaid’s Tale star Elisabeth Moss in the featured role as a jilted woman struggling to stay in her relationship after a tumultuous fight with her lover (played by Nicole Disson).
The video opens with Moss lying on a couch, before covering up the furniture in her room and reminiscing on her relationship. The flashbacks start with the two female lovers cuddling in a pastel environment, but gradually devolves into fights and shouting matches. As she starts to leave, she reconsiders and crawls back into bed with her partner, reconciling their arguments and choosing to stay together.
In a statement, Carlile said that she never considered anyone but Moss for the role. “When I thought about making a video for ‘Party of One,’ I couldn’t stop picturing Elisabeth’s face,” she said. “I believe she is the absolute best actor out there right now, no one has ever impacted me so much without saying a word. I never even asked anyone else.”
The video, along with featuring a same-sex female relationship, was also directed, produced, written and entirely staffed by a crew of women, including director Bérénice Eveno, producers Diane Pellegrino and Kate Siegel, and cinematographer Cristina Dunlap.
“The main reason I wanted to be involved in this music video was because of this incredible song,” Moss said in her statement. "I had accosted Brandi when we were both on Ellen because I had been obsessively listening to her cover of Bryan Adams ‘Heaven’ to help me prepare for a cover I had to do of it for the movie, Her Smell. When she sent me this song and shortly afterwards had asked me to be involved in the creation of the video, I said yes immediately because I fell so head over heels in love with the track. It’s one of those most beautiful musical pieces I’ve ever heard, right down to the string arrangement at the end.”
Check out Brandi Carlile’s full video for “Party of One,” starring Elisabeth Moss, below:
