Billie Eilish to make acting debut in Donald Glover series ‘Swarm’
American pop star Billie Eilish doesn’t have a terribly extensive filmography. Apart from her concert films and a few scattered television appearances on Saturday Night Live and Sesame Street, Eilish’s only real acting role was playing an animated version of herself in the Simpsons short film When Billie Met Lisa.
That’s about to change as Eilish is getting ready to make her on-screen acting debut. To help her, Eilish is working with another actor/musician, Donald Glover. The once-and-future Childish Gambino has a new series, Swarm, that is set to premiere on Amazon Prime later this week. Although she previously hadn’t been announced with the rest of the cast, we’re now learning that Eilish is one of the actors in the show.
The official Prime Video Twitter account released a new clip from the series that shows Eilish as a blonde-haired character named Eva. Swarm focuses on a young woman named Dre whose obsession with pop music sends her on a cross-country trip with violent and potentially deadly consequences. In the preview clip, Eilish’s character appears to be talking to Dre, played by Chloe Bailey, asking her “Did you hurt someone?”
Eilish had previously hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live, serving as both the guest host and musical act for her episode. That gave audiences a brief glimpse into Eilish’s acting chops, at least when it came to comedy. Swarm has its comedic elements, but it’s more of a suspense/drama/thriller than anything else, so Eilish will have to channel a different side of her acting ability for the show.
The new series will premiere on the same day that Eilish will restart her Happier Than Ever tour in Santiago, Chile. That tour, supporting her sophomore album of the same name, will keep Eilish busy throughout the summer. Eilish will play numerous festivals along the way, including Lollapalooza and the Reading and Leeds Festival in August.
The show had previously premiered at the South By Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas. Swarm will be available to stream on Amazon Prime Video starting on March 17th.
