Olivia Rodrigo still in awe over Versailles access for 'Drop Dead' music video

Olivia Rodrigo is still processing what she calls a “pinch-me” moment after filming the music video for her latest single “Drop Dead” at the Palace of Versailles in France, one of the world’s most restricted and historically significant landmarks.

In an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music, the Filipino-American pop star reflected on the rare opportunity with a sense of wonder rather than spectacle, clearly aware of just how unusual the access was.

“How crazy is that? I feel I'm still like pinching myself that they let us do that. It was kind of wild,” Olivia said.

The Grammy-winning artist shared that the idea itself came early in the creative process, almost instinctively tied to how she imagined the song visually.

“When I wrote the song I, like, immediately was like ‘Oh, it would be so cool if we could film in the Versailles.’ Because the song to me just feels like running. Like whenever I listen to the song, it just feels like running through a garden,” she said.

Olivia credited the people around her for making the shoot possible.

“God bless my team. They're amazing and they pulled it off. I don't know how, but it was such a spectacular day,” she said.

The production itself was tightly scheduled, with only about eight hours inside the palace, and the 23-year-old star described the experience as surreal, saying the emptiness of the space added to its strangeness and beauty.

“We got to be alone in Versailles for like nine hours. It kind of felt like ‘Night at the Museum.’ I felt like the paintings were going to come off the walls and start flying around me. And yeah, it was really special, and I think the music video just really captures that kind of joy and fervor and excitement that I get when I listen to the song,” she said.

Olivia added that the video was designed to capture spontaneity within that setting.

“It's kind of awesome…it makes you be spontaneous in a way that I think you wouldn't otherwise be. And the video is supposed to be—it's not like choreographed, ‘Stand on this mark, do this thing.’ It's just sort of about like I wanted to feel like that feeling when you come home and you, like, first kiss someone for the first time and you close the door and you're like ‘Oh, my God! This is amazing!’ And so that was just the energy that I embodied just running around Versailles. Just that first crushy feeling,” she said.

The Palace of Versailles is a former royal residence of King Louis XIV near Paris, now a national landmark known for its history, architecture, and expansive gardens.

On Friday, Olivia made her much-awaited music comeback with “Drop Dead,” the first single off of “You Seem Pretty Sad For a Girl So in Love.”

The full album will come out on June 12.

In 2024, Olivia visited the Philippines for her first concert in the country.

During the sold-out show, Olivia proudly showed off her Filipino blood—thanking her kababayans, wearing a “Miss So Filipina” sash, writing “Pinoy Pride” on her statement tee, and more. —Carby Rose Basina/JCB, GMA News